University of Phoenix comes to South Jordan

Working adults now have another option for furthering their education in the South Valley area. University of Phoenix recently opened a new satellite campus or “learning center” in South Jordan and held a ribbon cutting ceremony Sept. 29.

The 28,100-square-foot facility, located at 10234 South Jordan Gateway, features 10 state-of-the-art classrooms wired for student laptops, along with a student resource center with 20 computers, a lounge and mini-kitchen.

“We’re super excited to be in South Jordan,” Utah Vice President Darris Howe said. “This is probably the most state-of-the-art learning center [we have] with the latest technology, student amenities and student comforts.”

The university is “spread out to meet the needs of where the student body lives,” Howe said. “The population bull’s eye is really here in South Jordan. So many students live and work here.”

The learning center offers 111 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degree programs in arts and sciences, business and management, criminal justice and security, education, human services, nursing and health care, psychology and technology. The largest programs are in business, education and mental health counseling.

Classes at the learning center run 6 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Students take classes just one night a week with assignments completed with study teams and online. The university operates on semester credits but classes are ongoing, with new classes beginning as soon as there are enough students to fill them.

Ryan Vaughn of Eagle Mountain, who is pursuing a bachelor’s in business administration, finds the campus’ South Jordan location very convenient.

“It has the classes I needed closer to where I live,” he said. Vaughn is a desktop technician at Deseret Chemical Depot. He hopes his degree will help him to progress further in his career.

A younger student, Rilyn Newman, a new Junior Achievement member and a Daybreak Elementary kindergarten student was at the ribbon cutting.

“I’d like to come to school here one day,” she said.

The ribbon cutting and reception were followed by a resume writing class which was free and open to the public. University of Phoenix offers similar free classes at all its learning centers throughout the year.

University of Phoenix has five other locations in Murray, Taylorsville, Pleasant Grove, North Davis and St. George.It opened its first Utah location in 1984.