Consumer Digest blasts online universities in an article published this month, alleging that the institutions aggressively court unqualified students who are likely to fail or drop out, leaving them with significant debt and poor employment prospects.
Based largely on anecdotal evidence from 26 former students and employees of for-profit online universities, the article, which is not available online, also accuses institutions of misleading students about tuition costs and the worth of their degrees to potential employers.
At the same time, the article, which bases many of its conclusions on conjecture, concedes that individual institutions’ programs differ and that not all students have negative experiences with online universities.
“It’s difficult for us to say what value a degree from a for-profit online university delivers, because there are many students (and we interviewed some of them) who say they benefited from getting such a degree,” the article says. —David Shieh
2 Responses to ‘Consumer Digest’ Article Criticizes For-Profit Online Universities
ibgrannyof3 - August 1, 2009 at 11:25 pm
I am glad to see an article discussing this subject. I was enrolled at U OF Phoenix for several classes in 2005. What I found was that no matter what your current education level, anyone is eligible to go to school there. Yes – I think folks that are not ready get discouraged and quit but still have to pay for the school fees. Another thing to consider is, if our tax money is going toward scholarships or grants for these students, we are wasting our money. I think the fund given for grants and so forth needs to be given to those folks to go to school at the level they need to go to school. If an adult needs a GED, get that first. If an adult cannot write or speak properly, educate them in those classes first. I found that I was paying for an education where I was teacher others instead. If I am going to teach, I want to be paid to teach. It is different to be in a team environment when all folks are at least on a similar playing field. I am interested to know if anyone else had this issue with attending adult education classes.
ibgrannyof3 - August 1, 2009 at 11:27 pm
sorry for verbiage and spelling – I even checked spell check first – Should say “I was paying for an education where I was teaching others instead.”.