Is phoenix university nationally or regionally accredited?

Answer 1

This needs more than a simple answer.

Ultimately, accreditation of a college in the US by an accrediting organization that is not, itself, recognized by either the US Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation is, effectively, meaningless (about all that you can really count on it meaning is that the college's check to the "accrediting agency" didn't bounce).

Most of the accrediting organizations so recognized are regional bodies. So in this case "regionally accredited" is in some ways more prestigious than "nationally accredited" for colleges in general (there are a few national accrediting agencies recognized by the USDOE and/or CHEA; for the most part, these are specialty organizations that accredit schools of religion or career/occupational schools rather than colleges in general).

With all that out of the way:

The University of Phoenix (note the slight difference in the name from what you specifically asked about, because it may be significant) is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of the officially blessed regional accrediting agencies. Whatever UofP's merits or defects may be, they are in fact legitimately accredited.

There is at least one similarly named school, "Phoenix University of Theology International".

Having a name which is similar to a much more widely known or prestigious school is generally (though not always) a bad sign. For example, there's a school named Miami University in Oxford, Ohio; this is a fully legitimate university that happens to be located in/near the Miami Valley, in the town of Oxford, so the apparent similarity in name to the University of Miami and/or the University of Oxford is not an intentional attempt at deception (and in fact, Miami University predates the University of Miami ... whose name is also legitimate, because it's located within the city of Miami, Florida ... by over a century).

Also, this school is accredited by "the Association of Independent Christian Colleges and Seminaries". This accrediting agency appears on a list of "unrecognized accreditation organizations" ... a bad sign; students at schools which are not accredited by organizations recognized by the USDOE or CHEA are not eligible for federal financial aid.

Finally, the school itself prominently advertises credit for "life experience" ... another bad sign, because it's a very common practice in "diploma mills".

Before you make the decision to attend any school, you should thoroughly check out its official legal name and make sure that it is in fact the school you think it is. You should also check out not just whether or not it is "accredited" but whether or not it is accredited by an agency recognized by the USDOE/CHEA.

There are legitimate schools which choose not to seek accreditation for one or another reason, or which obtain their accreditation from an unrecognized body, and are nevertheless well-respected. But it's at the very least a reason to get the opinion of people you trust in the field you're planing to study to find out if you're wasting your time and money or not. Also, any legitimate school that is not accredited by a recognized body will probably not mind you asking why, and any legitimate accrediting agency which has chosen not to seek recognition from USDOE/CHEA should be prepared with a solid reason for that choice.