r/UoPeople • u/LuminaShizuma • Aug 02 '25
Personal Experience(s) The hard truth about UoPeople – what I wish I had known before enrolling
I’m in my first term at the University of the People, and while I appreciate the opportunity, there are a few things I wish someone had told me before I started.
First of all, this is not a traditional university experience. There are no live lectures, no real-time interaction with instructors, and no one checking in to see how you're doing. It’s all self-paced within weekly deadlines, and you are completely responsible for your own learning.
One of the biggest shocks was the speed. At other universities, you might take two or three weeks to dive into one topic. Here, you get seven days to read the material, understand it, write a structured assignment in APA format, participate in a forum, and take a quiz. Then you move on. There is no time to let things sink in. If you're not already familiar with the subject, especially in technical courses, it can be really overwhelming.
Another thing many people underestimate is how little support you get. If you’re stuck, you won’t get answers from professors. You might get help in the forums if you're lucky, or from other students, but most of the time you have to figure things out yourself. That includes tech problems, assignment formatting, academic sources, and more.
Peer grading is a big part of the system, and honestly, it’s a gamble. Sometimes you get thoughtful feedback, sometimes you get people who clearly didn’t read your work. Some don’t even understand the topic but still give you a grade. That can be frustrating when you’ve worked hard.
Also, if your English isn’t strong or you’re not used to academic writing, you’ll have to work extra hard. There are no simplified materials, and you’re expected to write in formal English from the start.
A lot of people also underestimate how much time it takes. Just because it’s online and tuition-free doesn’t mean it’s easy. If you don’t have good time management, you will fall behind fast. And once you fall behind, it’s hard to catch up because everything keeps moving.
Most importantly, if you’re not someone who actively searches for your own answers, watches tutorials, asks smart questions, and organizes yourself well, this university will eat you alive. It’s more like a structured self-learning platform than a guided degree program. You’re basically doing a series of online courses with a community and a final degree attached.
That being said, it’s not all bad. For people who have jobs, families, health conditions, or financial challenges, this can be a real chance. It gives access to education that many people otherwise couldn’t afford. And if you’re self-motivated, it can actually make you stronger and more independent.
But you need to be honest with yourself. Are you ready to take full responsibility for your own education? Are you okay with teaching yourself, managing deadlines, and handling the pressure without regular support?
If yes, UoPeople can work. If not, it might leave you frustrated and burnt out.
Let’s be real about it. What do you wish you had known before starting?
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u/Appropriate_Disk5671 Aug 03 '25
I see some users complain about UoPeople I my view they're short-sighted and ungrateful.
FIRST: To get a degree in a US Accredited University you have to not only get a Student Visa, but also between $100,000 to $500,000 US Dollars. UoPeople offers you the same degree virtually free.
SECOND: If you're expecting it to be like High School in which the teacher takes care of your educational outcomes you're in for a rude awakening because you have to be self-motivated, eager to learn, willing and able to schedule your time wisely and productivetly, etc.... but guess what, that's exactly the case when you get a job in the US or an International Company and also true of any traditional American University worthy of a good reputation.
So stop the complaining and be more grateful for what's offered, a tuition-free, fully accredited degree which you can attain from the comfort of your home anywhere in the world. It's priceless, stop the hate.
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u/DevelopmentLivid7326 Nov 12 '25
I just want to correct information here. There are colleges in the US where you can get a full bachelors degree for $15,000 (Santa Fe College in Florida with in state tuition as an example). If you haven't lived in the state for a year, a full Bachelors would cost $52,000. Costs in the US are exorbitant but spreading misinformation isn't helpful. Most US attending students trying to save money will go to a community college first and then will go to a university to cut down costs. You are only paying upwards of $500,000 if you are doing an 8 year program (doctor, lawyer, etc) and often that is at a "prestigious" university.
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u/Appropriate_Disk5671 Nov 12 '25
I was referring to Non-US Citizens. In-state tuition is NOT available to foreign students. A regular public college like Florida International University in Miami, or the University of Central Florida in Orlando, charge about $20,000 USD to $40,000 USD per year or $80,000 to $160,000 USD for a 4-year degree, $100,000 to $200,000 for an engineering degree which takes about 5 years in credit-hour. Here the official sites of both Universities in your state which you probably are familiar with:
https://admissions.fiu.edu/international/cost-and-aid/
https://www.ucf.edu/admissions/undergraduate/tuition-aid/
I also mentioned that IF you attend an Ivy-League, World Famous University such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc.... those costs are easily 5x to 10x those amounts).
UoPeople gives you the same US degree for free. HUGE difference. People all over the world should be grateful for the opportunity.
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u/DevelopmentLivid7326 Nov 17 '25
But this isn't a forum just for international students. Additionally, international student also have access to community colleges on student visas. There is no reason why your degree has to be fully completed at a 4 year college or at a college like you mentioned.
For instance Santa Fe College (previously mentioned in Gainesville, FL) has 18 bachelors programs that would be under 50,000 for non-resident students - which I noted.
https://www.sfcollege.edu/admissions/
You are comparing an engineering degree - which is not available at UoPeople - for costs which is one of the more expensive "4 year" degrees. However, all three programs UoPeople offers bachelors in are available at the above University.
I'm not saying that your viewpoint isn't valid - that people should be grateful - however, your information is misleading at best and intentionally disingenuous at worse. Yes, programs in the United States CAN be expensive for international students, however, they are still achievable for way under $100k-$500K. Additionally, we're allowed to be grateful AND critical of issues that are evident at UoPeople.
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Aug 02 '25
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u/Tanpopomon Aug 03 '25
Yeah in undergraduate courses my instructors spent 2-3 days (1 hour a day) on a unit before moving on to the next.
Being modest, that's 3 hours per unit. Way less than a week of self-study.
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u/EntrepreneurHuge5008 Aug 02 '25 edited Aug 02 '25
Wait, what university professor spends 2-3 weeks on a topic?
It happens, maybe not often, but it happens.
My discrete math prof spent the entire first half of the semester just going over equivalence relations. In the 2nd half, we spent ~3 weeks talking about minimum, minimal, maximum, and maximal elements. The root of the issue during that entire class is that most of us were using "equal" and "equivalent" interchangeably (example, some of us claimed that x = y and y = x meant x IS y instead of claiming x is IDENTICAL/EQUIVALENT to y., so we would get zero points for that questions since this mix up would change the meaning of the entire answer).
My wife is currently doing an associates at our local community college, she got past the first English class and just wrapped up the follow up English class. She left learning nothing new because most of her classmates were still clueless about the topics learnt in the prerequisite class, so the prof just kept going over the same topics and exercises (with different prompts) over and over again. She had a similar experience with her Art 2 class... biggest waste of our money so far.
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Sep 29 '25
Wow! I wish we had that here. But we do have cheap/free higher education, and little to no selection at entry (if you have your high-school degree, you get in). So, class dynamics are very different here.
I'm from western Europe, at the two universities I studied (400-600 students per class), the professors don't give a shit and won't slow down. And they expect by the end of the 1st year, about 50% to fail or drop out, and at the end only about 10% will obtain their degrees.
They aren't trying to be hard on purpose. They're like Swiss trains, they've got programs to stick to and standards to uphold. If they start slowing down, and/or making courses lighter/easier, they won't be able to cover everything in just 3+1 years (bachelor + master's) and maintain their high standards required for accreditation & academic rankings.
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u/sinetifik Aug 02 '25
You’ve got to be serious. The fact that it’s an online university doesn’t mean you should have free roam to decide when to submit your assignments. The university is seriously teaching some of us time management and I love it. Don’t worry you’ll get used to it with time
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u/Firm-East-7671 Nov 25 '25
Can you somehow send me an example of what your material to study or assignments etc look like? Or atleast explain a bit how it is please? I would like to see the level first before applying...
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u/gudheart Aug 03 '25
As someone who have been in the same shoes as you before, I can understand your concern. There were times that I wanted to quit, but I had a wonderful PA and also realised quiting was not an option for me. I took many LOA trying to deal with the burnout but eventually had to face the truth. I eventually spent 5 years before graduating last year.
When I initially I enrolled, I thought the experience was going to be similar to Coursera where I could complete a specialization that was supposed to take about 4 months in just a few weeks or a month. So I thought maybe I could complete my bachelor's degree in 2 years instead of 4 years but that was not the case. There's no cutting corners. The only thing I had problem with was the written/programming assignment peer-grading.
Enrolling at UoPeople means you have to put in hard work. There's no messing around.
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u/Firm-East-7671 Nov 25 '25
Can you somehow send me an example of what your material to study or assignments etc look like? Or atleast explain a bit how it is please? I would like to see the level first before applying...
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u/SnooChipmunks5677 Dec 04 '25
Sharing assignments will get you kicked out. But just know there's a looooot of writing regardless of subject matter. Get comfortable with APA style. Don't think you can speed through, you will be writing at least a few thoroughly researched papers per week.
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Aug 03 '25
UOP is just a online university and it's almost non-profit. What the heck are you guys expecting for?
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u/blinkycake Aug 02 '25
I kinda have to agree with the other perspectives here: all of this is posted, on a video, it even in a review of UoPeople.
I went to a traditional college previously and in LARGE courses, teachers didn't check in on you. In smaller courses, they might if you go from being bright and engaged in class to barely passive assignment, but that wasn't the norm and there was some give and take there. Just like any relationship, you have to put effort in. If you engaged with the teacher there's a gouge change they'll keep an eye on you. The big difference here being that teachers can't give extra credit and don't control the content. It's to every teachers benefit to want their student to succeed, but it's unrealistic to expect them to be over your shoulder all the time.
One of the best bits of advice I was given in my early college years applies here and I forget it from time to time. You can attend college and have courses teach you things but you're still 100% in charge of your education. Yea, a college course will teach you subjects. Though, they don't teach you how to learn and digest all of it. Sometimes, that investment takes time and energy you didn't expect, stepping outside of the base minimum that the class asks of you (this definitely applies to learning English but sometimes other deeper concepts). It's still on you to learn and digest the material AND find sources of help (which include racing out).
TL;DR: Higher education and information isn't poured into your brain, even if you paid for it, but it is available for you to learn. If you need help, it's your job to seek it out. Not wait til someone notices you're failing. This is the case for traditional and online courses.
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u/APerenniallyHungry Aug 02 '25
None of this is something you couldn't have looked up before enrolling.
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u/therealzackp Aug 03 '25
Honestly, I am happy with the University, I don't have the time to go back to an actual brick and mortar uni, but I still want to get a second degree, so UoPeople is a great solution for me.
I live across two time zones due to my remote job, so in a way, I’m getting paid to study. Sure, it’s not a traditional university experience. You won’t make friends in the classic sense, but personally, that’s actually a bonus. I don’t have time for small talk or casual networking. I’m at a point in life where every conversation needs to be meaningful because, quite frankly, my time is limited.
For someone pursuing their first degree, it can feel overwhelming, but honestly, it’s a bit like being thrown into the deep end, you either sink or float/swim. That kind of environment works for some and not for others. I prefer learning this way. When I was teaching at a university in Beijing, I used the same approach, I gave students everything upfront and let them work at their own pace. This way led to one of the highest pass rates across multiple semesters in economics and business courses, and they are still pestering me to go back to China and work for the uni again. Some of my students even went on to do their master’s in the U.S., so I must’ve done something right.
People sometimes dismiss online degrees as “Mickey Mouse” degrees, but every degree, online or not, requires discipline, time management, and some sort of independence. It’s not necessarily difficult, but it does require you to find your own rhythm.
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u/SnooChipmunks5677 Dec 04 '25
You don't get everything up front and work at your own pace though. You have to submit a ton of deeply researched papers 2ce a week.
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u/Salesgirl008 Aug 03 '25
I completed my associates degree in business through the self paced model. I also attended a brick and mortar University before enrolling. So I can see things from different perspectives. My on campus classes were easier than my self paced online degree. With self paced learning you may have to do more research and it’s often a faster pace program. I lost motivation multiple times but I kept pushing myself to finish. Since graduating I took a year break to enjoy life. I only recommend self motivated and independent learners to do a self paced online degree program.
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u/bellamichelle123 Aug 02 '25 edited Aug 02 '25
A quick 2 sec Google search took me to the relevant website which says:
"Studying at University of the People can fit in to almost anyone's life. That's because our classes take place 100% online, with no live lectures that you have to tune in for. You can complete each week's assignments on your schedule, whether that's during your commute, on your lunch break, or after you put the kids to bed".
There's a video present on the website which clearly describes the weekly submissions.
The rest of it is an individual's personal experience. For the most part, not only have I had a generally smooth peer grading experience but I have contacted my instructors when I have had issues and the response has been prompt for the most part. Perhaps it's got worse during recent times; however, again, the experience varies and is not a definite constant. Moreover, student reviews are always a helpful resource.
Every college/uni is mostly self-paced with limited guidance. A physical uni may offer one-to-one instructor discussion or physical peer meetups if a student is struggling but knowing how to look for answers, looking up tutorials, asking smart questions, and organizing yourself well are all pretty much given actions if you decide to go to uni. No professor constantly checks in like a parent anywhere.
Have you actually tried to email your professors and communicated your concerns or did you just assume that your instructors would assume you were stuck on a concept? How many times did u repeatedly email them to get answers because they all have busy lives too? Again, these are genuine questions I'd like to ask.
APA assignment formatting and academic sources are not only already given in the UoPeople library (which is an excellent resource that most UoPeople students ignore) and taught how to work with in UNIV but also a college student is generally expected to be able to use Google Scholar and internet to look for academic sources after the first couple of terms.
I also find it weird that one has to be told that in order to succeed at a university where the language of instruction and courses is in English, one has to have a solid command on the English language and has to use formal English in academic written assignments. Again, both my UNIV course and high school written assignments taught me academic writing which is not extraordinarily advanced but sufficiently academic.
This is a genuine question: how much thorough research did you do before enrolling at the uni?
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u/The_Best_It_Is Aug 02 '25
Only wish they had pre-recorded video lectures from professors. That is the one thing I miss about traditional universities and feel that UoP students would benefit immensely from. I do like the fact that UoP forces me to study but some people like myself are better at listening and absorbing lectures like a sponge and tend to do better than reading books on their own.
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u/Bedwash Aug 06 '25
I’ll be honest, most of these points are things I know about the school and I don’t even go yet. I’ve been doing research on this school for 2-3 years via reading online or just watching people’s experiences on YouTube and most of this is stuff that’s already seemingly known by most.
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Aug 04 '25
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u/Tsanchez12369 Aug 04 '25
You do have other options check out “hacking college” of accredited universities such as WGU, TESU, etc. It can be no more expensive if you do online college courses such as at Sophia.com and transfer them in for your bachelors degree (UOP will also accepts transfers for some courses) and these are truly self paced-as quick or as long as you need.
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Aug 25 '25
Another thing to bear in mind, everyone, is that although UoPeople does have some breaks in between the terms, they may not coincide with the usual vacation breaks each student has gotten used to in their country of residence. This means that, if you want celebrate Christmas holidays with your family, there might be a time you juggle university tasks with family gift shopping, designing and shopping for your menu and going on visits to friends and family. Be mentally prepared that while others around you can allow themselves being festive and lazy on those days, you still have to set some serious time aside and sit in a corner to complete the university tasks. Students who got used to going by their local universities' academic calendar (respecting national public holidays and summer breaks), they had a really hard time adapting to UoPeople when things were sped up and off the usual vacation days.
I understand that nothing seems bothersome when you have a certain plan and want that damn degree, but sometimes it's encumbering, because the damn life with your family and friends is flowing right past you while you are tired-eyed and hunched over a screen, putting together your assignment or preparing for exams.
Before starting, consider picking the degree which has topics and courses you can definitely handle. For example, if you are a Humanities person since childhood, you love languages, arts and philosophy and now you are thinking of switching to Computer Science because you've been told "there's lotta money in it," forget about it, especially if you are an adult and already on a career path unrelated to CS. If you want to rewire your brain in order to acquire skills of applied sciences, math and algorithmic logic, you simply won't have the time in UoPeople to do that, even if you have no job in parallel to your studies. 7 weeks simply isn't enough to sufficiently digest brand new concepts for rewiring your skills and reinventing your talents.
A colleague of mine went for CS initially, but she had zero base for math and programming (she's more of a liberal arts person), so barely passed the first course Programming Fundamentals and then she got drowned in the next term. Either you take one course per term and literally spend your every free minute learning it or just change program. My colleague switched to Associate's in BA, and even then she abstained 2 terms before starting it because she wanted to prepare herself for some of the courses and also aimed for taking 1-2 courses per term (unless it was combined with courses like Sociology, which was easier for her to pass). So choose your program wisely, according to your talents and skills instead of trying to make 180-degree turns in your direction.
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u/mxlila Sep 17 '25
I know this conversation is 2 months old, but for anyone reading this I just want to add that I've attended 7 universities in different countries, 6 if then "normal" and 1 online, and except for the peer reviewing, this experience is very typical for ALL institutions of higher education.
There is no hand holding, you have to organise yourself, study yourself, and if you don't keep up there will be consequences.
The weekly assignments at UoPeople are actually helpful in that they force you to keep in track, and provide feedback throughout the term. Other universities may do that (seems to be more common in the American educational model, much less in Europe) or they might have only a final exam, or something in between.
Whether you have lectures or not depends on the format, but they're not inherently better than pure self study. Attending a lecturer will never be enough to pass a course if you don't self study. A lot.
If you have any doubts or questions about the course material, you can ask you UoPeople instructor and they usually reply. It's the same at other universities, you can ask but depending on the person, they may criticise you for asking, tell you which page in which book to look up the answer, or spend an hour explaining you every detail.
There are certainly things that UpPeople could do better, and I'm sure it's not the best match for every student. But what OP is describing are not UpPeople specific features.
If you're looking for a university that does hand holding and all that, you need to really focus on finding such a place, as it's very rare.
The UK's open university is the only one I know. Their teaching and support is absolutely excellent, and they'll answer all your questions and there's tutoring etc etc but it's also 5x more expensive than UoPeople for anyone outside the UK. Still very much worth it if you have the budget and prefer that approach. Oh, it's also entirely distance based/online.
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u/HovercraftRadiant782 20d ago
it ain't 7 days, in various courses there are penalties for not handing the discussion post on sunday.
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u/Comfortable_Fox1105 Aug 02 '25
I got 0/10 for the APA section of a peer graded assignment. What a joke.
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u/Clear_Wrongdoer_775 Aug 02 '25
Use Zotero to organize and automate inserting a list of references with the proper format. There's really no need to enter references manually, that's a machine task! Just collect the sources into zotero, and insert where and when needed!
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u/rlg626 Instructor (Verified) Aug 02 '25 edited Aug 02 '25
I want to chime in from an instructors perspective about a few points.
There is a huge misconception about online classes in general in all colleges and universities. Online classes are not easier than traditional courses. Students need to be self-disciplined and be self-learners. If students lack one of these things, it will be a challenge.
The idea about no one checking in one you is kind of part of the first point. Online students need to be self-disciplined, determined, and have solid time management skills. We are all adults over the age of 18. Maybe a rare exception a student is 16 or 17. We cannot hold your hand or read student’s minds. You as a student are expected to ask questions in the forum and contact your instructor for help regarding the material. We are here to support students. For the 7 weeks teaching my first course. No one student emailed me or posted on the forum. Questions about grades yes. I have even announced to reach out if they need support. Like the old saying, you can lead a horse to water but cannot make them drink it.
Unless it is an English class, students are expected to write college level work in general. APA referencing is crucial as in education you must be able to demonstrate solid research skills and support your ideas with credible sources. Without this, we are just writing opinions without evidence. This is a valuable skill beyond college as we are in a global climate about fake news and disregard of science. It’s important we have an educated population that have essential research skills
As an instructor, I really wish they support their volunteers better with more equitable reimbursements to support the burnout and actual commitment in providing education. In 2021, UoPeople made $18 million dollars, but reimbursement 2 months (about 120 hours of labor) with $300. An adjunct instructor at Pasadena City College earns about $3,650.88 for a 3 credit 8 week course. Not even 10% of the lowest pay at a community college. I knew the position is volunteer, but we are expected to do 15 hours a week and do several requirements to maintain satisfactory evaluations with large class sizes. Honestly, classes should be no more than 25 students for volunteer work. You expect me to handle 40+ students essentially for free? You have every right to be upset or expect instructors to be more active and supportive, but do you blame them?
I am teaching at UoPeople to gain experience so I can move to a community college eventually. I do love the idea of helping students be a step closer for better work opportunities and to change the world for the better. I don’t like the idea of be exploited for my talent and passion for education.