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University of Phoenix
The University of Phoenix (UPX, UOP, UOPX) offers online, hybrid and face-to-face higher-education degrees. It is a large private for-profit university in the US delivering class-based and online learning to students worldwide.
The university was estimated to have over 109,000 students attending via the Internet through the University's Online Campus (out of over 213,000 students) as of May 2004.
Today, the University of Phoenix has the largest student body in North America, and declares a 2009 enrollment of over 362,000 students as of May 2009. (The school is owned by the Apollo Group corporation, and some of these enrolments are actually via Apollo's Western International University, per the 2008 annual report.
Campuses are at 200 locations across the United States, as well as internationally (e.g. Calgary and Vancouver in Canada).
The campuses, learning centres and student resource centres are available for students attending class on campus and online. In addition to classroom space, some locations provide computer labs, study rooms and student learning workshops.
The University of Phoenix is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association.
Its web site is at http://phoenix.edu
History
(sourced from http://phoenix.edu/about_us/about_us.aspx)
As noted on the UOP web site:
- At University of Phoenix, we've been thinking ahead for more than 30 years.
- In fact, we were founded in 1976 on an innovative idea: make higher education highly accessible for working students. Still guided by this idea, University of Phoenix has helped transform the landscape of higher education in widely recognized ways. Many of the conveniences that 21st-century students now take for granted—evening classes, flexible scheduling, continuous enrollment, a student-centered environment, practitioner faculty, online classes, online library, ebooks, computer simulations—were pioneered or made acceptable through University of Phoenix's efforts.
- Not surprisingly, our unique approach has helped us grow from our humble origins as an upstart institution serving the unrecognized needs of working students. Today, University of Phoenix is the largest private university in North America, with nearly 200 convenient locations, as well as Internet delivery in most countries around the world.
- We're also a comprehensive university. University of Phoenix has more than 100 degree programs at the associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels in much-desired employment areas, from business and technology to health care and education.