I wish I could compare to MIT but since I have no acquaintances there, I can only draw comparisons between a few programs in art and design (philosophy might be another story). --This is the fourth time I've tried to rewrite what I want to say before hitting reply and it just isn't working out. It's a long topic, and abbreviating it simply turns it into a rant. If you really believe that degrees/credits don't matter, then you should be careful when and where you stray from that principle. If the choice is between two people with no experience, no portfolio, but a degree and maybe an interview, then it's virtually unavoidable. But, if they have work to back themselves up then why even look at their degree? Even if you have certain feelings about certain places (like UPhoenix), you're better off getting what you need to know from an interview since you never know the circumstances that led people there anyway (and there are many... visa requirements, money combined with being ill-informed about other options, etc).
Probably better to just leave out Phoenix altogether from your resume as an expensive mistake. And, if people won't look at you even though you can show them a pile of good work that you've done - that probably wouldn't be the greatest place to work anyway.
Phoenix is no better than no credential at all, and also implies a general ignorance of the tech industry. In addition it costs twice as much per year as state school did per degree, and dozens of times as much as the internet and old editions of books from http://used.addall.com :)
You went to community college, like I did (for the entire first half of my university career - Oakton Community College represent!), so you can't think that's a completely unreasonable statement. OCC certainly wasn't MIT, but it was a place where you could learn a lot of your undergrad math.
Not to say that you won't find people that will dismiss you out of hand, but you'll find that if you're black, or from out of state, or went to Yale instead of Harvard or Harvard instead of Yale - depending on the person you're talking to. Some people have really horrible quality heuristics:) But he's not doing it.