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Global success with online learning
Learning online has seemed to be a natural solution to borderless education for many years, but the path has not been smooth and many course providers and students have foundered in trying to achieve their goals this way. The University of Phoenix, however, has overcome the major obstacles and is now the world's largest online education provider with 110,000 degree students studying online throughout the world. We look at students’ experience of one of its leading programs.
Not many people can say they have traveled to over 40 countries in a lifetime – much less before the age of 30. Anna Soukatch Spyrou can.
She can also tell you that exposure to all of those 40 countries was not enough to prepare her for the move to Doha, Qatar, and a position with Moody International, the leading inspection and certification provider with offices worldwide in 70 countries.
“As the environment of Moody is very culturally diverse, at the beginning coping with it was difficult,” says Anna, currently serving as Administration Manager, of what prompted her to look for the online courses that offered masters degrees in international studies and management. Ultimately she chose University of Phoenix Online’s Masters of Management International.
LARGEST US-ACCREDITED, PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Attracted to the reach and respect of a US-accredited degree, today thousands of students from over 130 countries are realizing their academic goals through University of Phoenix (UOP) Online. Freed from time zones and national borders, its international students are seamlessly integrated into highly interactive and demanding US degree programs. The resulting multi-national interaction transcends cultural and social boundaries creating a uniquely rich learning environment.
Founded in 1989, UOP's Online campus is among the oldest in the industry offering internationally respected degree programs based on the same US-accredited curriculum used for nearly 30 years on our campuses throughout North America. Taught by a practitioner faculty and endorsed by corporate giants, UOP advanced degree programs can be completed in less than two years, offering real potential for fast promotion.With over 200,000 students enrolled, 110,000 fully online, University of Phoenix is America’s largest private university.
“When I moved to Doha, Qatar, I had to deal with a culture shock which I wasn’t ready for,” says Kiev-born Anna, resident of Cyprus, Greece, and graduate of Coventry University, UK. “After just four courses at University of Phoenix Online, I find it much easier. I gained some necessary skills and knowledge of working with, and managing, people of different cultures. I learned new ways of problem solving from my classmates, who also come from all over the world and who have their own ways of dealing with conflicts at work."
Fluent in English, Greek and her native Russian, Anna moved to Cyprus with her family from the Ukraine at the tender age of 17. There she attended Cyprus Intercollegiate, later transferring to Coventry University in the United Kingdom, where she earned her associate's degree in law and a bachelors degree in law and humanities.
“I am not afraid of diversity anymore, and I will be even better equipped for dealing with different people after I graduate,” she says.
INTERNATIONAL FOCUS
University of Phoenix Online is dedicated to meeting the unique needs of its international students – virtually anywhere. Specialized in both regional and national education issues, UOP international counselors collectively speak more than 20 languages and work business hours appropriate to each international time zone, providing voice-tovoice support from the admission’s interview through graduation for all international students – the same support offered to domestic students.
“This program (MMI) covers all aspects of international management, and is indispensable,” says Anna. “I really liked the informal way in which the instructors facilitate the program, encouraging students to share experience and learn from each other. I learned a lot about international business just from my classmates.”
Paradoxical as it may seem, for this world traveler it is the online experience itself that holds a lot of the appeal. Anna finds it so flexible, engaging and yet far more interactive (both with professors and classmates) than her experience in classrooms at Coventry.
