Badmouthing an online school is not a violation of the EEOC and criticizing a school is not harrasment, get with it or shut up

Many individuals have spoken out and criticized online schools, particularly the University of Phoenix. A few clever college age students have even posted a rather comedic YouTube video mocking the school, albeit in a somewhat tactless and tasteless way. I have noticed that a number of online students have taken the liberty of calling every person who badmouths their school an ignorant, tasteless, mean-spirited jerk (the exact lingo differs in each situation). Unfortunately, these students fail to grasp that this is the image of schools like the University of Phoenix. It may not be justly deserved, but it is the reality of the situation. I can't grasp the number of online students out there who seem to think that the people who make these comments are part of the minority. Maybe these reputations will change in the future, but until then online students must just learn to deal with them.

Now, on Yahoo! Answers someone discussed how they asked their boss (a school principal) what he thought about the University of Phoenix and the guy responded that he thought it was a joke. Some moron responded at the end of the thread by saying that the principal made a very thoughtless comment and seemed to have no concern for people's feelings. He also said that the person asking the question should tell the principal to be careful when making such statements because he could get in trouble for violating the EEOC for making such "harassing" comments. This comment is complete crap on a number of levels.

First of all, this comment was not directed at a University of Phoenix student, so there is no reason why it would be considered mean or inconsiderate. The person asking the question was considering spending a lot of money on an education, and wanted honest feedback before doing so. Personally, if I was about to spend $50,000 on an education, I would want someone to give me their honest opinion of the school not a politically correct sap of crap that was intended to make people feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Secondly, there is no way that saying "The University of Phoenix is a joke" is a violation of the EEOC. The EEOC "investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability and retaliation for reporting and/or opposing a discriminatory practice." Funny, I don't see anything about discrimination against University of Phoenix students. If employers were not allowed to give preference to students from certain colleges when hiring for example, then there would be no point going to Harvard. You could just as well attend the University of Alaska for a fifth the price and be guaranteed the exact same job opportunities as everyone else.

So students of online schools, I hate to tell you this, but unless things change in the near future your school's bad reputation is something you are going to have to contend with.