A warning letter to potential UAGC college students (opinion)

It is a letter of care that would get me in hassle with my employer, the College of Arizona, and I need to be clear about one factor: I write this as a non-public citizen and never as a college consultant. If I don’t say this explicitly, tomorrow I’ll get a go to from human assets or governmental relations. I digress …

My brief request to you or anybody you care about is as follows: If you’re excited about enrolling within the College of Arizona International Campus—don’t!

I’m talking with you as a professor on the UA who has seen this catastrophe unfold, and I can’t be quiet any longer. I care too deeply about college students who’re probably losing 1000’s of {dollars} on an training that doesn’t dwell as much as its promise. You may be pursuing a substandard training, as I’ll element; earlier than I get to that, nonetheless, some context is important.

First, when the UA was buying UAGC (then Ashford College) from its mum or dad firm, Zovio, Ashford was below investigation by the state of California for defrauding college students.

Second, these UA representatives concerned within the negotiations needed to signal nondisclosure agreements, eradicating significant oversight from the method. Within the absence of NDAs, the deal seemingly wouldn’t have gone by way of. Why else would they’ve them?

Third, the UA purchased Ashford (now UAGC) for $1. A few of UA’s personal enterprise faculty professors clearly confirmed the way it was a nasty funding. Finally, you get what you pay for, and we collectively obtained screwed on this transaction.

Quick-forward to the current, and issues aren’t good. The UA just lately commissioned a report on UAGC, and from that self-commissioned analysis, launched in June, there have been some essential takeaways:

• UAGC college students solely graduate at a price of between 15 and 20 p.c, in comparison with UA college students, who graduate at a 60 to 70 p.c price.
• UAGC enrollments have dropped by roughly 18,000 college students since 2021.
• UAGC spends disproportionately on on-line advertising. The Arizona Republic reported in July that UAGC spends roughly 20 p.c of its annual finances ($49 million) on promoting, whereas UA spends lower than 1 p.c.
• About 95 p.c of UAGC school are poorly paid adjuncts who in lots of instances make lower than $2,000 for instructing a six-week-long class of fifty college students.

All these elements spotlight how UAGC invests in promoting as an alternative of training. It presents a substandard product, as there is no such thing as a approach to appeal to gifted instructors whenever you grossly underpay them.

There have additionally been latest studies of scholars who graduate and can’t discover jobs regardless of UAGC’s guarantees, in addition to studies of UAGC persevering with to deceive potential college students, as Ashford did beforehand. Specifically, there have been disturbing allegations of UAGC deceiving veterans about how their army advantages might cowl their training prices.

The bottom conclusion of the June report was that UAGC needed to incorporate into the UA with a view to be viable long run. That’s, UAGC can’t stand by itself. This type of uncertainty doesn’t hover above the heads of respected instructional establishments, and this isn’t a guess I might place my instructional future on if I have been you.

The general lack of transparency coupled with mismanagement compelled Arizona governor Katie Hobbs to demand larger accountability concerning UAGC. Moreover, the U.S. Division of Training just lately issued a warning to UAGC about probably deceiving college students.

Lastly, and I can’t stress this sufficient, the self-reported 15 to twenty p.c completion price is abysmal. This implies greater than 80 p.c of scholars who start UAGC by no means full with a level that may advance their profession and monetary objectives.

In closing, please be ready for the propaganda that’s prone to ensue. Board management or central administration on the UA will seemingly difficulty an announcement in response to my public declaration saying that this can be a “totally different sort” of training that “conventional” professors resist. Utilizing the phrases of Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction, “Nicely, permit me to retort.” A 15 to twenty p.c commencement price is solely not acceptable. I’ve requirements, and I hope you’ll, too.

Lastly, directors will seemingly discover a UAGC graduate who was wildly profitable to testify to how their success was the results of their training. Please take such testimonies with a grain of salt.

In spite of everything, Invoice Gates is a university dropout. Does that subsequently imply that folks ought to drop out of faculty to grow to be rich? In fact not! In the wrong way, simply because one or two individuals out of tens of 1000’s have been profitable at UAGC does not imply it represents efficient or impactful training. Once more, please use your crucial pondering expertise and think about what a self-described 15 to twenty p.c commencement price means when it comes to you or the one you love’s long-term potentialities for achievement.

Please hold this one final difficulty in thoughts, expensive reader. I’ve nothing to achieve from this letter and can seemingly face repercussions. The above listed events have every thing to achieve.

Please don’t permit your self for use. This professor cares about you an excessive amount of so that you can waste your time, your cash, your effort and your future on the failed experiment that’s the UAGC. Please take your valuable assets and go elsewhere.

Nobody desires to be the final individual to sink with the Titanic.

Peace,

NC