Does WGU get any respect with employers

Hey everyone,

I noticed all this love for the WGU school on this website and was wondering if employers give WGU respect. I know I heard that they don't respect Devry or ITT but that was years ago not sure how thats viewed these days. I am currently living close to Trenton, NJ. The school thats local and affordable to me is Thomas Edison State College which is also distance learning. Many employers I've came across would mention that they "know" someone thats going there and its no joke. I also heard Professors at a University mentioned that Thomas Edison State college is a good school. All this ranting and raving about Thomas Edison but never any mention about WGU when I talk about the school people people look at me like a deer in headlights.

I would prefer to go to WGU since the real accelerated method lets you test out which would leave me completing my degree in under 1 yr tops with an Associates in CS and an alphabet soup of certs. It seems like since I'm in jersey Thomas Edison State College is the distance learning thats "known" around these parts but would take me a full 2 years and then some to complete.

Thanks in advance for giving your input.

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it_consultant

I am not seriously considering going to BYU

. They do have an excellent business school though. I would do the in-state thing here in CO. I know one person who is doing the Leeds School of Business while holding down a full time job and it is kicking his butt thoroughly. He earned his undergrad (all online) from Regis.

erpadmin

I know a bunch of current and former classmates that have done full-time MBA (four to five 3-credit courses a semester) while working 40+ hours. That's the definition of insane. I personally applaud it, but 2 courses a semester gives me grief now, so I can only imagine what five courses would do. Heck I'm putting in PMP-prep time while trying to keep up with my Org. Change class (that guy is the definition of "teach yourself while I collect a check.")

I applaud your friend...a lot of other people do the same thing...I just know I couldn't.

Barnaby

Hi there! I just recently found this thread and am hoping that it's still actively viewed. I'm a new member and a new student (starting today) of WGU. My story is similar to many of those active on this post: I graduated high school, attended some college, then life got in the way. I steadily moved up the ranks as an IT Program Manager through several companies and never really had a problem securing employment due to my lack of a bachelors degree, since I had PMP and CSM certs. I'm now 37 yrs old, looking for a job, and now I'm running into the problem of not having a degree. I read about WGU in the Economist magazine and it seemed to be the perfect opportunity for me to go back to school, work at my own (aggressive) pace, and keep working a full-time job. I'm enrolled in the B.S. - Business, IT Management (BS-IT?) program. I'm really hopeful that securing this degree from WGU will allow me to get my foot in the door with companies. Since I have 20yrs of work experience, this degree will really just be the 'bachelor's degree check mark' on the application. I've heard (and read) that with 20yrs work experience, the awarding institution doesn't matter as long as it's accredited. I had a couple of questions that I was hopeful you might be able to answer:

If I attended some college at a state university from 1994-1997, then enrolled at WGU recently (July 2013), how do you accurately reflect those education ranges on your resume? I didn't get an Associates Degree because the university I attended was a 4-yr college (they didn't award Associates degrees). I've got the credits to have earned an Associates at a 2yr community college, just don't have the degree itself.
With 20yrs of work experience, have most of you seen the same thing (the employer doesn't really care where you got your degree from, as long as it's accredited. They care more about your work experience to date)?

kgb

I only list my BS degree. Unless you are actively attending another school for a degree, you don't list every school you attended. Now, job applications might require it. There's no way to handle it other than listing the the real dates and answering any questions if they arise. Not everyone's life falls into a perfect line.

With 20yrs experience I'd find it insulting that I got turned away due to a lack of a degree. It's cliche and when you need a job, you need a job...but that's A LOT of experience. If a company can't see that, I personally think it's safe to assume you don't want to work for them in the first place.

Barnaby wrote: »

Hi there! I just recently found this thread and am hoping that it's still actively viewed. I'm a new member and a new student (starting today) of WGU. My story is similar to many of those active on this post: I graduated high school, attended some college, then life got in the way. I steadily moved up the ranks as an IT Program Manager through several companies and never really had a problem securing employment due to my lack of a bachelors degree, since I had PMP and CSM certs. I'm now 37 yrs old, looking for a job, and now I'm running into the problem of not having a degree. I read about WGU in the Economist magazine and it seemed to be the perfect opportunity for me to go back to school, work at my own (aggressive) pace, and keep working a full-time job. I'm enrolled in the B.S. - Business, IT Management (BS-IT?) program. I'm really hopeful that securing this degree from WGU will allow me to get my foot in the door with companies. Since I have 20yrs of work experience, this degree will really just be the 'bachelor's degree check mark' on the application. I've heard (and read) that with 20yrs work experience, the awarding institution doesn't matter as long as it's accredited. I had a couple of questions that I was hopeful you might be able to answer:
If I attended some college at a state university from 1994-1997, then enrolled at WGU recently (July 2013), how do you accurately reflect those education ranges on your resume? I didn't get an Associates Degree because the university I attended was a 4-yr college (they didn't award Associates degrees). I've got the credits to have earned an Associates at a 2yr community college, just don't have the degree itself.

With 20yrs of work experience, have most of you seen the same thing (the employer doesn't really care where you got your degree from, as long as it's accredited. They care more about your work experience to date)?

Barnaby

Thank you so much! And I agree: it is insulting. I was just turned down for a Program Manager job at IBM that frankly, I could have done with my eyes closed. The hiring manager was ready to offer me a job and then he asked about the education. I told them I was actively enrolled at WGU pursuing my Bachelor's and he flat-out told me that I was no longer a candidate. The ultimate irony? He doesn't even has his Bachelors degree. It was awful and very frustrating. It just made me more determined to get the degree so that I could avoid ever having that difficult conversation again.

kgb wrote: »

I only list my BS degree. Unless you are actively attending another school for a degree, you don't list every school you attended. Now, job applications might require it. There's no way to handle it other than listing the the real dates and answering any questions if they arise. Not everyone's life falls into a perfect line.

With 20yrs experience I'd find it insulting that I got turned away due to a lack of a degree. It's cliche and when you need a job, you need a job...but that's A LOT of experience. If a company can't see that, I personally think it's safe to assume you don't want to work for them in the first place.

kgb

Just my opinion, but WGU is exactly for people like yourself. With 20yrs of exp, you don't need to sit in a classroom for the next 3-8yrs finishing up a degree. I'm a graduate of WGU and have nothing but good stuff to say about it. But, it's not for everyone. You could be the poster child for why it exists. No disrespect intended.

cvuong1984

Though a Degree is super important, you also have to understand that experience is the most important.
All the jobs that post with a REQUIREMENT of a degree are missing out on a lot of great candidates.

I'm currently enrolled in WGU, on my last semester, however I've always gotten calls for interviews(and I don't even hold a degree). But I do have ton of experience being in the field since I was 20, and I also have a bunch of certification I picked up through my career. At the moment like a previous poster said, WGU and a degree is pretty much just something I want to get done.

Be confident in what you know, doesn't matter if WGU is not well known to employers, what's important is that it is fully accredited. (Can't say the same for ITT, (DeVry, UoPH I'm not too sure of)).

Also, if they ask you can always describe how WGU works, that theyre fully accredited, and also offers Master Programs. Bet some of those employers/Interviewing Managers will change their tone and would probably be interested in it.

asurania

After I got my it experience, key certifications (MCITP, CCNA, VCP5), and my WGU IT degree, I am being stalked by recruiters, I am a contractor and making close to six digits.

No one cares where u got your degree from, but what you learned, and your work experience. degree is there is fill a check box - IT degree completed, Certification is there to meet technical skills requirement, and work experience is needed so they don't need to train you.... a balance of all three is the key to good career.

EngRob

I've had the same experience at several places, even with 15+ years of experience. Unfortunately it seems that most places it is a required check mark that you have a bachelors at minimum and is the reason why I'm in the process of enrolling. I need to update my certs anyway so why not combine the effort

Barnaby wrote: »

Thank you so much! And I agree: it is insulting. I was just turned down for a Program Manager job at IBM that frankly, I could have done with my eyes closed. The hiring manager was ready to offer me a job and then he asked about the education. I told them I was actively enrolled at WGU pursuing my Bachelor's and he flat-out told me that I was no longer a candidate. The ultimate irony? He doesn't even has his Bachelors degree. It was awful and very frustrating. It just made me more determined to get the degree so that I could avoid ever having that difficult conversation again.

StevenP2013

At the beginning of this year I was job hunting and had a couple face to face interviews. One of them had three guys interviewing me, while they had to continue working on their laptops of course. At the top of my resume I had WGU MISISA expected graduated July 2013. One of the interviewers asked me what my impressions were of the program. After I talked about it for a few minutes, he revealed that he was starting the program the next month. Another interview I had a few weeks later, the interviewer started asking me a lot of questions about WGU. How did I pick that school? Whats it like? on and on. I explained how I looked through multiple forums and a lot of them pointed to WGU and the certs that were included. He revealed that he got his Bachelors from U of Phoenix online. He didnt come out and say it, but it sounded like he was interested in going back to school and was trying to get some personal information about WGU out of it.

For what its worth, I didnt get either of those jobs but ended up getting a much better job than those two. Three months later, the job I had interviewed for with 3 guys interviewing while they worked, was posted online again. So the person they hired either quit or got fired.

Paculpep

Iristheangel wrote: »

I graduated in July and have had no shortage of job offers from which you can read in other forum posts of mine.

I haven't had much of an issue with my degree or major. If anyone ever asks me about the school, they just ask where it is since they've never heard about it. That being said, I have had one and only one person have an issue with my degree and I wrote a long post about it last month. The long and short of it was that I was getting interviewed by 7 people in this company and one didn't like my degree and some answers I gave for some non-technical questions. He was a UCI grad who was very particular about getting MIT, Stanford, or UCI grads in and I guess I rubbed him the wrong way. The other 6 people loved me through so he got outvoted and I was offered the job. I ended up rejecting it because the offer letter they provided me was $30K less than the job I have now but I'm proud that I got that offer letter.

I liked my time at WGU. I learned a lot and I wouldn't change a thing except that I probably would have gone to college earlier if I was more motivated. Unlike a lot of people, I did have the financial means through my parents, the grades from a higher-end private school, and the connections to have gotten into an Ivy League school but I turned 18 and was tired of school so I chose not to move on. Some of us take longer to mature and it was a hard bumpy road for me.

That being said, I don't regret my school choice. I had an interesting conversation with my older sister earlier this week about colleges and it school ranking came up. She was a hard science major at the University of Chicago and admits that the name of her school got her hired at her first job but she advanced the ranks to where she is now with her own skills. She's a C-level executive for a major pharmaceutical company and admits that when she looks around at the other executives, she notices that there aren't just Ivy Leaguers at that level anymore. I've experienced the same thing myself. At my last job, my direct supervisor was a Devry grad and her manager was a University of Phoenix grad. At my current job, the IT Director is IT major from Devry, the network architect who bills the company $260/hr for fulltime work graduated from Devry with an EE, the CIO graduated with an arts degree from Princeton. The work force is diverse. Getting a good degree from a top tier college will definitely help you out when you first start out. Depending on the company, it might even help you advance quicker so it's still a decent ROI depending on who you are and how old you are. For me, I started college at 28 and couldn't leave the work force to dedicate 4+ years of my life to college. I didn't want to choose a college that had a poor reputation with a lot of the employers out there and I am against for-profit colleges on principal so I wouldn't have gone the Devry, UoP, etc route. It wasn't worth it to me to bury myself in $50-100K of debt, stop working for 4 years, and go to a prestigious B&M school so I could impress that 1 guy in 7 who wanted me to have that degree.

In the end, will employers discriminate based on your degree or college name? Sure. In all likelihood, you just won't get a call after you submit your resume so you won't know either way if it was your degree or something else. The good news is that there is a great majority of employers out there that couldn't give a damn what the name of your school is and have openings that they can't fill because they can't find skilled enough workers. After you get a certain amount of experience and/or get to a certain certification level, it won't matter anyways.

Good luck. I made the best choice for myself at the time. I hope you make the best choice for yourself wherever you end up

I have over 20 years in the IT industry, I have worked for some big companies having had opportunities to work on some really complex projects. I just turned 50 and have never really had the time to do college at a B&M. I did get CCNA certified on the day of 9/11 but my employer didn't even bat an eye! Now, after almost 10 years at Intel I have been laid off and have been left wondering now that my kids are grown up and in college/Military, why not improve my knowledge get that degree and or certs. I too have looked at WGU, UofPhx, ITT and CTU and Iristheangel couldn't have tipped me further to pulling the trigger on WGU...Thank you for such sincere honesty; she really hits the nail on the head. At the end of the day she is absolutely correct, more and more employers are going for the skilled workers! Now, that is in stark contrast to what Intel just did by laying off their skilled workers, but they have made some serious market mistakes in recent years and they are paying the piper for it! I'm looking at contract work right now and not one recruiter has asked me about education, they need skills, they are looking for workers that can hit the floor running so to speak. I'm just approaching this from the perspective that a AA or BS could only help at this point and I will be getting current state of the art technical training that would even bolster my resume.

DatabaseHead

Here is my take

Fortune 500's and other companies accept it
It does hit a check box
You can learn from the degree, what you put in you get out, just like any other degree
The materal (IMHO) is spotty you'll get one course that is really good the next stinks. Just like a brick and mortar
It's affordable, I didn't have to go into major debt which is great.

If you want a degree to brag about or proudly post in your cube/office this isn't the Uni for that.
When I was promoted, they didn't mention my degree in my write up. However, another peer was promoted since he had a well known master it was mentioned in his write up (At least that is my take on it). You know one of those weird corporate emails announcing to the team about your promotion.

I'm basically an IT/Data guy co locating with business folks, it's fine for my cause. It helped fill knowledge gaps and gives me "enough" credibility, whereas my senior prior to him leaving had no degree and was viewed as a rough around the edges SQL / Data Slinger. it clearly gave me an edge in these regards.

My conclusion is it's fine, I believe I can get to a director level position before I retire with the WGU degree. Most of it's pride related.......

Legacy User

You sound like a perfect candidate for WGU tons of experience just need a degree to "fill in that blank". I obtained my bachelors from WGU it has been the best decision I ever made. I had no limitations in regards to meeting job requirements. ITT is gone and the others you mentioned are much to expensive can easily surpass 50k+ for the complete program. Might as well get your degree from a non-profit school which WGU is and save you money while your getting an education.

thenjduke

My Company I work for is one of their Sponsors. We get 10% discount if we attend. Our company actually encourages to attend WGU. We are a very large healthcare organization.

Hatch1921

N2IT wrote: »

I'm currently enrolled in the WGU MBA program.

A couple of points I would like to make

First of all it's not "easy". It's just as challenging as any high level certification IMO.

If you want to carry an MBA from a top 25 program WGU is not for you

If you have a degree that isn't business heavy and you want that additional knowledge it's a solid program for that. It fills a lot of knowledge gaps. Just like certifications degrees are the same. Experience trumps either of these. You want a nice blend of experience with education.

The MBA from WGU has already been recognized from my project sponsors and my employer. Neither made comments on any of my certifications. There is something to be said about that. Maybe it's the culture maybe it's the fact degrees carry more value. Either or getting my MBA from WGU has been a tough process but will complement my experience and help get me to where I want to be faster. (Engagement Manager)

I am over 50% complete and I have no buyers regret.

Congrats on being 50% of the way through the process.

This pretty much sums it up for me as well. I'm in the MBA: ITM program and it is challenging (for me) to say the least. I'm just about to hit the Capstone... almost finished. I've only had a couple of people question the degree coming from an online school. I believe there is still some stigma with attending online universities.... this will fade over time IMO. I'm proud to be associated with the school and I do see it opening doors for me in the very near future.

TLeTourneau

Wow, way to nercopost! Not saying the new comments are bad but this thread is like four years old.

Also, N2 finished his MBA some time ago.

mzx380

I plan on attending WGU in December for my MBA and I've found that there are a number of WGU students/Alumni in my area (over 1,000 at last check on Linkedin) so that added to my decision to enroll. I've been working in IT for a while and can honestly tell you that going to a brick and mortar school will not increase your chances of landing a job any more than an online-only college unless it's a top tier school. It really is more about what you've done and having a degree validates that you were able to get core concepts in your field as well as attain a varied perspective that comes with a college education.

Hatch1921

TLeTourneau wrote: »

Wow, way to nercopost! Not saying the new comments are bad but this thread is like four years old.

Also, N2 finished his MBA some time ago.

Lol Nice !
Hatch

EANx

As a hiring manager, if I see a resume with a U.S. school I don't recognize, I check to see if it's accredited. Otherwise, I am far more concerned with certifications and experience than I am with someone's degree. Since my people aren't programmers, given two candidates with little experience, I will happily hire a VMware VCIX, Microsoft MCSE or Cisco CCNP over someone with a Bachelor's in Computer Science.

Edit: The time I would actually care about a degree is when they have a liberal arts degree in one of the sciences. If someone has a physics or biology degree then went into IT, that tells me they are curious about the way things work. I see that as an asset and will give them mental bonus points.

relegated

I currently have my B.S. in network and communications management that I got from DeVry back in 2001-2004. While it has served me well in terms of getting an IT job right out of college and I have a good paying job now it is obviously not a prestigious school. I am considering getting a masters degree but want to do so debt free, quickly and online due to work and my current life commitments. At the same time I don't want to do so in such a way that employers don't to as a good school and it in a way disqualify me. I don't want to pay 2-3 times more for something "better" though either honestly, any thoughts?

lucky0977

I don't know how employers feel about online schools but in my opinion, it's a joke. I went to a traditional University (not online) and I have a few younger co-workers attending online universities and they brag about how easy the classes are. I ask them how it's possible. Well they tell me all the midterms and finals are done completely online, which allows them to take the exam with an open book since they are doing it in the comfort of their home. One is taking Computer Science and is heavy in Java and C++. They tell me that they can hire some Chinese kid online to produce the source code for them and they turn it in as a homework assignment.
That is my view of online universities but if you have any ounce of integrity and want to try and learn something i notice that WGU's graduate program is freakin cheap. For me we're talking $1500 cheaper per class if I compare it to my local university.

cyberguypr

This has been discussed here many times. Other than a minor decimal percentage of elitists, no one cares where you got your degree so this should not be the main factor in your decision. For the vast majority of cases a Harvard masters will check the same box as a WGU masters. In my case I went with WGU because my goal was to check a box in my personal goals at the lower cost possible. Ask yourself why you are going for a masters and what you expect to get out of it.

See this thread for more.

jcundiff

@=lucky0977

Well, I can tell you first hand they are NOT attending WGU... all exams at WGU are live proctored via web cam (currently working on my BS ITSEC) and you have to show the proctor a 360 view of your test taking area. Some of the classes are easy (if you have been doing the material for 10 years) some are hair pulling. I asked my (then) CSO his thoughts on WGU, his comment, you get out what you put in. He is now the Chair of Arizona State's Cyber Security program, so I am fairly certain he knows a little bit on the topic

Iristheangel

@=lucky0977

Sounds like you've worked with some unethical kids but the reality is that there are always going to be folks that ****, ****, etc any certification or educational institution out there. Heck, there was even a Harvard cheating scandal on a take-home final exam that busted 125 students at once a couple years ago. Brick and mortar universities still have cheating problems, still have tests they administer from home, and most offer distance or online learning options and most of these degrees are going to be the same ones you would have earned in person so an employer wouldn't know the difference.

Like anything, your education is what you make of it. I learned a lot during my time at WGU because I put a lot into it and it's never hurt my career. I'm not going to say to not take an online course because people have cheated before. If that's the case, we all need to turn in our certifications and degrees immediately since I'm sure every credential each one of us holds has been dumped or cheated on by someone out there in the world.

That being said, it doesn't sound like your co-workers are going to WGU. You mentioned one is taking a computer science major which WGU doesn't offer that major so I'm going to assume that these easy classes and open-book exams are more in relation to the school that person is going to. Personally, my experience at WGU is that we had to either go into a testing center to take exams or do the exams remotely where we had to get on camera, show our surroundings before starting to show that there was no one in the room, anything one our desk, under our desk, etc, and screenshare to show that nothing else was showing on the desktop that could help us ****. Now I'm sure someone could still figure a way to **** but that happens in every testing center or school.

@OP -
If you're worried about a potential company you like discriminating against your degree, you could always do a linkedin search by big company and school. From what I see on Linkedin, it looks like Verizon, Microsoft, AT&T, Cisco, Apple, IBM, Google, NASA, etc have all hired WGU Alums. Here's some of the more fun ones:

NASA's CIO/CISO: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chucklayton
Security Engineer at Google: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atcherniakhovski
Manager of Strategic Customer Engineering at Google and a founder of Firefly Consulting (that's awesome): https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlscottfranklin
Cybersecurity Architect at WWT: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naasief
Sr Manager of Security Solutions at Cisco: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccmula
SVP at Bank of America: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianlemus
CIO at the Office of Command Surgeon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/skysharmaCIO for Naval Intelligence and Senior Executive for SCI Networks - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nmandersen
CIO for Banner Health: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansmithprofile
CIO at HCA: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cae-swanger-428951a

Good luck on your educational journey and wherever you end up going, I hope it works for you.

lucky0977

@=jcundiff;
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I have no idea what college they are attending, but that experience shaped my views about online education. I am actually researching/comparing the graduate programs at WGU because the cost alone is enticing.

jcundiff

@=lucky0977

yeah the cost is great! My goal is to finish the BS-ITSEC by end of 2017 and then do the Master in another year... I honestly think the Masters will be easier for me due to the fact that Risk, BC/DR, and GRC is what I have been doing the last 6-7 years. I am now working on retaking A+ (because I passed it in 2000) for my last 2 classes this semester (32 CUs) and get to face college algebra next semester

OctalDump

Like anything, your education is what you make of it.

This is it. If it actually matters if you have a Master's or not, it will soon show whether or not you know anything.

Focus on the learning and show off what you know and can do, rather than the stamp on your diploma.

dhay13

I took several online courses for my B.S. degree (not at WGU). They were all proctored by a neutral party (could not be a boss, manager, or anyone else that would benefit from me completing or passing it). I used the head of the IT dept at our local school district. i had to sit onsite at the school. the proctor had to sign off. i guess you could get a less than reputable proctor and get away with quite a bit but like was said above, you get out what you put in

mzx380

The way I see it, the majority of employers do not really care where you go to grad school just so long as you stuck it out and finished it. If you do go to an ivy/top tier University it will definitely help but to put it bluntly, I doubt a WGU alumnus will be applying for the same position as someone from Harvard Business School. Take advantage of the fact that you are in IT and that you can learn in an online model and use the degree as the side dish to land a better job, instead of treating it like the entree.

trueshrewkmc

Any school you attend in the US should be regionally accredited. WGU is regionally accredited. Beyond that, it's whatever school you admire and can afford.

I would not trade my brick and mortar undergrad degree for anything. My 3-hour essay exams, written in person, were unproctored, so not sure why proctoring indicates anything about a school's quality. The people reading my resume don't know my small undergrad school by name, so does it matter? I'm adding a WGU grad degree to check a vocational/grad school box.