Western Governors University : B.S. in Business Management Reviews
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on February 16, 2012
(email verified)
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Worst paper-grading system ever.
I recently quit WGU because I was about to defenestrate myself over the ridiculous grading process they use for written submissions. WGU assigns 4-5 papers per term, and a term is about 3 months. Even if you do manage to find time to write a paper, once you submit it to TaskStream, just kiss your sanity goodbye. The graders are completely nonsensical with their criteria; they don't even adhere to the rubric/Course of Study. They seem to reject things and send them back for revisions for no good reason. The straw that broke my back was when I submitted a project where I had to write a short work memo to my "boss" about a certain law. It was rejected (of course) and the grader said "great job! you obviously grasp the material, perfect! just elaborate more."
When I asked my mentor why I have never had a single solitary paper get passed, she couldn't even answer me. She read all my papers; I emailed them to her asking her to show me what was wrong with them. She knew just as well as I did that the graders are full of crap. To this day, I have never had a single paper get passed. NOT ONE. AT ALL. EVER. The tests I pass just fine; studying and taking a test doesn't rely on some buffoon judging your work, there are clearly defined right and wrong answers. This entire thing has been ridiculous. I hope WGU reads this and fires those loons at TaskStream. Those idiots are costing you students. Let me know if things change, I'll gladly come back, it's just that my time and sanity are too precious to waste any further. I am very disappointed, WGU was very affordable and the curriculum superb.
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Anonymous
(Graduate) on June 23, 2011
(email verified)
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Time to complete
The time it takes you to complete your degree is entirely up to you. I had to push my mentor a bit but I completed my degree in 1 semester with no transfer credits. I usually woke up at around 6 AM and studied until an average at 6pm. So 10-12 hours per day 5 days a week. Half of the semester I maybe only put in 5-8 hours per day, others I put in more than 12. I worked weekends so I only did schoolwork Monday-Friday. Point being, I completed my Bachelors in accounting in 1 semester from start to finish with no transfer credits. I paid $3,000 (only purchased 1 book)for a 4 year degree where my wife went to a private school and paid about 60,000 (and took her 4 years). Needless to say the return on investment is much better with WGU. I will be starting my Masters in August.
To my knowledge I am the only student to complete a program this fast (there are probably but others I haven't asked the school). If it takes you 4 years to get a degree from WGU you should still be proud of yourself and its most likely going to be more enjoyable than a traditional school because you don't have to sit through a boring class when you don't want to. Beware... Taskstream (the grading company for roughly half of your classes) is garbage. The graders almost never understand the material they are grading, they simply look for key words and phrases so you have to submit all of the work to them as if you are discussing it to a 3rd grader. Some graders are very helpful and good, but its about as rare as getting great service at a fast food restaurant. Other than that, its up to you for completion time and as far as quality of education, I have many friends who attend other local state universities and WGU's material is more up to date and field relevant (by a small but noticeable amount). Obviously WGU is not on par with Harvard, Notre Dame, or other top tier schools but I would place it at the bottom of the top 25% schools for quality of education.
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Rseccomb
(Graduate) on December 27, 2008
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I'm happy w/ WGU
I see a lot of people who are upset by their experiences at WGU. My personal experience has been pretty good... I've been a student at 2 different universities rated in the top 10, and didn't finish. It wasn't the difficulty that washed me out, in fact, I had a 3.7 GPA @ the one of the world's best engineering schools studying petroleum engineering, and I've found many challenges in the WGU program. Quantitative Analysis was tough, and I worked many hours on each problem. The math and econ stuff was at least as difficult as I had seen in other schools.
I imagine that if you publicly polled all students who went to Harvard, they would also have detractors. I personally didn't let that stuff discourage me, rather, I took a look at the fact that they were accredited regionally, they had similar admission standards as other universities I've attended, and now that I'm 40, what the learning model looked like. I know better today how I perform in certain situations, and found the WGU model to be adequate for me.
I recently left my job, and started looking for work with other companies. Not a single organization has questioned their credential.
The school is not for everyone, if you need a lot of personal attention steer clear. If you want to have 1:1 time with a professor, WGU is not for you. The entire model is about your willingness to pay the price to obtain your degree by learning from a book, and then passing a proctored test that ecompasses the breadth and depth of the topic you are supposed to learn about.
Finally, many have complained about graders. They use a company called Taskstream. Many other institutions use them too (Purdue is one). Are they perfect? No. Do you always agree as a student? Nope...I even was mad a couple of times. Do they get it right? Yes, according to the standard, they do. Does it take some time? It does, but 5 days was the max for me.
If I were starting again today, I would look at accreditation, acceleration, cost, and would make the same decision I made before. Do your research...
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Dred0218
(In Progress) on September 24, 2008
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WGU
I am near completion with WGU. I wanted to say this in response to those saying WGU is a scam and employers frown on the school. I work in business administration at a local public school district. In the past three years, we have hired several WGU graduates and enrolled several WGU students into our student teaching program. Prior to enrolling into the school, I contacted Texas A&M and asked if they recognize WGU courses as transferrable since it is pass/fail. I was told by the department head, WGU courses are considered passing at 80% or higher and all passing courses transfer to their program. I then asked if I wanted to obtain my Masters from Texas A&M after I completed my studies with WGU and was assured WGU is recognized just as any other traditional university. I then saw a representative from WGU on CNN talking to several representatives from Ivy League schools about their online programs. WGU is legit but for your own piece of mind, do your own research prior to enrolling. And yes, some of the courses you can google the questions and find answers, but I WANT to learn and have taken the time to research textbooks and truly understand the concepts. My only complaint has been my mentor. She is highly educated, but not very organized and forgets meetings, doesn't give me 100% of her time when we speak on the phone and it takes me emailing her superiors in order to get responses from her. If I wasn't almost done, I'd switch mentors, but with it being this late in the game, I don't need much from her other than approving my request to take the final assessments.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on March 10, 2008
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Western Governors University
Western Governors University is a complete ripoff. The program deliberately slows you down, so that WGU can charge you more. I thought that this would be a quicker way to finish my degree, but I would have easily finished by now if I had gone to a different college, and taken the traditional route.
It often takes weeks to get a simple assignment graded. And when you finally get it back, the grader is often wrong! Example: I failed an accounting assignment, because I was told revenues/expenses are not part of operating cash flows in a cash flow statement! What?? Every accounting text book confirmed I was right. Who's grading these papers??? Besides this, I was told before I enrolled at WGU that I could test out of courses that I already knew - the majority of courses turned out to be assignment based.
Of course I should have known what I was getting into soon after I enrolled. After I enrolled they refused to give me credit for my associates degree - even though they guaranteed me that everything would transfer BEFORE I paid my tuition/fees. When I threatened legal action and showed them written proof that I had received from their "mentors" BEFORE I enrolled, they were suddenly able to transfer everything.
Their "mentors" are also completely useless. My various mentors had completely no idea about business-related subjects, even though I am majoring in a business degree. If you intend to study at WGU, think of the mentors more as cheerleaders than anything else. Good luck!
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