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Over 45 years ago, colleges weren’t meeting the needs of working adults, so ���۴�ý’s founder, Dr. John Sperling, started a university that did.

Some institutions and entities didn’t understand this need and tried to stop him at every turn. But Sperling understood that big things happen when you refuse to back down. So, he fought.

Over the years, other universities have tried to replicate the University’s model. But since its institutional accreditation over 45 years ago, ���۴�ý has become known for continually responding to changing workplace needs, championing adult learners and retaining who have a deep understanding of what helps adult students thrive in the workplace.

What is the University specifically known for in 2024?

Flexibility — that’s a given. As a university built for working adults, UOPX offers a semester-free format, 24/7 online classrooms and single courses that last five or six weeks rather than multiple concurrent courses that span a traditional semester.

There are multiple other distinctives worth exploring — differentiators that earmark ���۴�ý as an innovator in this space.

���۴�ý is known for shaping modern, working adult higher education with its skills-aligned learning, digital badges, time- and money-saving opportunities for students, and thought leadership and research into the types of solutions that today’s workers need. Here’s what to know about each.

At ���۴�ý, associate, bachelor’s and master’s programs are 100% “skills aligned.” What does this mean? The University started with career-relevant skills (based on workplace statistics and labor market analysts’ insights) and built programs around them — one assignment at a time.

As a result, students at UOPX can have confidence that their degrees are aligned with skills associated to real-world careers. In fact, 80% of alumni who graduated in the past year believe their ���۴�ý education has been useful in their profession.*

In today’s fast-paced job market, ���۴�ý understands how important it is for students to showcase their achievements in real time. That’s why the University teamed up with Credly^® digital credentials to help students promote their skills online through verified digital badges.

With badges, students can showcase their earned, career-relevant skills on their resumés or LinkedIn^® profiles as they acquire them. As of August 2023, the University offered 149 distinct badges and had issued more than 380,000.

���۴�ý is committed to saving students time and money. In the 2023 reporting year, its students saved over millions of dollars in tuition thanks to scholarships and other savings.

The University helps its students maximize their saving opportunities from many angles, including:

• Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) — Students can submit their work or life experience for potential college credit through PLA. For every three credits earned, undergrad students graduate five weeks faster and save almost $1,200 in tuition. 
• Transfer credits — At this transfer-friendly University, many bachelor’s degree programs accept up to 87 credits from 5,000-plus accredited universities.
• Competency-based (CB) programs — Students with previous knowledge in their related discipline can leverage what they already know to earn their degree faster and for less.

The University works with employers, community colleges and tribal communities to offer special tuition benefits or discounts. When considering unlimited scholarships for students who qualify, special pricing for associate degree graduates and special pricing for alumni, this adds up to a lot of possibilities for savings.

The University’s Savings Explorer^Ò tool can help students thinking about college explore ways to save.

Now in its third year of analyzing American workers’ personal career perceptions, the 2023 Career Optimism Index^® study found that, despite the challenges of the past year, 80% of Americans remain hopeful about the future of their careers, but not with their current employer.

This finding sounds a research-based alarm for employers to invest in foundational career support. As proof, 70% of Americans say that if their company gave them the opportunity to apply new skills, they would be more likely to stay throughout their career.

It’s this kind of thought leadership that positions ���۴�ý squarely at the intersection of higher education and today’s “free agent” labor market — conducting research into the solutions that today’s workers need.

After a full, on-site review of the University’s mission, academic programs, governance, integrity, and student experience and outcomes in 2022, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) reaccredited ���۴�ý for another 10-year cycle in 2023.

The reaccreditation underscores ���۴�ý’s rigorous academic standards and programmatic quality of online, career-relevant higher education for working adult learners.

“Continued accreditation of ���۴�ý demonstrates our commitment to our students and alumni in providing quality, career-relevant curriculum, certificates and degrees,” says John Woods, PhD, provost and chief academic officer.

���۴�ý has been continually accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), , since 1978.

Ultimately, ���۴�ý spent 2023 doing what it has always done — innovating, pioneering and ensuring that busy, adult learners have access to higher education.

In an age when adult learners need more flexibility, ���۴�ý continues to offer academically rigorous degree paths that equip learners with the skills they need. To learn more, visit www.phoenix.edu.

*Source: ���۴�ý Academic Alumni Questionnaire, July 2022 (3,814 respondents)