WGU Named a Top Military-Friendly School for Sixth Consecutive Year

Saw this on some Yahoo link today. If there are any Vets on here that want to use that GI Bill on a good online university, WGU seems to be a go to place =D

WGU Named a Top Military-Friendly School for Sixth Consecutive Year - Yahoo! News

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Comments

shodown

I really need to look into this school. I need my GI bill money in my pocket. Might as well earn a degree at the same time.

Valsacar

Unless you can't afford it, or REALLY need that 700/mo in housing costs, I wouldn't recommend using a GI Bill at WGU. At 3k/6mo (ie 6k/yr) it's pretty affordable, just need to save 500 bucks a month. The GI Bill is worth more than that, save it for other higher education, certifications, etc.

Not saying WGU isn't worth it, just saying the costs are so low it feels like (to me) a waste of the GI Bill.

jdballinger

I would disagree as far as it being a waste of the GI Bill. If you are using the Post 9/11 GI Bill as opposed to Chapter 30 or 33, then it can be downright lucrative. In regards to your suggestion to use it for higher education, I would consider the ability to accelerate your degree at WGU to be the biggest bonus in this regard. You can spend considerably less time at WGU than you would at a traditional school and still end up with a quality 4 year degree. This would (in theory, if you in fact accelerated) allow for a greater amount of months left over in order to pursue graduate and even post-grad work (if you move fast enough.)

Also, you say to save it for higher education and certs. A Bachelors Degree IS higher education, and you get a fair amount of certifications from going to WGU to begin with!

Take it from me, someone who essentially wasted 2 years of his GI bill benefits on the local community college, you can do WAY WORSE than WGU for GI Bill benefits.

shodown

I was going to use the older program to pocket the rest of the money. Then use the rest for grad school and do the same thing. You have 15 years to use it. I got out the end of 2008 so its already 4 years down. I've met too many people who put it off for no reason then when they finally need it, it was gone.

Valsacar

@jdballinger, that's why I said if you don't need that extra from housing I would consider it a waste. A BA/BS is higher education, hence I wrote other higher education. If you need the extra cash, yeah go for it. If you can live without that extra cash, you can get more value by using it for future certs, masters, phd, etc. I agree, there are far worse ways to waste your GI Bill.

@shodown have you signed the letter stating you give up chap 33 for the post 9/11 gi bill? Once you do that you can't go back and use the old system. If you haven't, then that's probably a good idea (if you need the cash) as you'd be pocketing a good chunk.

shodown

I haven't done anything with the GI bill since 1999 when I signed up for it.

Codyy

Anyone used it for certs? I'd like to know the process, have looked it up before but didn't find a ton of info.

Valsacar

I haven't, but I've talked to them about it. Has to be less than 1k (I think that's the number) and they reduce your benefits (ie the 36 months) proportionatly. So if you spend 500 and they say that's the same as 3 weeks of a standard college course, then they lower your remaining months by 3 weeks... hopefully that makes some sort of sense to you.

NavyIT

I think it depends on each individuals personal situation. I personally would not use my GI bill benefits at WGU. Using Charleston, SC as an example, while enrolled in school full-time you can collect $1278 monthly for your housing, but if you are enrolled full-time at an all online university you only collect half of that. If you went full-time for a year you would be missing out on over $8100. If you are already out of the military and work full-time and want to get a degree then WGU would be a good option. If you are still in, use grants and Tuition Assistance to pay for your B.S. and use your GI bill to get your Masters at a B&M school in your area that carries more weight in the eyes of local employers than an online degree from a school they may not have even heard of. Just my opinion.

Codyy

Good advice NavyIT, a friend of mine did this. Already had his Bachelors and just got out to start his Masters at a B&M, he's now making more going to school and collecting BAH(lives in a nice house in New Hampshire, splits rent 4 ways) than he did when he was working 50+ hours a week on active duty.

theanimal

Valsacar wrote: »

Unless you can't afford it, or REALLY need that 700/mo in housing costs, I wouldn't recommend using a GI Bill at WGU. At 3k/6mo (ie 6k/yr) it's pretty affordable, just need to save 500 bucks a month. The GI Bill is worth more than that, save it for other higher education, certifications, etc.

Not saying WGU isn't worth it, just saying the costs are so low it feels like (to me) a waste of the GI Bill.

I was going to use my Reservist GI Bill torwards my BS at WGU, but then I realized you only get to use it once, and WGU is already so affordable, I felt as if it would be a waste. I'd much rather use it torwards achieving a MS in my future, though I have considered WGU, I will probably go somewhere else for it.

As well, being that my Reservist GI Bill covers so little, it also leaves room for me to deploy in the future and get the active duty GI Bill benefits. Either way, it's probably a better financial decision to hold off on using it now. This is all in regards to my situation of course.

bub9001

I just finished up my last cents of Post 9/11 funding on my last semester of WGU. I had already exhausted my MGI Bill and College Fund on the first Term at WGU and my A.A.S plus Certs. Navy was really good to me, and tax free is even better. I would do it all over again, but not taken summer classes. The summer classes ate up my Months of MGI bill and College Fund. But with the Post 9/11 kicking in for a year, it all equals out. Sure wish I lived in a State that pays for your Degree if you server in the Military.