2023 Academic Annual Report
Our mission
The mission of University of Phoenix is to provide access to higher education opportunities that enable students to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their professional goals, improve the performance of their organizations and provide leadership and service to their communities.
Our vision
Deep understanding of students’ needs
Deep understanding of employers’ needs
World-class assessment, analytics and innovation
Operational excellence
Our guiding principles
We believe that our students:
- Deserve quality academic programs that are career-relevant and are offered by an accredited institution.
- Should be supported by qualified staff and faculty, as well as by University efforts to help aid them on the path to graduation.
- Should be the singular reason we continue to advance the quality, career-relevance and convenience of our academic programs.
- Are entitled to transparency so they can make informed choices about their educational and financial future.
- Should have the freedom and ability to choose the educational institution that best meets their needs.
We believe that as an institution, we should:
- Ensure we are valuing students’ time and money.
- Market responsibly and demonstrate integrity in all of our materials, exposures and engagements.
- Collaborate with employers, public or government officials and regulators, researchers and peer institutions to enhance the experiences and outcomes for our students.
- Be accountable to our students, our regulators and the general public for delivering skills, knowledge and opportunities through our educational programs.
- Maintain financial stability as a measure of accountability to students, a means to provide for the long-term viability of our programs, and an indicator of our ability to invest in the student experience.
Highlights
Excellence for a new era
From our earliest beginnings as the University that changed higher education, University of Phoenix has embraced excellence and innovation. Academic year 2023 was no different.
Like our students, we’re always pressing, never resting. Read on to discover how this came to life in 2023.
Skills-aligned programs
Our students can be confident that their degrees line up with real-world careers. How? As of 2023, 100% of the University’s associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs open for new enrollment are now aligned to career-relevant workplace skills.
01/05
Digital badges
Students can post digital badges on their resumés and social media channels as proof of the skills they’re learning. We offer more than 149 distinct badges, and as of December 2023 we had issued more than 450,000.
02/05
HLC accreditation
Building upon 45 years of continuous accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org), our institutional accreditation was once again reaffirmed in 2023 for 10 more years.
03/05
Career Optimism Index®
In its third year of studying American workers’ personal career perceptions, the Career Optimism Index® study again includes perspectives from 500 U.S. employers, positioning the University at the intersection of higher education and the labor market.
04/05
Career Navigator
With the launch of our Career Navigator in 2023, students now have a place where they can easily reference their skills profile, explore career goals, search job postings, and navigate their career journey all in one place.
05/05
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University timeline 2023
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Our students
Trailblazers and dream chasers
In Greek mythology, the Phoenix is an immortal bird that rises to new life. Our students can relate. Many of our students went to the school of life before taking their first class.
Almost 8 in 10 work, and most are raising kids. Six in 10 are the first in their family to pursue a college degree.
Somewhere in these overlapping circles of statistics, our students can be found head down, grinding through deadlines and doubts — until, in true Phoenix form, they rise.
Who they are
Phoenixes are as diverse as they are determined. Here’s who they are statistically.
How our students performed
University Learning Goals (ULGs) are a set of five overarching competencies that employers identify as top affective, or “soft” skills, and that University of Phoenix incorporates into its academic programs.
The percentage of student work, aligned to University Learning Goals, that scored 70% or higher by faculty in FY23[1] was:
Cultural competence and ethics
Critical thinking and problem-solving
Communication
Digital fluency
Collaboration
[1] Source: University of Phoenix, 2023, Learning Management System
High student satisfaction
From September 2022 through August 2023, students who took our end-of-course surveys reported high satisfaction in these areas:
Likely to recommend instructors to other students
9/10
Likely to recommend the University to colleague, friend or family
9.2/10
Student experience
University of Phoenix founder Dr. John Sperling knew what it meant to beat the odds. He grew up poor, he battled a learning disability, and he worked his way through school to earn a PhD.
The challenges he faced inspired him to create a better path for students like him. He saw adult learners struggling with rigid class schedules, often taking six to 10 years to earn a degree. And it gave him a revolutionary idea: What if he created a university for working adults?
His experiment didn’t make earning a degree easier — only more practical, with schedules that made sense for working adults and coursework that translated immediately to the real world.
Diverse colleges
100+
programs aligned with 300+ careers, 90% of which are in growing fields
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Connecting curriculum to careers
In today’s competitive job market, skills can matter as much as a degree. Our career-focused associate, bachelor’s and master’s programs open for new enrollment align to skills important in today’s workplaces.
Accreditation
continuously accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org)
Student outcomes
From academic counseling and tools that help students manage their finances to our Career Services for Life® commitment, here are some of the ways we help and support our students as they move toward their academic and career goals.
Career Services for Life®
Students and alumni have lifelong access to career tools and resources, including coaching, resumé building and interview prep. For life.
01/10
Committed academic counselors
Students are supported from day one through day done. Our academic counselors work with students to help them progress toward academic and professional goals.
02/10
Tuition Guarantee
Students have the peace of mind that comes with fixed, affordable tuition. With our Tuition Guarantee, our students enjoy one flat rate from enrollment to graduation for their program.
03/10
Centers for Writing and Mathematics Excellence
Students can access a variety of online tools, videos and resources to help support writing and math skills that are essential for student success.
04/10
iGrad® TOOL
To help manage finances responsibly, our students can access the iGrad® online money-management tool at no additional cost. Students can learn how to budget, save and minimize borrowing.
iGrad is a registered trademark of iGrad, Inc.
05/10
Life Resource Center
Through our Life Resource Center, our students can access clinical counseling services and life coaching — plus tips and skill-building resources for time management, housing options and more.
06/10
On-demand resources
Students can access self-paced workshops and tutorials, tips, videos, and other academic and career-relevant content — as well as 24/7 access to our University Library.
07/10
Facebook® Study Sessions
Students can connect, support and motivate through study sessions on the University of Phoenix Facebook® page.
Facebook is a registered trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc.
08/10
Surveys
Our students and faculty are regularly given the opportunity to complete surveys so that we can improve our courses and student experience.
09/10
Chatbot team
Students can virtually and quickly find information they seek through our Phoebe® chatbot.
10/10
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Saving students time and money
In FY23, University of Phoenix students saved over $100 million in tuition between discounts, scholarships and other savings. Here are some highlights:
$16.2M
approximate tuition saved through our Prior Learning Assessment
800,000
approximate number of transfer credits applied in FY23
2,900
organizations whose employees were eligible for education benefits
Up to $2,880
in potential alumni savings for a bachelor’s degree (up to $2,200 on a master’s)
Responsible and appropriate borrowing
University representatives assist students (and prospective students) with tuition financing questions prior to and during students’ programs. And our Repayment Management team assists with understanding federal loan repayment options.
Last year, average student debt levels dropped for all certificate and degree levels at University of Phoenix. Bachelor’s and graduate degree students’ average debt levels are shown here.
University bachelor’s and graduate debt levels
University retention and graduation rates
Data drives our efforts to support student success and improves our understanding of how to help students through the obstacles they face on the way to their degrees.
Since 2017, when the University’s leadership expanded tools to track retention and evolved its focus on retention outcomes, retention rates have experienced an overall positive trend.
University of Phoenix institutional retention rates
Our faculty
We believe students should be taught by accomplished professionals. Our seasoned professionals bring the classroom to life, combining their hands-on work experience with their passion for teaching.
When students rated how likely they would be to recommend their instructor to other students (0 to 10 scale, 10 = extremely likely), our faculty received 9/10.[2]
[2] Survey data is based on 144,080 student responses to our end-of-course survey. All responses were collected between 9/1/22 and 8/31/23.
28.8
years
Average professional experience
15.3
years
Average UOPX teaching experience
Faculty scholarship
Recognizing the role and value that practitioner–scholars bring to the classroom, we encourage a culture of research, scholarship and professional currency among our faculty.
Here is a visual summary from our seven colleges of the breadth of faculty scholarship activities over the year.
College of Doctoral Studies – 23%
College of Business and Information Technology – 22%
College of Nursing – 14%
College of Education – 12%
College of Health Professions – 10%
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences – 10%
College of General Studies – 9%
Our leadership
- Chris Lynne
- John Woods
- Blair Westblom
- Cheryl Naumann
- Eric Rizzo
- Jamie Smith
- Raghu Krishnaiah
- Ruth Veloria
- Srini Medi
- Steve Gross
Our leadership team is deeply committed to helping adult learners reach their education and career goals through continuous innovation that evolves with advances in education, technology and the workplace.
Alumni
We recognize the tremendous achievement of earning a college degree. Most of our students have worked years to reach this goal. In FY23, 93% of our graduates were older than 23, and many are first-generation college students.
We have 50 alumni chapters, which welcomed 2,010 new members in FY23 and pushed our chapter membership to over 26,269.
FEATURED ALUMNI
Several of our alumni share what becoming a college graduate — and a Phoenix — has meant to them.
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Community engagement
At University of Phoenix, we understand that community support and higher education go hand in hand. When we roll up our sleeves to help, we strengthen the communities we serve.
In 2023, the University:
- Sponsored SHE Leads!™, focused on creating a better life for Arizona’s women and children
- Collaborated with tribal leadership to support Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students in overcoming educational barriers
- Supported Future for KIDS, a nonprofit providing programs and camps for youths facing adversity
- Continued our long-standing alliance with the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, publishing the annual “DATOS: The State of Arizona’s Hispanic Market.”
Our commitment to diversity
At University of Phoenix, we focus on creating diverse, equitable, inclusive and belonging (DEIB) environments where all feel they belong.
To continue fostering DEIB initiatives, we:
- Hosted the second annual Inclusive Leadership Summit
- Led the President’s DEIB Advisory Council
- Established Bravely Belong, a virtual student café offering a safe space for students and alumni to practice self-advocacy
- Received the 2023 UPCEA® Leadership in Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Award
Business alliances
Our University of Phoenix Workforce Solutions team works with employers to create a range of tailored solutions that attracts new talent, upskills and reskills existing talent, and retains high-performing talent. Depending on employer needs, options can range from full degree programs, competency-based education, six-to-eight-month role-aligned certificates, individual courses, apprenticeship pathways and skill-building workshops.
In 2023 the number of students enrolled at University of Phoenix who were able to continue their education at reduced or no cost based on the University’s relationship with their employer increased by 48.9% over 2022.
We currently offer upskilling education to more than 2,900 organizations ranging from healthcare to telecommunications through employer or benefits provider alliances.
Discover more about how University of Phoenix supports the needs of organizations’ workforces.
Thank you
This is just a snapshot of the work we did in 2023. Download the full report to learn more.