Sperling’s new career as an entrepreneur was anything but secure. The organization that accredits colleges and universities in California, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), opposed what Sperling was doing. Documents quoted in Sperling’s memoir indicate that WASC officials were uncomfortable with the number of group projects IPD allowed; WASC thought only individual projects should be permitted. WASC was also concerned that IPD was “making excess profits.” WASC officials threatened to strip accreditation from the schools Sperling was working with.
By the time Sperling started IPD, he was no longer a socialist. He believed the free market was the best way to bring innovation to higher education. He writes that being for-profit imposed a kind of “discipline” that was missing at traditional universities. “It left us no alternative but to produce a service for which customers were willing to pay a price high enough to sustain a growing concern.”
And Phoenix was offering her college credit for her work experience
The pushback that Sperling got from WASC and from people at traditional schools, some of whom called IPD a “diploma mill,” was par for the course, in Sperling’s opinion. He writes in his memoir:
The battles fought by IPD. against the educational establishment were. largely proxies for cultural battles between defenders of 800 years of educational tradition, and an innovation that was based on values of the marketplace — transparency, efficiency, productivity, and accountability. To me, the defenders of academic traditions were protecting undeserved middle-class entitlements.
Sperling eventually decided that the only way he would be successful was to start his own university. That is no small task. The layers of regulatory and political approval are immense. Sperling determined there was no way he would be able to do it in California, where the higher education accrediting association was already against him. So he moved to Arizona, where a different accrediting body had control https://getbadcreditloan.com/payday-loans-nj/clark/ and where laws made it easier to start a new university.
IPD was giving students college credits for their work experience and WASC believed IPD was giving too much credit
In 1976, Sperling rented space in a Boilermakers’ union hall in Phoenix, hired lawyers and a lobbyist, and opened for business. He had eight students to start. They were all working adults who had some college already and were looking for a way to finish their degrees.
Muriel Duncan was one of the first students. She had started college when she was 18 but quit because it was too expensive. When someone — she can’t remember who — told her about this new school, Duncan was 50 years old. She was working for the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections. Her husband was on disability and they relied mostly on her income. She traveled a lot for her job and says she couldn’t take time off to finish her degree.
But the University of Phoenix made her think again. Classes were just one night a week. She could manage that with her travel schedule and family demands. It was an opportunity too good to pass up. She paid cash for the classes because when Sperling opened for business the University of Phoenix was not yet accredited. That meant students weren’t eligible for federal grants or student loans. The classes were about $200 each. It was worth it for Muriel Duncan. She was a member of the first graduating class, in 1979. She says her University of Phoenix degree allowed her to move up at work.
A decade after opening, Phoenix had 6,000 students — more than many colleges in America. But John Sperling wanted his university to get much bigger.
