2U Employee Reviews about "little to no"

Pros

-The company is making active strides in diversity and inclusion efforts -Depending on your team, coworkers are a lot of fun -Work from home, no pressure to return to office during active pandemic -401k match was recently changed -Good healthcare/benefits

Cons

To start off, if you are planning to interview for the admissions counselor role, please know that that role is not centered in student engagement or outcomes, IT IS A SALES ROLE 100%. They skirt federal regulations by carefully selecting their words for job descriptions and even in trainings. If you are looking to be in an actual admissions counselor role, just apply directly with the university of your choice and skip working for OPM's entirely. If you are looking for a sales role where you'll actually make commission, you're better off working with an actual software/tech company. I know 6 people within the last year that have left to work in actual sales environments where they'll get fair compensation for their efforts. We have KPI's and metrics that mirror most retail positions or high-volume sales positions. Some of the KPI's are a joke too. Ask about the '60 day unbaked submit rate' or the 'Speed to contact' metrics in your interviews LOL. 75 or more dials per day. When we don't meet our dials, we have to email our manager, and CC our portfolio director explaining why we could not hit our dials. I was told that dials are the priority and other projects don't matter. Including training other team members on important processes and following up on important time-sensitive projects. Yes, work from home is fine, but there is little to no work-life balance. I was told to not log off until I have 75 dials and 1.5 hours of talk time. Yeah, lets rate our performance on how long we can keep someone on the phone, makes TOTAL sense. I cant speak much for any other roles outside of student engagement, but the AC role is a total joke. Mangers are also promoted through nepotism and have no people-managing skills at all. They just regurgitate information that is given to them in their weekly leadership meetings. Ask a question about an initiative and you'll see your managers eyes glaze over because they have no idea what they are talking about or why a specific initiative is a focus. Also, if you decide to have children while working as an AC, good luck. The whole mantra of this department (Student Engagement) is that 'outcomes matter, students matter' ect. But the only thing that matters is making money, lining the pockets of executives and keeping the revolving door of naïve new hires turning. I was told in a team meeting by our team manager that 'We are the breadwinners for the company. Our job is to bring in students so we pay can other people's salary'. Just greedy. Managers don't even try to hide it anymore. This is a money machine and we are just tasked to keep the wheels turning. In conclusion, this role is a joke, management is a joke and the only thing that matters is money.

Pros

Benefits like unlimited PTO, ability to work remotely, great insurance and a fun office culture make the mundane/annoying parts of my job worth it.

Cons

There is very little room to advance within the company. Hiring managers play favorites and I've often been given little to no feedback after an unsuccessful interview. Training in most departments is lacking and people don't know how to do their jobs/aren't communicative enough to ask for help. Things constantly fall through the cracks and most people are reactive versus proactive.

Pros

Working at 2U was never boring. It was one of the best jobs I have ever had. The people were passionate, brilliant and energetic. The atmosphere was always electric and that was fueled by the leadership.

Cons

As with most startups that are trying to find their way, the organizational structure was chaotic. There was little to no career development. It seemed as though there was a lot of favoritism.

Pros

Currently, the best parts of 2U have been the generous time off, great office location, good health insurance, and [some] great people. Management for my team is great, very open when anyone has ideas, questions, or concerns. Additionally, they have always been willing to go to bat for any members of our team that has been treated unfairly. Additionally, many teams that I am not apart of welcomed me with open arms when I started and I have able to build many personal and professional bonds.

Cons

I have a number of concerns that I compiled during my time at 2U, some in regards to my role and expectations, and others in regards to overall company culture. First, is in regards to career opportunities and professional development. My department has little to no opportunities for growth or career advancement internally, especially if you are located outside of the HQ office in Maryland. I have been told on numerous occasions that I am outperforming my job expectations and would be well suited for other more advanced positions in the department, but there have not yet been openings or opportunities for those positions in the Denver office. Second, would be inequalities and unfairness in the distribution and subsequent compensation of certain tasks. Despite Denver being the second largest office, there is no presence of certain support teams, such as Events, Communications, and Benefits. Due to their absence in the office, my team has often been asked to carry out and organize many tasks, beyond general support, on their behalf. Most of these tasks are poorly communicated to my team, and we receive limited to no support from the teams we are carrying out these activities on behalf of. Additionally, my team has started to notice that much of the work we are asked to carry out on behalf of other teams would generally be the responsibility of someone of a much higher compensated role and this discrepancy has definitely led to many feelings of resentment. My other concerns regard the office and company culture. As many other reviews have mentioned, the culture is very bro-y, and you will feel out of place if you don't drink. Additionally, much of the senior and executive level leadership, for better or for worse, are Chip's fraternity brothers and college friends. This attitude towards hiring and rewarding friends, while not necessarily reflected in my department, is highly visible throughout many levels of management throughout the company. I am also concerned about the culture of the company because while 2U claims to value diversity and wants to change education so that a top tier education is accessible to all, I frequently hear admissions counselors (the largest department in Denver) mocking many applicants and prospective students for their economic status, their undergrad education, country of origin, and even their accents/ perceived English speaking abilities. I find this behavior and those attitudes to be not only personally appalling but antithetical to much of what 2U claims is their mission. Additionally, the privileged attitudes and feelings of superiority sometimes displayed towards students by some in Admissions also extends to how some in the company treat my team and other support teams such as IT Help Desk, ranging from rude interactions, blatant disrespect of policy and protocol, to the disregard of personal work-life boundaries (No one wants to be asked pointed work questions on their day off while shopping at the grocery store or in a Lyft line on their way to a dinner). Interactions like this and the other observations about the company culture often make me feel disheartened about my place here at and do affect my morale.

Pros

Unlimited PTO, Remote work, Most of the people below management level are great.

Cons

Middle management (Managers, Directors, VP, and SVPs) have no idea what they are doing. This organization takes people with no management skills and puts them in management roles so that they can mold them in their vision, but have the sculpting prowess of a turtle. When you interview for the admissions department, they will attempt to avoid saying the word 'sales' at all costs, but make no mistake, it is a sales role with little transferable skills afterwards. You will be promised upward mobility and you will apply to the few manager positions that open (usually 2 per quarter) only to find out they decided not to fill the role or required another manager to take double duty. You will be told one thing by direct management but something completely different by upper management and you will never get a clear answer either way. And be careful as you start to hit the 4ish year mark at the company, all of a sudden your metrics start to 'look off' and you will be accused of 'metric manipulation'. You won't receive any warnings for this, no matter the circumstances and will be called into a meeting with HR where they won't even allow you to speak. This company comes off with great promise, a great mission that I still agree with, but it will quickly turn sour.

Pros

The company is growing rapidly (doubled in size within two years) and isn't showing any signs of slowing down. The new Maryland HQ office will be full of great features, including a large on-site gym, multiple food vendors, and space for growth. Our CEO is passionate about the business model, and he is great at motivating the company for future growth.

Cons

Like several reviewers have previously mentioned, promotions are not consistently given to the most qualified employees. Rather, there seems to be some favoritism when reviewing internal candidates, and the decisions are made before the interview process begins. Many of the managers across departments have no prior management experience and don't offer mentorship opportunities to their team. Specifically within admissions, performance is almost entirely based upon metrics such as 75-125 dials per day and 2+ hours of talk time per day, rather than outcomes (enrollment). Depending on the degree program you work for, it can be challenging to meet your metrics if the lead gen/marketing team is not promoting the program to the right audience (perspective students). If you are considering working in the MD office for admissions, it's important to note that much of the growth within admissions leadership has occurred in the Denver office within the last year; very few opportunities for growth in the MD office. Lastly, you may have to work a 3-5 hour Saturday shift each month. This varies on the admissions team and has little to no benefit to your pipeline, but admissions directors and leadership want to show 'we made every effort to meet the department's goals'.

Pros

Good benefits such as time off Flexible Working Hours

Cons

Little to no competitive pay practices Few professional development opportunities Poor training and development for people managers and mid level executive

Pros

The only real pro to working here was the unlimited PTO. My co-workers were wonderful as well, but management is toxic and will gaslight you.

Cons

The biggest downside to working at this company is that you will work well beyond your designated hours (ZERO WORK LIFE BALANCE) and management is terrible. The environment is extremely toxic, where you will get gaslighted and basically told to 'work harder.' There is an incredible lack of accountability for management and leadership overall, which makes it difficult to provide feedback or ask questions in fear you’ll get in trouble. There is little to no guidance on professional development and promotions (unless you’re a favorite). They are extremely quick to put you on a performance plan. Micro-managing was at an all time high by the time I left. I saw an incredible amount of turnover in my time here. Overall, know you will seen as an employee first and a human being second. Lastly, very low pay given where the company has decided to have their main offices. I knew of several people with second and third jobs just to supplement their income. It's clear little market research was actually done. Oh, and in regards to the tuition reimbursement...there are loopholes to this and chances are you won't actually get it if you decide to pursue a 2U program. This is 1000% a sales job (think being in a call center), not admissions. You are better of going to a college/university if you'd really like to work in admissions. You are tied to pointless metrics (every single day) and if you don't hit them, get ready to be put on a performance plan that you'll be given very little guidance and support to get off of. It's truly a revolving door of people getting hired or leaving/getting fired. You will continuously be told the company and things overall are better than they actually are.

Pros

Great coworkers, some flexibility with working hours depending on your manager, decent training.

Cons

Not equipped for success selling a program that has superior competitors within the company. I worked on a whole team that struggled endlessly, and it became a cycle of frustration with little to no support or listening from upper management. Also, they had a round of layoffs while I was working there (pre-covid, in 2019) where they let go of some really great middle management folks and we were left with underqualified managers. I also noticed a bit of unfair treatment and racial injustice on my team before I had quit.