Phoenix College

Date: Feb 16 2012
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
As a returning/re-careering student I've found Phoenix College to be an underrated, hidden gem. In my experience, Phoenix College generally has healthier professor/student interactions than I saw at either college or university, and has a greater commitment to education.

In particular its higher mathematics (calculus) and computer science courses are superior in terms of delivered course content and instructor commitment to what is offered at the local university (Arizona State University) at equivalent and often even higher levels. Phoenix College's science courses are generally well taught by M.S.- , PhD - and even M.D.- degreed faculty, usually with substantive industry experience, without the ego, petty politics or racial politics so frequently found in "educators" at institutions of higher standing. Faculty are invariably accessible and very often helpful.

Generally I have found students here to be genuinely friendly and frequently helpful, which makes them unlike many of their counterparts at other, ostensibly better-regarded colleges and universities. Although Phoenix College is a heavily populated campus near the center of a major metropolitan area, the college projects the look and feel of a much smaller, more personal campus that from the center appears less urban than it is. Bureaucracy is present but usually not obtrusive, unhelpful or obstructive, as is so often the case with the state's "flagship" universities.

Cost compares extremely favorably with just about any other higher education alternative, especially when value is considered.

Although I personally have had little formal contact with the arts faculty, the music department seems extremely polished,the visual arts department has played host to some great regional and even nationally recognized painters (Eric Fischl and Merrill Mahaffey, to name two), and creative writing classes feature some widely published writers. It has been a constant regret of mine that I have not felt able to take the time to participate in the arts programs at Phoenix College.