UoPeople WASC Accredited 2/14/2025

[cozykamura]

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.

They likely will and might also be less generous with their scholarships. In the WASC report, they talked about how they want to increase the number of paying students from 45% in AY24 to 52% by AY27 (WSCUC Visiting Team, 2024, p. 14).

Also its kinda suprising to know that 55% of students at UoPeople don't pay a single dime.

References:
WSCUC Visiting Team. (2024). Report of the WSCUC Visiting Team: Seeking Accreditation Visit 3 for Institutions Seeking Initial Accreditation: University of the People. WASC Senior College and University Commission. https://wascsenior.app.box.com/s/dwnzad9...dj9zj9zcq7

[Ares]

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/

Thanks for creating an account just to shill for the school.

Disparaging well respected DF moderators as harboring "hate" when they have first hand experience dealing with the rampant plagiarism and poor academic standards at UoPeople is intellectually dishonest.

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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?

This question has been asked since the school was first founded and will likely be asked indefinitely because of how bad, fake and commie sounding the name is.

No other school has this problem because they did not choose such a bad name.

[Pikachu]

I know most of you don't care about Canadian immigration but with UoPeople being accredited, this is officially the cheapest way to get a Masters degree for Canadian immigration purposes. And unlike other options like ENEB this one's guaranteed to get a Masters equivalency by WES Canada.

[bjcheung77]

A Masters will bring in just 1 years worth of points, thus, for the last decade or so, I've been recommending UK Level 7 diplomas as they're evaluated as equivalent to 1 year of graduate studies. ENEB should be evaluated the same way, technically, they have been using another FCE other than WES (CES for English in Ontario or the French one in Quebec)... For the cost, ENEB + Evaluation would be the option to select, to be safe and be in the middle of the pricing pack, the UK Level 7 diploma + Evaluation, and those willing to fork out the price for UoPeople Masters, that's the 2nd cheapest Masters for now, I think HAU MBA at $3K with the scholarship should be cheaper...

[cozykamura]

Don't know where I should post this, but Upeople now allows you to transfer up to 20 courses from Coursera and UPIStudy for free.

[bjcheung77]

UoPeople allows up to 20 transfers from all of their educational partners, such as Sophia.org, Study.com, StraighterLine, etc... You just need to pay for the 10 extra classes for max transfer at $17/each, and then pay for the final 10 residency ones at $140/class.

[Pikachu]

A Masters will bring in just 1 years worth of points, thus, for the last decade or so, I've been recommending UK Level 7 diplomas as they're evaluated as equivalent to 1 year of graduate studies.  ENEB should be evaluated the same way, technically, they have been using another FCE other than WES (CES for English in Ontario or the French one in Quebec)...  For the cost, ENEB + Evaluation would be the option to select, to be safe and be in the middle of the pricing pack, the UK Level 7 diploma + Evaluation, and those willing to fork out the price for UoPeople Masters, that's the 2nd cheapest Masters for now, I think HAU MBA at $3K with the scholarship should be cheaper...

The problem with UK diploma levels is a lack of clarity and support out there. There's so much inconsistent information out there and way too many options. ENEB gets evaluated as a post-grad diploma by CES, which will get you 119 points under Canada's Express Entry system. A UK Level 7 would also get you 119. A Masters gets you 126. Source.

In practice, a lot of people have opted for 15-18 month online MBA from either Liverpool John Moores University or Golden Gate University via UpGrad. I will post about accreditation of UoPeople on CanadaVisa forums - hopefully more people will be aware of this option going forward.

ENEB + CES might be cheapest (and fastest?) option for 119 points tbh. UoPeople Masters for 126.

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

Thanks for creating an account just to shill for the school.

Disparaging well respected DF moderators as harboring "hate" when they have first hand experience dealing with the rampant plagiarism and poor academic standards at UoPeople is intellectually dishonest.

I didn't mean to shill for this university. I would admit that I am biased toward this university, as I have been studying here for the past 2 years. I am an Afghan refugee, and even though I was able to escape the horrors of my home, I couldn't find a place in the new society I found myself in. UoPeople then reached out to me, provided me with a full scholarship, and gave me the ability to upskill myself. and For this, I am eternally grateful to them.

I have provided trustworthy sources for all my claims. If you do find any discrepancies with them, or find that something I have said is incorrect, then please do let me know. I am not an active member of any college hacking community. I just stumbled upon this thread via Google search and was taken aback by the sheer amount of misinformation and wanted to add my own insights to the discussion.

Lastly, I do apologize. It was not my intention to undermine anyone's experience with UoPeople. I would admit that this school has a lot of issues, mainly the rampant abuse of AI and the stark differences in quality of their teaching staff. That said, it's not a bad school, not even 10% as bad as some people in this forum make it seem like. 

Lastly, I have had my fair share of difficulties throughout my life, some of which I would not even wish upon the worst of my enemies, so when I see people complaining and quarreling because of something as small as this university's name, it to me just seems so narrow-minded, so entitled, so privileged.

[question]

What does Reddit have to do with it? Reddit is a place where anyone can write anything, and therefore also make things up.
Saying "I know the truth about the University of the people because I read it on Reddit" is nonsense.

That being said,

Thanks for creating an account just to shill for the school.

Fortunately, someone has noticed the advertising account "ch.l.o.e.abel.e07"  I wonder if they were paid in the way I described here.

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What does Reddit have to do with it? Reddit is a place where anyone can write anything, and therefore also make things up.
Saying "I know the truth about the University of the people because I read it on Reddit" is nonsense.

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Thanks for creating an account just to shill for the school.

Disparaging well respected DF moderators as harboring "hate" when they have first hand experience dealing with the rampant plagiarism and poor academic standards at UoPeople is intellectually dishonest.

By now, I have come to the idea that the school itself encourages plagiarism: the more people cheat, the more degrees it can sell.

[ifomonay]

There is rampant cheating there. When I did peer reviews, I saw two submissions that were identical. I brought it up the instructor, and she told me to mind my own business. lol. I didn't register after that. But if you need a cheap, quick, non-challenging degree, and now regionally-accredited, this would be the place.