After 25 years in Utah, the University of Phoenix has gained acceptance and credibility, but it still fights some stigma from the traditional education establishment.
The University of Phoenix first opened its doors in the Salt Lake Valley in 1984, with many skeptics. While critics remain, many higher education officials have grown to tolerate, if not admire, what the school does."It has a lot to do with longevity. There is a degree to which longevity breeds legitimacy," said Craig Swenson, the university's senior regional vice president based in Salt Lake City. "We have now been around 25 years (in Utah). We've shown we are not a flash in the pan. We've shown we can produce what we can produce. I think we are starting to turn some heads."
For example, in its new master plan, the Utah Board of Regents sounds themes that the University of Phoenix has been talking about for decades -- treating students as consumers, responding to the market and increasing access for non-traditional students.
The for-profit University of Phoenix, which continues to expand across North America, has some marked differences from traditional nonprofit and state-run institutions. Its focus is on working adults, and it employs mostly part-time adjunct faculty. Instructors are required to have advanced degrees and work in the field about which they teach.
"I think there is a stigma by academia. At the same time, corporate America has recognized the tremendous benefits of hands-on experience that students receive at University of Phoenix," said Maria Sweeten, a member of the Utah Board of Regents who has attended the University of Phoenix. "It enhances the employee's ability to do his job."
As evidence of the confidence business has in the school, 71 percent of students who attend receive some form of tuition help from employers. That comes despite a tuition price that is higher than state colleges, Swenson said.
Such acceptance has helped the school expand. In addition to its main Murray campus near I-15, it now has sites in Provo, Ogden, downtown Salt Lake City and Taylorsville.
In 1999, the school had a peak Utah enrollment of 2,400, up 342 from the previous year. The average age of students is 34. Most have about 12 years of work experience. The school has grown steadily throughout the decade, nearly doubling its student numbers since 1990.
Swenson said the university serves a different market than the state's other post-secondary institutions. By February 2000, the Utah campuses will offer eight bachelor's degree programs, nine master's degree programs and eight professional certificate programs.
However, getting approval to offer those programs sometimes has been no easy task.
Most recently the University of Phoenix pushed for months to get approval to offer secondary-school teacher certification programs. Other schools and educators opposed the program, saying Phoenix didn't meet Utah's standards.
The school's campuses scattered throughout the United States and Canada have attracted more than 13,000 new students this year, an increase of almost 22 percent. That makes it one of the fastest-growing institutions of higher learning in the United States, officials claim.
At the University of Phoenix there are no quadrangles or football teams, and professors aren't normally involved in scholarly research. The school usually locates campuses in leased office space near major thoroughfares. The campuses have small libraries, usually consisting of computer terminals connected to online periodicals. In Utah, students may use the University of Utah's Marriott Library.
The university's emphasis on treating students like customers and its ever-watchful eye on its stock price also rankle some in academia. However, Swenson, who helped start the Utah campus and now directs operations throughout the Northwest, said colleges need to change to fill the kinds of jobs created by a new economy.
While the University of Phoenix still meets resistance as it expands, particularly in the Northeast, the Utah System of Higher Education willingly accepts the school.
In fact, the Utah Board of Regents appeared to pay the University of Phoenix a compliment by creating an MBA program through Weber State University's Davis campus that mimics the University of Phoenix approach. The program includes evening courses and online instruction to meet the needs of working adults. During the discussion before approval, the similarities of the University of Phoenix and WSU's program weren't lost on regents.
Sweeten told the board she welcomed programs that helped expand the higher education system's reach to underserved populations. At the same time, regent Jim Jardine said programs like those of the University of Phoenix and WSU would serve working adults who are trying to get ahead in their present jobs but are not likely to match the caliber of the U.'s and Utah State University's traditional MBA programs.