UoPeople WASC Accredited 2/14/2025

[jg_nuy]

This post is thoroughly derailed. Could this political discourse be taken to off topic please?

[Jonathan Whatley]

This post is thoroughly derailed. Could this political discourse be taken to off topic please?

Agreed. I rolled back the most recent section of the debate principally between Ares and NotJoeBiden.

This section of DegreeForum is for discussion of University of the People that will help students and potential students. Although we are open to criticism of schools, critics of a school should avoid overwhelming other threads with their criticism.

[bjcheung77]

A cleanup was needed, it's good to see this getting back on track. Discussions are the main reason we have this forum, it's great to voice your opinion as long as you're mindful and respectful. Often times I agree and disagree with some comments and posts, but I do try to look at things on both sides and remain neutral.

[midnite123]

I don't particularly like the name of UOP.

However,
They are RA now!!!!!

So,
 unless they are totally messed up,
they are at minimum a source for transfer credit!!!

[bjcheung77]

Their AS/BS Health Science is a good option along with their MEd and MSIT. Even if people don't finish the degree at UofPeople, they can transfer classes over, for example, Bio I & Bio II can be transferred to TESU to get the ASNSM Biology for much cheaper than before!

[ch.l.o.e.abel.e07]

I would like to address a few things which I have read on this forum. People here seem to be VERY misinformed, or just blatantly biased towards this university. I write this post not with the hope to change your mind, but with the hope that you will look into these points further, and do proper research before making your criticisms.

First of all, it's not a school for slackers; it doesn't really have a "100% acceptance rate". When you enroll, you enroll as a "non-degree-seeking" student. For the first two terms, you would stay as a "non-degree-student," and your ability to become a "degree-seeking-student" entirely depends on how well you do in the first two terms. In fact, less than 23% of students that enroll in a bachelor's program graduate to become a "degree-seeking-student" (University of the People, n.d.). Shai talk's about it here.

Second, this university is VERY generous with its financial aid. 70.0% of non-degree-seeking students get some sort of financial aid, and 64.0% of degree-seeking students get some sort of financial aid (National Center for Education Statistics, n.d.). However, they are not flushed with cash; they do revoke or deny you further aid if you do not perform well; there are just way too many students who require aid than the university can support. Shai mentions it here.

Third, Unlike other universities, UoPeople targets two kinds of groups with its marketing, potential students and potential donors. As I explained previously, this university is VERY generous with its aid, but someone has to pay for it all. Therefore I believe that it tries to maximize its marketing efforts to reach potential donors, over reaching potential students. This university is meant as a lifeline for those who have no other options; people like those don't have the luxury to complain about the "communist name" or the "cringy marketing". Shai even mentions that if you can afford to go to a tradional school, you should go there over uopeople.

Lastly, WASC is not STUPID; its accreditation-granting commission is literally made up of key figures from other universities (WASC Senior College and University Commission, n.d.); these people have a vested interest in maintaining the prestige as well as the appeal of their own institutions. Therefore, they would not grant accreditation, one that would put another institution on par with them, to a diploma mill or an unworthy institution. UoPeople has made significant changes and even compromised on a few of the foundations of its model in order to secure this accreditation.

I could go on and on, but I digress here. Again, I would highly suggest you all do your own research and find out the truth instead of taking points from members of this forum at face value. Especially those which show to harbour hate towards this institution for their own personal reasons.

References:

University of the People. (n.d.). UoPeople factsheet. https://www.uopeople.edu/about/uopeople/...factsheet/

National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). University of the People: Student financial aid. U.S. Department of Education. https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/institution-pr...ancial-aid

WASC Senior College and University Commission. (n.d.). About the commission. https://www.wscuc.org/about/commission/

[question]

Hello everyone,
There's one thing I don't understand about this online school. Why is it called "of the people"? ?
It doesn't seem to belong to the people, if you ask me.

[bjcheung77]

Hello everyone,
There's one thing I don't understand about this online school. Why is it called "of the people"? ?
It doesn't seem to belong to the people, if you ask me.

Just wondering, is there a need to ask this question a couple of times? The founder should know... Here's a very good answer and one from UoPeople as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/UoPeople/commen...sity_name/

[cozykamura]

Uopeople just got retroactively accredited to July 31, 2024. https://wascsenior.app.box.com/s/lr4wby3...6yuy5yz6he

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Even the UoPeople page on the WASC website (https://www.wscuc.org/institutions/unive...the-people) was updated to show the initial accreditation year as 2024.

[bjcheung77]

Oh snap! I should have taken their classes then and left a couple of courses remaining, I would be 8 classes faster than starting now... I knew they would get RA, but didn't know it would be this fast as they've got some issues remaining to be resolved... I still think it's a good idea to slowly complete courses accordingly, I just want to be done before they bump their fees up in price again.