SNHU vs WGU

audio

I'm currently enrolled at SNHU but I'm rethinking my decision. The classes, so far, are a lot slower paced than I was hoping for.

Given the fact that SNHU is regionally accredited, and WGU isn't afaik, is it worth staying here in hopes that the pace picks up? All I see around this board is WGU and I never see anything about SNHU so I'm kinda believing I picked the wrong college.

Thanks folks

quickman007

Haven't been to either to I can't give any input, but last I checked WGU was regionally accredited.

gespenstern

WGU WAS regionally accredited when I checked.

Many of us here are familiar with WGU. Major points are probably it is 100% online, fully self-paced and could be insanely accelerated, accepts existing certs for credits, provides you with certifications in the process (A+, CCNA, MCSA, CEH, CHFI, etc. had to be passed on vendor's conditions, i.e. you may need to go to Prometric/Pearson VUE testing center) and costs ~$3000 for 6 months.

Could you provide a brief description of what SNHU is in similar fashion so we can compare?

Danielm7

Correct, WGU is regionally accredited.

audio

SNHU is 100% online but they don't offer cert testing like WGU. That seems to be the only difference, as far as I know, but it's a pretty big difference.

Im going to knock out my A+ then go apply to WGU. I'm just wasting my time on slow paced nonsense with SNHU.

And sorry for the confusion about accreditation. I could have sworn I read WGU was only nationally accredited but then again that info might have been out of date. Great to know that it is, in fact, regionally accredited!

gespenstern

How much does it cost to study at SNHU? Looks like your are implying that it can't be accelerated, i.e. lectures and homework are held in predefined timeframes like it is done say on Coursera (at least for courses I've taken)?

audio

It's about $3,700/semester. $320 per credit hour or $960 per course. It's 2 courses per term and 2 terms per semester so 4 class total per semester.

It can not be accelerated. The courses are broken down in to weekly modules and, while you can begin the next week's work early, you can't actually complete the module until that week. I'm honestly getting bored with the slow pace and I thought the workload would be bigger but I'm pretty disappointed so far.

gespenstern

Agreed, that's a huge downside. It makes it difficult to follow the process while having a family and full-time job with variations in workload. At WGU sometimes I do lots, while on some weeks I remain dormant and this is really great to have it self-paced, in the end I go twice faster than supposed anyways. And it's cheaper, on top of it price of certs is included in your student fees.

Can't tell on quality of materials here and there, but other than that WGU wins easily.

audio

Thanks for the input and hopefully this thread will help out someone else that's comparing the two. SNHU isn't a bad school though, it just isn't for me. Someone who works better under deadlines and structure would probably enjoy it and their staff are incredibly easy to work with.

I'm going to go ahead and knock out my A+ while finishing off this term then transfer over to WGU. Seems like a no brainer since WGU offers certs and is cheaper.

audio

One last question:

Does WGU have forced discussion board requirements? For example, every week I'm required to make a post about something pertaining to the module we are doing and then comment on other people's posts.

It's one of the biggest things I dislike about SNHU.

cyberguypr

Instead of this WGU has the lovely weekly mentor cheerleading calls. I personally hated every single one while most here don't seem to mind them.

audio

cyberguypr wrote: »

Instead of this WGU has the lovely weekly mentor cheerleading calls. I personally hated every single one while most here don't seem to mind them.

Are those just weekly status update calls with your mentor?

cyberguypr

Yep. Total waste of time.

powerfool

I would be careful with any of those schools, at this point. I honestly see the government trying to make these sorts of schools look illegitimate as a way to find them "at fault" for something and extort some money out of them. There was another story on one of the primetime news shows last night about diploma mills and the things that "qualified" them as such applied to places like WGU and SNHU. The student loan situation has lots of people on edge so they need to find some rocks to bleed. There are certainly issues, but today's "solutions" will just be tomorrow's problems.

EDIT: Constructively, I would try to look at traditional B&M schools that offer online or flexible options. I think the reality is that some hiring managers are going to have negative opinions of these schools... and when you are trying to take a subjective decision (is this person who I should hire?) and quantify it... it is pretty easy to take the pile of people with degrees and separate them into schools that are the "easy" out versus those with established reputations.

SNHU is working with some of the Fortune 500 companies to do what Starbucks has done with Arizona U where they will "cover" you going to school there. And since it is convenient, lots of folks will do it. I think it is an issue of kicking the can down the road because everyone will have "degrees" but they are likely to be viewed by many as "second class" or something.

In reality, you get what you put into school, regardless of where you go. I could go to Harvard and just run through the motions and graduate, but that doesn't mean I had any substantial personal growth. I am not trying to bash anyone's education, I just pointing out that some people will and others may not have the intention but overlook you because they are trying to make their decisions easier (and I can't necessarily fault them for that).

My alma mater had "accelerated" courses that covered most of my general education and general business courses. They weren't slouch courses, but the convenience made it possible for me to go to school full-time in the evenings and graduate in about 4.5 years. They also were pretty generous with credit by examination, though I didn't take advantage of it as much as I should have, in retrospect.

2nd EDIT: Also, in regards to B&M schools that offer online options... it is more beneficial for appearance if it looks like you could have feasibly gone there "traditionally." If you live outside of New England, you very likely went to school online if you went to SNHU. However, if you go to University of Maryland and worked in NoVa during the same period of time, it would be seriously easy for a hiring manager to not even consider whether you went to school online or not (my graduate school was like that... but I didn't live anywhere near either... I worked for a company out of NoVa and did UM online).

Remember, this is about building up your reputation by using a piece of paper (or an electronic file that represents one). If you have the opportunity to consider these things, I wouldn't brush it under the rug.

PJ_Sneakers

cyberguypr wrote: »

Instead of this WGU has the lovely weekly mentor cheerleading calls. I personally hated every single one while most here don't seem to mind them.

I was able to get this switched to a weekly web form after my first couple months. Mentor said this doesn't apply to everyone, but I had already accelerated several classes at that point.

audio

The only IT B&M online program (other than SNHU since they do have a physical campus) that I have found requires real world verifiable IT experience so that's, sadly, out of the question for me. I did look in to the UW system and I was told the only thing I could get in to for online education was an Associates in Liberal Arts.

I get what you're saying though and agree with you. I feel WGU might be held to a higher standard though since you get tested and certified as you progress. But like you said, you get out of it what you put in to it.

cyberguypr

I don't get it. My two mentors were dead set on the damn calls. I killed 4 classes in 4 months, yet nothing. If they offered me that option I would only have one thing to complain about: vague Taskstream feedback. Other than that, no complaints about WGU.

powerfool

audio wrote: »

The only IT B&M online program (other than SNHU since they do have a physical campus) that I have found requires real world verifiable IT experience so that's, sadly, out of the question for me. I did look in to the UW system and I was told the only thing I could get in to for online education was an Associates in Liberal Arts.

I get what you're saying though and agree with you. I feel WGU might be held to a higher standard though since you get tested and certified as you progress. But like you said, you get out of it what you put in to it.

Huh?

There is a sticky thread in the IT Jobs and Degrees forum that is full of them.

iBrokeIT

cyberguypr wrote: »

I don't get it. My two mentors were dead set on the damn calls. I killed 4 classes in 4 months, yet nothing. If they offered me that option I would only have one thing to complain about: vague Taskstream feedback. Other than that, no complaints about WGU.

I got mine switched to one call every two weeks.

bermovick

Same, and she's even been talking about taking it down to once per month. I do throw her the occasional email update too though.

audio

powerfool wrote: »

Huh?

There is a sticky thread in the IT Jobs and Degrees forum that is full of them.

I only looked at the UW system. OOS tuition costs for some of those schools on that list are ridiculous.

PJ_Sneakers

cyberguypr wrote: »

I don't get it. My two mentors were dead set on the damn calls. I killed 4 classes in 4 months, yet nothing. If they offered me that option I would only have one thing to complain about: vague Taskstream feedback. Other than that, no complaints about WGU.

Maybe they were trying to cheer you up because you hated your calls so much. Lol

gespenstern

I don't mind much being called. Our conversations rarely last more than 2 minutes. Hey, how are you, fine, what you did in the past 2 weeks, I did that and plan to do that in upcoming weeks, fine, any questions for me, nope, have a nice day, bye. Same exact story every call.

audio

Well I put in my withdrawal paperwork for SNHU. If I can get both A+ tests knocked out by April 15th then I can start WGU on May 1st otherwise it'll be June 1st.

I appreciate all of the helpful insight folks.

NHStudent

Sorry to bump an old thread but audio, I'm curious as to your status on transferring schools and your feedback overall? I'm trying to decide between So NH and WGU. Leaning towards WGU.

NavyMooseCCNA

NHStudent wrote: »

Sorry to bump an old thread but audio, I'm curious as to your status on transferring schools and your feedback overall? I'm trying to decide between So NH and WGU. Leaning towards WGU.

I am entertaining the thought of doing an MS in Information Security at SNHU (I live near their campus) and doing it as a hybrid. I get far more out of being in a real classroom and interacting with real humans than I do studying online...

NHStudent

I also live close to the campus (15 minutes away). However, there is a big price difference going the campus route. I think that if I were fresh out of high school, I would want a B&M school experience for at least my bachelors. I got my associates degree this way and later attended several schools towards a bachelors degree (all classroom settings).

At this time for me, online is more appealing due to my work schedule that sometimes involves international travel. Hence, I am interested in WGU or So NH University Online.

WGU is appealing due to the price and ability to move through the courses at an adjustable pace. Certifications are a plus but do add to the workload and testing. However, if solely based on price and you do not take at least 8+ classes per year, both schools are the same $. So if you expect your pace to be 1 class every 8 weeks or 6-7 courses per year - they are both the same cost.

SoNH would seem like the better name on a resume though?

boxerboy1168

I go to WGU and I have total autonomy over my education it's fantastic but you have to put the work in.

NHStudent

OK so just wanted to update this as there is not a lot of information out there on this direct subject but is one of very few recent comparisons that show up when searching google. I felt like I owed the visit and update from my own research.

Your interests, availability, and other variables will of course help you decide and the decision for me was not easy. Going to try to leave out any subjectivity here as I have had some negatives with my choice but still moving forward with it as it is the better fit for me. Your reasons may vary. The following comparison is based on someone looking to return to school which is the demographic that both of these schools are targeting. Online degrees are not for everyone and you can fail as quickly as you can pass. You must be an independent learner as there may be little to no hand holding for either school. I don't have enough experience to comment on that yet but what I anticipate and planning for.

SNHU - good school, reviews will be mostly good. Those complaining most seem to be against the financial aid process. This may matter to you / or not. It is regionally accredited and has an B&M campus as well as a very large and growing online presence. Array of degrees in IT do exist and have more in the way of computer science / development. Their degree programs come with the standard traditional full set of general education requirements. They also have room for electives should you have a small collection of classes from the past to use. Pace will be classes every 8 weeks. If going part time, 1-2 classes may be the workload. Costs are $320 cr / $960 per course. If you go this route, I suggest you review your gen end courses first and use CLEP to test out of those. That reduces the overall cost but will still generally end up being more than WGU depending on your available time. Terms are 2 months and can take breaks between terms. This makes it slightly more portable. If you are planning a break for the summer for example, you may lock yourself into WGU for 6 months depending your start / stop timelines.

WGU - good school, reviews will be mostly good. Those complaining most seem to be against the financial aid process but also some growing pains where two ends of the pipe don't know about what may be going on in the middle. Also regionally accredited but is not a traditional model and rather competency based which allows you to be assessed on what you know and to move on to what you don't. You can go at your own pace. This may be an accelerator for finishing sooner. However, if your pace is slow, this school will cost you more than SNHU and others. $3500 per 6 month term and need to complete a minimum of 12 credits (3 classes). They are liberal with transferring in general education classes and have many applicable certifications that will waive other classes. If you have these certifications already and or an associates degree, this may reduce your course load to attain a degree faster. Terms are 6 months so if you have an issue, you are committed to 6 month blocks but can stop for up to 3 in between terms.

Both schools may have challenges with their increased publicity. Some say it may be better to get a degree from a lesser known school than one that people may hear about on the news or see heavily marketed the way both are. Pros and cons to this and depends on the hiring manager and their level of understanding.

Both have programs designed for the working adult and costs aside, the biggest difference will be the certifications you get with WGU. Even if you do not need them, they are a level of proof that validates the degree.

Now, the biggest considerations someone SHOULD take into account when comparing to WGU is the amount of time you will put into it. If you are only attending and taking the minimum amount of classes that may be fine but is costing you more. If you are only taking 3-4 classes per 6 months, that is costing you $3500 and to me means you are paying about $1K per course. If these are courses with certifications they are more valuable and you can pay that just for a CCNA or other cert course. WGU becomes a better deal when you put time into it and move through at a faster pace. That pace is up to you, your abilities, and your experience. However, it is not a suggestion to rush through anything but should be a consideration.

I chose WGU as it was the right fit for me. I'm very aggressive making it a potentially better deal and the thought of having to sit through some of the other general educations classes required for SNHU made me realize where I want to spend my time and how they will help my goals.

For new / younger students with little to know experience, keep to the basic degrees like CIS, computer science and even mathematics. A B&M school may also add to your social skills and force you to interact at levels you did not in high school. Get some experience, learn of your career direction then go for a Master degree with an area of focus.

Below are some of the objective highlights to compare. Good luck!




WGU
SNHU Online


Has B&M Campus
No
Yes


Format
Competency / Assessments / Certifications
Weekly modules / time based


Cost (based on 24 CR Yr)
$6,970
$7,680



Can accelerate and take more courses per term
Does not include books and materials.


Terms
6 months * 2
8 weeks * 6


# of IT Degrees
8 UG / 4 GR
10 UG / 7 GR


Transfers
Gen ed / certs
Gen ed / accept CLEP



degrees based on certifications
room to fill in electives