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Taking Classes Online

© Debbie Levitt

6 November 2001

Last week, I started an MBA in e-Business with the University of Phoenix Online. Uni Phoenix, as I like to refer to them, is one of the top if not the top online university. They are fully accredited and offer Bachelors, Masters, and PhD degrees. You do not have to be on course for a degree to take classes with them; many companies are having staff receive training on one or a handful of classes through Uni Phoenix.

How was the application process?
Very easy. I was assigned a very friendly advisor, Joe, who answered all of my questions, and never made me feel like he didn't have time for me. I applied completely online, including for my student loan, and then I printed out certain pages, signed them, and sent them to Joe. As I was applying for a graduate degree, Uni Phoenix wanted to see transcripts from my undergrad university as they require I certain GPA (plus proof that I really did complete a Bachelors degree). The application fee was $85, and was charged to a credit card.

How can you pay for classes?
They offered a variety of options, though my personal favourite was government loan for the entire tuition, which runs around $23,000 USD for the whole Masters degree. You could also pay cash, credit card, or through your workplace. Books cost extra, but so far look like they run around $100 or so per class. They work with a company that sells books for them, but you don't have to use them if you can find the exact book elsewhere.

How many classes/credits do you have to take to get the MBA?
The MBA in e-Business is 1 introductory 3-week course and then 15 6-week courses. This translates to 46 credits. Other degree programmes may have other required numbers of courses or credits.

Classes online? I don't know about that. How does it work?
Currently, it is done completely through either Outlook Express or a password-protected website. It's all email and private newsgroups, but everything is via IMAP folders, so if your software doesn't do IMAP, you are stuck with Outlook Express or the web-based version. You are required to participate in the newsgroups at least five days out of each week, and by participate, they mean much more than posting, "Hi!" and "I agree." You are expected to act like you are in a real classroom, asking questions, discussing topics, and responding to classmates and the instructor. I went into this having extra time, but my classmates seem a bit concerned about having the time to participate as you are expected.