An Academic Cesspool

Recently an article came out in the Chronicle about the accreditation status of University of Phoenix. After reading this article I meandered down to the comments section and was surprised by the harsh and hateful language used by what I assume are working academics. Below are my favorites:

“Why does the Association continue to shelter this fraudulent dump? Phoenix is a rip-off institution. It doesn't truly educate anyone...It insults the integrity of legitimate higher education.”

“The University of Phoenix must be regulated out of business...The peer-reveiw process is irrelevant when it comes to the for-fraud sector, and unilateral - if not dictatorial - actions must be taken if anything is ever going to change.”

“The U of Phoenix  is an academic cesspool. Any person who taught there and taught at 'real universities' knows that the quality of academics is abysmal. To even consider it a 'university' is to insult every other real residential university.”

As someone who works at one of these cesspools these comments are not surprising. The hate that is directed at for-profits is invidious and unproductive. I could counter these people with stories of successful graduates, faculty members that are dedicated to their students, and an organization that wants the best for its students and employees; but instead I will offer a simple proposal, “come work for us!” Be a change agent and help ‘fake universities’ become ‘real’.

If you are a tenured professor or an administrator take a sabbatical or see if you can set-up an exchange program with your university and a for-profit. But some writers and thinkers use their pens to criticize rather than using their words to create solutions. The complexities and real challenges that adult education faces in this country are not going away and public funding will not miraculously appear out of thin air; we all have to work together.

With that said, I guess some want a benevolent dictator to take charge and just fix everything.