Immigration officials in China "really cared" about me presenting a degree from an accredited school when processing my work visa. Despite the fact that I was at a tech start-up (SmarTots) doing work completely unrelated B.A., the degree and school were important to them.

For me, they didn't even want the legal certified transcripts, just a copy of my actual ceremonial PhD paper that you post in your office! Quite crazy, I could have bought something to pass in for a 100 kuai if I didn't happen to have it with me.

Having accreditation is one thing, but an employer recognizing it as legitimate is another thing entirely.

Also, AFAIK, such for-profit schools probably haven't been actually granted accreditation -- they probably have purchased it through the sneaky loophole of buying a regionally accredited school: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:For-profit_education#For-p...

Have you actually gone through any program from University of Phoenix?

I am not trying to be sarcastic or anything. I am genuinely curious of the quality of education institutions like UP provides. Is it so bad that it's not even worth paying for? Although, I could say the same about some courses I took in my school ...