John G. Sperling dies at 93; founder of University of Phoenix

[Zorro]

John G. Sperling, a poor boy from the Missouri Ozarks who survived a cruel childhood to become a college professor and a billionaire with an idea for a university that launched a revolution in higher education, has died. He was 93.

The self-described "unintentional entrepreneur" who founded the for-profit behemoth University of Phoenix, Sperling died Friday of complications following an infection at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, Calif., said former University of Phoenix President Jorge Klor de Alva. Sperling had homes in the Bay Area and Arizona.

Sperling was a tenured professor at San Jose State University in 1972 when he hit on the idea of an alternative institution for adult learners whose needs were not being met by traditional colleges and universities. He formally founded University of Phoenix in the mid-1970s after moving to Arizona and built the business into one of the world's largest private higher education systems.

It now has an enrollment of 241,000 students, many of them virtual learners who never step inside a classroom.

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-john-sperling-20140826-story.html

Whatever one thinks of the University of Phoenix, Sperling's obituary reveals that he was a pretty interesting fellow.

[Nay]

1. Yeah, well, the U of Phoenix is a complete sham. Several coworkers got

degrees from there and, between them, they couldn't construct one complete grammatically correct sentence. No degree should be issued to such folks. U of P has led the way in the degradation of the learning environment and encouraged the selling of essentially fake degrees.

Maybe he was an interesting guy, but he's done some great harm as well.

[Initech]

3. Wasn't U Of Phoenix under federal investigation for defrauding returning veterans?

[Nay]

5. It wouldn't surprise me. I consider them to be vicious debt collectors who issue

diploma-mill type degrees to people who barely can graduate high school. In the case of one of my coworkers, the degree got him a promotion that should have gone to someone else who had all the knowledge and skills, but did not have a degree. It was a good ol' boy type of decision to promote him and has severely depressed the person who should have had the job. I'm glad I'm retired.

[Javaman]

2. fine by me. another snake oil salesmen dead. nt

[RandiFan1290]

4. When there is a scam to be had

The Carlyle Group will be there to rake in the $$

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Group

Apollo Global is a joint venture between the Apollo Group and the Carlyle Group. The two partners invested $1 billion in Apollo Global.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

6. Whatever you think of U of Phoenix, they revolutionized correspondence education

Given college costs, internet learning is probably the future of higher ed for much of America.

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. Along with Peter Lewis and George Soros, Sterling was an early sugar daddy for drug reform.

He kicked in big bucks for the California and Arizona medical marijuana initiatives and the California sentencing reform initiative.

I don't know about U of Phoenix, but I give him kudos for that.