California State University of Phoenix, Sacramento

University of Phoenix, Sacramento. Sacramento State University of Phoenix. California State University of Phoenix, Sacramento None of these really have that ring to it. And neither does the idea of the Apollo Group taking over the California State University system.

The University of Phoenix is a for-profit university with the largest student body of all for-profit universities. William Tierney, a higher education professor at the University of Southern California, recently wrote an article saying the University of Phoenix could potentially buy the CSU system for a price of $2.3 billion.

I do not really see the benefits, or reasons for the University of Phoenix buying the CSU system. Sure, the $2.3 billion would help the state’s financial crisis, but how much would it really help? In the long run the state could potentially lose money because there would never be money seen again from the 23 state universities.

Of all the state university systems in the nation, the CSU system is the largest; so, selling it off to a corporation would be a major loss when the economic crisis subsides.

The University of Phoenix’s student body, as of now, is mainly adults with families and have part-time jobs. They are returning college students who do not need, or necessarily want the “college life” experience because maybe they have already had it, or do not have time for it anymore.

However, many of the students in the CSU system currently have part time jobs, and some have families as well. So there is not a big advantage, or gain in having older, maybe more mature students making up the student body. And I do not understand how that makes the University of Phoenix a viable option in taking over the CSU system.

The CSU system has been established for quite some time and just because of this current economic crisis the state has been in, I think this would be a mistake that will make the college going experience less attractive. It seems like one of those decisions that felt necessary and appropriate at the time, but in hindsight was completely wrong, and is now too late. A panicked decision.

Tierney mentions that the University of Phoenix produces graduates who are ready for the work force. It may in fact do that; however, does the CSU system not? What makes them so much more ready for the work force? Is it because they are mainly adult students? If that is the case then that is a moot point because they have been in the working world longer than those in the CSU system.

The University of Phoenix buying the CSU system would not suddenly make the average college student fresh out of high school more prepared for the professional working world. There is nothing in their curriculum that could possibly make that drastic of a change in that area of development. If the University of Phoenix was so much better in preparing its students for the working world, then why don’t more high schoolers apply?

California State University, Sacramento. Sacramento State University. University of Phoenix. These have a nice ring to them, separately. Lets keep them that way.