Why should people NOT go to WGU?

I am looking at making a benefit vs. draw back table for the online master’s degree at WGU in order to make a determination to enroll or not. I have read post after post of the reasons why it is a widely accepted school e.g. cost, timeframe and relative study (which happen to be very attractive when making this decision.) BUT, I have not read any posts that give any reasons of why not to go, or why not to pick another ONLINE university? Can you please provide me with some information that you know of or have heard of concerning the drawbacks to WGU and its master’s

]I thank you very much for your time and feedback and please keep in mind I am only interested in the online masters programs…THX in advance!

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it_consultant

nosoup4u wrote: »

Simply put, traditionally most B&M colleges don't offer a full BS in IT online only. If they did, at best you'd be able to take 2-4 classes a term and for someone like me who needed 110 credits or so, it's simply not a viable option.

I however have 7 years experience with IT and this degree is simply a check mark to progress in my career

Edit: also people in your city/state may know your local schools but if you move out of state, chances are unless its a top school no one there has heard of any of your schools "reputability" either.

Also WGU is the only regionally accredited online university in America, same body has Washington State and BYU.

This isn't true; Regis School for Professional Studies is also regionally accredited. I am willing to be the other major ones are also. There are some specific programs (business) which are not accredited by a body like the AACSB.

In the example of the Leeds School of Business or BYU's Marriott School of Business - people who know and care - know that those are in a different league than WGU or Regis or whatever.

The colorado school of mines is not widely known in the country but if you ask an engineer they will immediately recognize the name and respect the degree. Same thing with an institution like Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, people haven't heard of it, unless you ask an aerospace engineer.

nosoup4u

Well a quick google search indicates that it has a campus and offers classes there and also online, so I would assume its regionally accredited, I'm talking pure 100% online schools.

As far as the school of mines, most people in the engineering world have heard of it as it's definitely in a top 25 engineering schools I would assume, specifically for the price.

I was talking about random all girls colleges, art schools, for profit, things of that nature where people can get a "traditonal" degree. And with the over 6,000 B&M schools in the US, I'm sure there's some you wouldn't know reading off a resume was my point.

ptilsen

My school along with other Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU) offer fully online degrees as well as online and hybrid classes. University of Phoenix is regionally accredited and offers fully online degrees, too. WGU isn't the only regionally accredited school offering online IT degrees. Edit: I'm not sure I see the point in differentiating fully online schools with schools offering fully online degrees. WGU being the only fully only school might be true, but it's not really pertinent to anything.

Online education still has a stigma to it. Whether that stigma is based on sound principles is up for debate, but that's hardly relevant.

For me, it was about reputation. I literally have not met anyone in real life that knows what WGU is. It's popular on these forums for reasons already stated, but this is the Internet. Even in the IT community, I have not seen that it is really altogether that well known or popular. I'll admit this is surprising, because compared to many alternatives WGU is definitely compelling. The price is particularly compelling.

The other aspect is the type of degree. WGU doesn't offer computer science. As we've discussed in other threads, computer science degrees tend to have more value than IS or IT degrees. Again, the reasons behind that might be questionable (although I tend to agree with most of them), but that doesn't matter when it comes down to employment.

For me, it came down to getting a degree that would actually teach me something useful I might not learn on my own; that would be recognized and valued by employers local to me; and that would not carry any stigma of being an online or unheard of school.

Edit: I will add, for getting a fully online IT/IS bachelor's degree, I really don't see any sensible US alternative to WGU. WGU is regionally accredited, yet effectively the price of a community college.

spiderjericho

I disagree that it's the price of a community college or even certain state schools. It's a little more expensive depending on where you live plus you can't choose how many credits you wish to enroll in.

It's a competitive price for online schools, especially when you add in acceleration.

And as many on this board have shown, the school is an excellent means to an end, along with the added benefit of being able to obtain industry certifications.

I have one more course to complete before I obtain my B.S.

But the experience has been okay. I don't really feel like I learned anything and with the school's pass/fail grade system, it can kind of put a damper on perfectionists/over achieving and instead place an emphasis on simply passing the class/displaying mastery to move quickly through the program.

I think this point is illustrated with the thread on the recent Network Management Masters. The thread starter is simply going through the motions to conquer Taskstream objectives and doesn't feel like he's benefiting from the program except for getting a degree. I feel the same with my experience.

You also miss out on teacher/student and social interactions.

I also think with the proliferation of test prep, one could blast through all of the certs and an eyebrow would probably never be raised.

But as I said, WGU is a great means to an end. It's the reason why I enrolled in the NDM BS program. Their great transfer policy allowed me to transfer 80% of the credits I needed.

Valsacar

@spider I'm not sure what you mean by you can't choose how many credits to enroll in... I can, last term I did over double what is required. At a traditional school you can't pick either, either you do the minimum to be a full time student or you drop to part-time and lose benefits/financial aide etc.

I have breezed through a number of courses without really touching the material, but that is one of the draws of this school for me. I've worked in these fields, why should I have to sit through a 16 week course on something I've actually been doing for the last 5 years? Let me prove proficiency and move on.

I agree on the braindumps stuff... I really do hate those things.

spiderjericho

What I meant by the credit/course load comment was...

I have only one more class to complete my degree. I have to pay the total term fee vice paying for 3 credit cost. Yes, they prorate but no one knows how much. I'd rather just pay $700ish than $3,000.

Also if you're a student who only has the time for one course a semester then WGU isn't for you as it would be presenting you with too much of a load for six months and it would be way more expensive versus a state school/community college.

And I can see where you're coming from. If you can display the mastery then why should have to trudge through a full semester or all of the work. But arguing or playing devils advocate is going to be wasted on this forum. Again, WGU for Techexam members is a means to an end to getting a bachelors or masters.

I think the benefit of acquiring certs is great. But an unscrupulous person could plow through almost half of a degree by just utilizing brain **** for many vendor tests. And the schools only requirement is getting the cert.

kgb

spiderjericho wrote: »

...
I have only one more class to complete my degree. I have to pay the total term fee vice paying for 3 credit cost. Yes, they prorate but no one knows how much. I'd rather just pay $700ish than $3,000...

If you only have 3 credits, it's prorated. I know I saw it in the handbook or the website. They break it down into a $/hr. I believe, it's $3000/12, so if you have less than 12cus to complete, it will be billed @ $250 per cu.

spiderjericho wrote: »

...
I think the benefit of acquiring certs is great. But an unscrupulous person could plow through almost half of a degree by just utilizing brain **** for many vendor tests. And the schools only requirement is getting the cert.

The problem is with the certifications themselves and how they are administered. I took 18 during my time at WGU and only a handful I thought were worth anything. Need to get away from multiple choice exams and go towards performance-based. My limited understanding is some of the higher level certs do that. I know why the lower levels ones don't, it simply comes down to money.

spiderjericho

kgb wrote: »

If you only have 3 credits, it's prorated. I know I saw it in the handbook or the website. They break it down into a $/hr. I believe, it's $3000/12, so if you have less than 12cus to complete, it will be billed @ $250 per cu.
The problem is with the certifications themselves and how they are administered. I took 18 during my time at WGU and only a handful I thought were worth anything. Need to get away from multiple choice exams and go towards performance-based. My limited understanding is some of the higher level certs do that. I know why the lower levels ones don't, it simply comes down to money.

Okay, I didn't know about the CU cost. Guess I'll see during my next term. And that's definitely fair.

You're right about the vendors being at fault. But it still doesn't take away from the fact that an education institution would buy into a flawed system. A shady student could literally test prep on 11+ tests. That's insane, only then having to worry about the lower level classes, tech writing, capstone, Management and behavior, which are pretty easy due to low test passing scores or meeting just enough performance wickets.

But I guess the cheater can be weeded out during a technical interview, etc. I like WGU. But certain elements of its program do need to be developed further.

nosoup4u

Must vary on the mentor, I don't get approval to take outside assessments without passing the course practices tests.

Psoasman

It does vary on the mentor. After using uCertify for the 640, I told my mentor I am not using it anymore. I sent her snips from my other practice exams scores. That worked for her.

djfunz

WGU is for adults that have to work full-time to pay bills.

WGU is for people that want to accelerate their curriculum while maintaing accreditation and affordability.

WGU is not for networking within your technical field.

WGU is not for social networking after school.

To comment on spiderjericho's comment. Cheating will always be a problem when it comes to any curriculum. I've heard of all kinds of crazy ways that students have cheated on exams in traditional Universities. WGU is no exception. Life is full of cheaters that will find any way to get ahead. No need to single out WGU.

kanecain

People take college degrees too serious. I get job offers all the time, and none of them give a rats butt about the details of the school I'm attending. Here is the order of what companies are looking for in order of importance:

1. Experience
2. IT Certifications
3. College Degree

Just spoke with the hiring coordinators at my job (Large German company with operations in the US), and they all agreed that name-brand schools are something that is not taken into consideration when looking for IT applicants. They also extended this into other area of employment.

Iristheangel

My boss was looking for someone with a degree and fresh out of college. He liked my degree and certifications and hired me for a 6-figure networking job. He and our architect are both DeVry grads. Our other two senior network engineers have degrees in music but decades experience in networking. This is not a little company. This is a Fortune 100 company with over 100+ locations internationally.

If you search some of my other posts, you can find the massive interview I had with a certain networking company in San Jose that only tends to hire Stanford and UCI grads with CS/EE degrees and how I was offered a job.

The reality is that with enough experience, charm, knowledge, and certificates, it won't matter in any place important where you got your degree or, after enough time working, what your degree was in.

spiderjericho

Honestly, I don't think you're really going to have an unbiased, balanced back and forth on this forum due to population/demographic. Almost all of us are students at WGU, so our opinions are going to be skewed.

And as I've said before, as someone who is returning to get a second bachelor's at WGU, WGU fulfills a specific purpose and is an excellent means to an end, that is getting a college degree without the superfluous excess or "perks" of standard education institutions. And for working adults, it's a great avenue. I will probably pursue my masters at WGU by enrollment in the MISA.

And I agree with Iris, ultimately, I don't give a rats behind about a CCIE, degree or an alphabet soup as long as the person can do the job competently.

And I agree cheaters are a part of life, but there's nothing wrong with possibly implementing something else in the certification courses to at least try to keep the students honest. And it's really the IT program that suffers from this. But again, I think there is a lot of room for WGU's programs to develop.

NOC-Ninja

networker050184 wrote: »

That is complete BS they are feeding you there. I have worked at the large ISP's and known plenty of other that have worked there and trust me, there is no truth in that statement what so ever.

The guy that told me that is a network architect from horizon.

The other one was a manager/network architect. He was telling me that his upper management will only entertain brick and mortar graduates.

coreyb80

Iristheangel wrote: »

My boss was looking for someone with a degree and fresh out of college. He liked my degree and certifications and hired me for a 6-figure networking job. He and our architect are both DeVry grads. Our other two senior network engineers have degrees in music but decades experience in networking. This is not a little company. This is a Fortune 100 company with over 100+ locations internationally.

If you search some of my other posts, you can find the massive interview I had with a certain networking company in San Jose that only tends to hire Stanford and UCI grads with CS/EE degrees and how I was offered a job.

The reality is that with enough experience, charm, knowledge, and certificates, it won't matter in any place important where you got your degree or, after enough time working, what your degree was in.

Exactly!

N2IT

I am currently a student at WGU-MBA program. It really comes down to what you want from the program. I am currently an operational manager and find the knowledge to be very helpful especially the courses around leadership and management. These courses for me fill knowledge gaps and helps cover up a non business / IT related bachelors degree.

If you have the time, money, aptitude and reason to go for a top 25 MBA program then I think you should go for it. I think brick and mortar are excellent choices but I just don't have the time or resources to go that route.

At the end of the day it's comes down to what you are looking to achieve. I just want to provide for my family and sustain financially, while enjoying what I do. (That's another topic)

One last point, every job I have applied has recognized WGU. This includes asking HR departments specifically and applying through online systems. (In the drop down picker box WGU has always been a school that can be selected)