Thinking of WGU

rcsoar4fun

I am thinking of WGU here in a month or.so for one of the network.bachelor degrees.

I have had lousy success getting answers from the EC.

Has anyone had luck transferring higher level certs? I have a CISSP, CCNP and PMP.

How does the workload normally flow? Isit daily assignments or just work due by class end?

Danielm7

Transferable IT Certifications | WGU Online IT Certification

The workload is whatever you can and want to handle. There aren't daily assignments, it's competency based, meaning if you can pass the final test/project/cert, then you've proven competence and the class is done.
Call and get another EC, I wish WGU would look at their ECs because a lot of people have bad experiences with them, everything else should be fine beyond that layer.

srabiee

It's 100% go at your own pace. They give you the e-books, study materials, task instructions, and rubric, and it's up to you to study and prepare for the final exam, or to perform the tasks and submit them to WGU graders.

Looks like all of your certs will transfer (depending on the degree concentration that you choose), but no one will really be able to tell you what classes those will waive until after a transcript evaluation is completed by WGU.

markulous

If you can motivate yourself and do school around your life then I would highly recommend it.

rcsoar4fun

Thanks for the responses.

In general my issue with college was having to go every day. I managed to do all my Cisco stuff through my CCIE written, CISSP and PMP all through self study. Just works better for me.

I spoke to the EC today again, still not real impressed. I need to start the application process soon.

Ivanjam

@rcsoar4fun - WGU should be right up your alley after completing the CCIE written, CISSP and PMP through self study!

Chitownjedi

I was only enrolled for a month before I got hired to run a Engineering team, and I was putting in like 70 hours a week to stabilize so I needed to re-visit WGU when my time was more available.. they refunded the months I didn't participate in but everything up to that point was great... I look forward to enrolling again down the line once I am stable at the new position, and have automated a lot of our day to day.

I highly recommend WGU.

user1138

I'm starting August 1st to begin work on a Bachelors of Science degree in Information Technology. They want all of your transcripts, relevant work history for the IT degrees, and the four assessment tests completed by the 15th of the month prior to starting. If you do not have enough credit transferring in you may be required to take college level courses on Straighterline.com (or a local community college) and/or obtain an IT certification or two. They want to make sure you are competent and are going to follow through with the coursework so they are able to keep their graduation rate up. This is a non-profit University. The Enrollment Counselors aren't headhunters that are paid $250+ per enrolled student like they are with private for-profit online Universities.

Tuition is $2,890 per six month term. The Bachelors degrees are 120-122 CU (Competency Units, the equivalent of College Credits) and with the degree I am going for, I will also have obtained 13 IT Certifications. The amount of certifications vary depending on if you choose an emphasis.

You progress through the program at your own pace. If you want to study 18 hours a day, 7 days a week so you graduate sooner, that is entirely up to you. A few have finished in 6 months but those are usually the ones that either have alot of credit transferring in or have little credit transferring in and invest 12-18 hours a day studying and taking tests, 7 days a week. Others have taken a year and a half, some have taken longer. It depends on your personal life and how much time you can devote towards studying.

You will be assigned a "Mentor" who will call you once a week and check up on your progress. You will also have the option of contacting Course Advisers, through e-mail or telephone, who will help answer any questions that you may have about the material you are studying. I believe they are available six days a week.

If you have the time and are self-disciplined enough, you can save yourself quite a bit of money and most of all, time. Northern Arizona University (Online) offers competency based coursework that is modeled after WGU's, but I believe they do not offer IT certifications as part of their programs. You are looking at approximately $6,000 a year in tuition for a Bachelors Degree for both Universities, which is obviously an incredible deal if you are dedicated.

Pupil

Know anybody who dropped out of a traditional degree program and instead enrolled in WGU? What was their experience like?

Qord

@Pupil
Me. My scenario may be a bit unique though, your experience may vary.
I was enrolled in a B&M school taking mostly online classes and decided to drop it for WGU. So far I have no complaints. Not counting WGU, I'm sitting at ~150 credits with an AS in Business and no Bachelors. Most of my credits are lower-level, so I effectively needed 13 more classes to finish my BS in Business. BUT....the bulk of what I needed to finish was upper-level (300-400) credits, most of which have lower level prerequisites that I had trouble getting waived. That being said, if I wanted to remain mostly online (which I want) I could only take 1 or 2 classes every semester, many of which I do not want and have no interest in. Or, I could take the prereqs for more interesting classes, which would make it take even longer for me to graduate.

Instead, I chose to go the WGU route. Now I'm able to go full time, online, and take classes I actually want to take in subject/content areas that actually interest me instead of just working to finish. Prior to WGU, college actually started to become a burden for me, I stopped enjoying it and that sucks. I'm happier with my college experience now that I'm in WGU.

My EC was great, no complaints there. I had a few bumps early on with a phone number mix up with my WGU Mentor, but we fixed that and everything else has been fine so far. I was bummed that my expired CCNA didn't get me anything, but I figured that would be the case. (hope for the best but expect the worst!!)

user1138

With a B&M school you are able to learn from the professor him/herself, ask him questions directly, and get responses based on their educational background and work experience. At WGU you will always have someone to call on the phone or e-mail if you need questions answered. Then again, going to a B&M University doesn't mean the professor has worked anywhere that is going to make a significant impact on your education. The only other difference that I'm aware of, are the textbooks and coursework.

The advantage of accelerated, self-paced education is you aren't being held back by the herd. If you're self-driven, dedicated, and manage your time wisely you will be able to finish much faster and save yourself money at the same time.

Your best approach would be checking into your local Universities and seeing what textbooks they use and who their professors are and what they offer versus Western Governors University. It is really up to the student and what they need or want out of their education, and what they can afford. Tuition broken down into monthly payments would be almost $500 out of pocket, which over the course of six months or a year, for a Bachelors Degree, is incredibly cheap. Factor in not having the cost of gas driving to and from a B&M school and the payment would be slightly lower. That is of course if you are capable of finishing in one or two six month terms. It depends on you.

EDIT: Overall, from what I have read is that a very large percentage of the students that graduate are happy with the school. I would estimate this at over 90% of the reports I have read.

Western Governors University is listed at #9 on GradReports.com
76% Recommend This School
84% Degree Improved Career

It doesn't differentiate in which degree those results apply to.

Cisc0kidd

Don't forget the scholarships. It takes a bit of work to complete the apps but they are fairly liberal in awaring them. S500 off per term is very helpful!

rcsoar4fun

Well I started the process but now cannot get past the "claim login" part to complete the assessment. Contact with helpdesk wasn't too helpful so far.I hope the rest of it goes more smoothly!

anoeljr

@Pupil

I attended the University of Texas at Arlington, majoring in Information Systems and dropped out. I was working full time from 8:30am to 5:30pm. Most of my classes were between 12 noon and 4pm. I could only take a certain amount of classes that worked around my schedule and it just wasn't working out for me. I only attended one semester there. Then, I had a friend who told me about WGU. All of my general education classes were transferred since I had an Associates from a Community College. The process was pretty much painless. My EC was great and I really didn't have to worry about anything. Just like Qord, I'm now able to work fulltime, go to school fulltime, and it's completely online. I also didn't like that they didn't have many technical classes in the program. I'll also be able to finish up my degree about 1 year sooner, and at least 10k cheaper thanks to WGU. When I finish up my bachelors at WGU, I'll go for a Masters at a B&M in Texas.