Alumnus Jared Baer unlocks his future through integrity

As a principal IT analyst for a major software company, and as a husband and a father of four, University of Phoenix alumnus Jared Baer looks like the picture of success. But to him, success goes deeper than appearances. Baer, you see, has built his life on something deeper than interest or opportunity. His foundation, he says, is in integrity — a value inspired by his father and cultivated at University of Phoenix. 

Like many adults, Baer reflects on his youth with a mixture of amusement and shaking his head.

“I was an unruly teenager and didn’t make the greatest choices growing up,” he says.

In this, Baer is not alone. But it’s what his dad said to him in response that changed the course of his life.

“He brought me into his room one time and said, ‘Jared, you’re only as good as your name,’” Baer recalls. “And I didn’t really grasp what he meant by that then. You gotta put on that good family name. You gotta put on that integrity.”

It would be many years before Baer made good on that lesson. First, he grew up and started down the track of pharmacy training. About a year into that, he realized it wasn’t for him. What he wanted, he says, was to help people.

“I’ve always wanted to serve my country. My grandpa was in the Air Force, and that’s something I wanted to do myself,” Baer says.

After convincing his wife that he’d be doing more than “jumping out of airplanes,” he enlisted and spent four years in the military.

During that time, he tried to make good on another goal: earning his bachelor’s degree. Recalling the words of a middle school teacher who’d made a connection between education and stability, Baer couldn’t shake the sense that going to college was a must. But the university he chose at that time wasn’t a good fit.

“I was still trying to figure out life with a young family,” he says, citing the school’s confusing structure. “It didn’t work out for me. I had to put my education on pause while I was in the military.”

After he transitioned to civilian life, Baer found himself in a predicament. He had a wife and kids. He had work experience and some college courses under his belt. But he was stuck. “I needed to provide for my family. I was living paycheck to paycheck, but I wanted to be able to provide my family with something more, to provide a future for my kids.”

That’s when he found University of Phoenix. Here, Baer could fulfill his commitment to living his life with integrity while holding down two jobs, raising four kids, two of whom have autism spectrum disorder, and, thanks to the University meeting him where he was, pursue a bachelor’s degree.

Just as the advice from his father inspired Baer to live his life with honor, so too did his father influence his course of study. A contractor for an oil company, Baer’s father sought to protect the environment while helping access a valuable resource. His father’s commitment to ecology and science led Baer to study environmental science.

First, however, he had to figure out enrollment. The prospect of starting a degree program was one thing. Navigating enrollment, paying for college and managing his time? Those were big question marks.

Gradually, and with the help of a UOPX enrollment representative, Baer answered those questions. He leveraged the Post-9/11 GI Bill^®. He transferred the college credits he’d already earned. He learned how to access tuition reimbursement through his employer. “It relieved a lot of stress,” he says of those tutorials.

Another key difference at University of Phoenix was the structure. Because students take just one class at a time — even as full-time students — they can focus on the material and really learn it.

Baer also made use of resources, including seminars, available at no extra cost. It was through those UOPX resources, he says, that he learned the art of time management. Or, as he puts it, “life hacks” that helped him meet the deadlines and complete his degree program. 

If the bachelor’s degree was for his dad, the Master of Information Systems he completed in 2023 was for him and his family. Baer’s career, after all, was in technology. It made sense to pursue a graduate degree in his chosen field.

Living one’s life with integrity often means living for others. He wanted to grow his career to provide for his family. He wanted to honor his father. He wanted to continue learning to set an example for his children while also improving his ability to provide for their futures. And he wanted to do this while being fully present for his family.

University of Phoenix helped him do all of that. He recalls, for example, turning in a paper from a cruise ship while he was vacationing with his family. He also cites how he could still go on date nights with his wife, because he had the power to arrange his schedule.

As he puts it: “I could still enjoy life but still pursue education … which will benefit my life later on.”

Today, Baer not only recognizes the wisdom in his father’s advice. He has come to live that wisdom. “I’m the first one in my family to have a master’s degree,” he says. “It was a big moment.”

Tears spring to Baer’s eyes as he acknowledges that his father, who passed away in 2013, would’ve been proud. “It didn’t come without struggle,” he says. “I have people who count on me and who have my back. I’m grateful.” 

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GI Bill^® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by the VA is available at the official U.S. government website at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/.