I am an alumni of University of Phoenix on-line. I graduated with my Master's degree about a year ago. I was extremely happy with it and found it very rewarding, although expensive. However, it takes a certain personality to be successful at it just like anything else. I do not like the traditional classrooms really because I have trouble comprehending what people are saying at times. I will just make a bulleted list of what I like about it and what was hard about it. I think that will help you the best.
Pros
1) You can complete all work from home
2) I only had one negative experience with a professor. They are very professional and work in the field they are teaching.
3) Everyone gets a chance to say what they are thinking and ask questions without being over-shadowed by another classmate since you have various forums to submit information too.
4) You still have the group dynamic because the first week you are assigned a team to work with for the class.
5) You only have one class at a time that last anywhere from 3-6 weeks. Then you get a week off in between.
6) If you move, you don't have to worry about transferring credits.
7) You get to meet people from all over the world and get a lot of different perspectives on things. This was awesome to me and really helped me grow a lot intellectually.
8) Everything you need is on the computer. I never had to leave the house to get information I needed.
9) You get responses from the professor within 24 hours because the classroom is always opened. This also means that you can go to class whenever you want.
10) You can go to school naked and drink a beer while you have discussions.
Cons
1) You have to be very organized. It is a LOT of work. I think I worked about 40 hours a week on classwork when I was earning my Master's. This is because it's so fast-paced.
2) It's harder than I thought it would be. You have at least 2 papers do every week plus smaller assignments. You also have to make 2 posts everyday responding in the class conversation.
3) You don't have actual people interaction. I never met a classmate in person nor a professor. This is fine for me because my goal was to get my Master's degree, not to make friends. While I did have friends in the program, it was more like friends at TFP...only on-line interaction.
Like I said, this isn't for everybody, but UofP is accredited and I have never been criticized for completing my program this way in interviews. Good luck in your educational venture. Hope you do well in whatever you choose.
