When Was Phoenix University Founded?
When Was Phoenix University Founded? The University of Phoenix was founded in 1976 by Dr. John Sperling, a Cambridge-educated economist who had worked as a professor at San Jose State University and was frustrated by the lack of access to higher education for working adults. Sperling saw an opportunity to create a new kind of university that would serve the needs of adult learners by offering flexible scheduling and online coursework. Initially, the University of Phoenix offered programs in business and management, but it soon expanded to include a range of undergraduate and graduate programs in fields such as education, healthcare, technology, and criminal justice. The university's online programs, in particular, became very popular, and by the early 2000s, it was one of the largest online universities in the world. In 1989, the University of Phoenix became the first for-profit university to be accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a regional accrediting agency recognized