Western Governors University

WGU is a good school if you are self motivated. It's easy to "Say" you're self motivated, but when it comes to deciding whether or not you should read your assignment and write your paper or .... play with your kids, do some laundry, watch TV...etc etc....you may find that you're not as self motivated as you may think. I think one of the reasons people stop attending WGU is it's HARD! You have to read A LOT! Then, you have to write a paper afterwards. These papers are not simple regurgitation of the facts but more subjective essays you write after reflecting on your readings. It is time consuming and HARD. It's hard to think about and it's hard to take the time to complete the tasks. I have my undergrad from a bricks and mortor school and am currently getting my masters from WGU. Another big difference I can tell between the two is that you can B.S. your way through many classes at a bricks and mortor school. I know I did. I also know you can't BS your way through an essay at WGU, I tried... and had to rework it. I also vehement disagree that WGU only wants your money. I am taking the SLOW route to get my degree (I have found that I'm NOT very self motivated). My mentor actually suggested that I take a break from my education for a term to get my priorities straight instead of paying for another term and not making any progress. I didn't take her up on the suggestion and instead I was assigned another mentor for time/course management. (and that helped A LOT!!!! )

I would definitely recommend WGU! After separating from the military and moving around the world with my spouse, WGU is the only university I have found that is very accommodating to military/spouses. I currently work in a school and even the Principal and Vice Principal have heard of WGU and also recommend their online program over other well-known programs. Getting in all the paperwork was a bit of a hassle, but after that, everything is smooth sailing. The coursework is tough but relevant to the topics. To top it off, WGU is the only online school with national NCATE accreditation...that says a lot in my book!

I have completed 1.5 years with WGU (MA in Educational Studies) My first mentor was wonderful and definately worth his Phd. However my next mentor was pathetic and I requested a change. My current mentor makes me wonder about his credentials to say the least. Yes the school is nationally, regionally and NCATE accredited but what does that really mean? The majority of the tasks make no sense, are true busy work and come in duplicate. The graders (GOD WHO ARE THEY) are a joke! They do not follow the task directions or rubric but rather grade as they wish. Constantly asking for items not mentioned in the task. I guess we are suppose to guess. Now that being said, I have attended both traditional and other online schools and WGU is not all that its cracked up to be. Only AFTER I removed WGU from my resume did I get call backs about teaching jobs EVEN FROM NURSERY SCHOOLS so I am VERY upset and scared about WGU. IF I transfer to a school here will I lose all of the work I did? Not to mention $$$. I dont know about the other states but the message I am getting about NYC is that if the "school" is not well known, dont even bother. Online doesnt matter so much because many of our NYS schools offer distance learing, however when people see WGU they RUN!

I am currently a student. So far the experience has been sometimes great, sometimes frustrating. However, the degree program is delivering the content I expect from a teacher's college. I have spoken to many new graduates of teacher's colleges at the school I work at; all of them tell me that I am studying exactly the same type of material that they covered in their programs.