Western Governors University

The accounting department course instructors are unresponsive and not helpful at all. One accounting dept. instructor (Bryan Dixon) promised on three occasions additional study material for Taxation 2 but failed to get the information to me. The tests for Taxation 1, 2 and Managerial Acctg. are not written by the same company that writes their tests. The pre-assessments have a massive disconnect between info learned from the text and videos vs the final assessments. The course instructors are not... Read More allowed to know what is on the final assessment so don't expect any help in specific areas that may cause you trouble. WGU may be okay for other degrees, but for accounting they provide no support to the student at all. It's frustrating to say the least.

Outstanding program overall. There are issues with graders, who don't work for WGU, contradicting each other within the same paper and triggering a revision on APA rules that don't exist. But overall the content is well thought out and focused well for an MSN in Leadership and Management. I have a significant background in this area and felt the coursework tied in well to what I was doing at work at the time. The grading process can be frustrating which I think causes a lot of the negative reviews... Read More on this website. There is some redundancy within assignments which could be improved on. The web interface works well, as do the online books and their library. For the money, WGU can't be beat. I got far more out of it than what I paid.

Not impressed with WGU at all. This was the first time I did all online schooling after getting my bachelors at University of Miami. Almost every paper was returned for revision and it was frustrating because evaluators would contradict themselves in their critique. They would dumb you down in your writing skills. If you didnt write this is my answer because of this reason, they wouldnt be able to understand your actual answer and say you didnt write it in the paper. In all my years of schooling,... Read More this is the opposite of how they teach you to write. The price shows the quality of the program, and I regret not spending more money getting an actual education.

I am not new to online learning. I received my BSN online from a very reputable state medical college which prepared us to go into their MSN program. WGU has been a major headache from the very beginning. I am self pay so I was not held up starting due to financial aid. I was held up in the beginning due to incompetence of the enrollment counselor or having to do more than one person should be doing. The MSN program has been a joke. An instructor does not grade your work. An evaluator grades your... Read More work. If you do not say exactly what is on their sheet of paper to grade by, your paper will be returned for revision. Any papers you write would not be accepted anywhere else. If you do a PowerPoint, you still have to write an essay in the speaker notes. Speaker notes are for the speaker and is not supposed to be an essay. The redundancy in the projects is ridiculous. A paper will never flow correctly. Being required to turn in crappy work has been one of my biggest pet peeves. I learned WGU evaluators do not consider a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist to be human. I still have not figured that one out. One evaluator does not comprehend that mental illness is an illness and the lack of available beds is a community problem. When you get to the end of the program, there are no words for the frustration and stupid I have run into. Would I recommend WGU? NO I will be happy to be finished very soon. I will then be able to go back to writing correctly, doing a presentation correctly, and preparing business reports and proposals correctly. If my grammar is poor or there is redundancy please forgive me. I have written too many papers for WGU courses lately.

I'm very disappointed by the negative reviews I have read about WGU. I really am glad that I found this program. I hated the way I saw traditional nursing programs instructor belittle and intimidate the students which I knew at my age I wouldn't be able to take. I also wouldn't be able to do a traditional program with my financial and family obligations. I initially had trouble but soon learn to navigate the program and rules. I found that, if I wanted to succeed then I must take control of my destiny.... Read More WGU is not a program for the weak or those who need constant hand holding. You must be a self starter and go getter! I have recommended the school to several people. It isn't easy but it can be done. I really enjoyed having a student mentor to talk with when it was needed.

I have been in the MSNed program for 7 months and so far I have been very pleased with the quality of the coursework and the resources provided. If you are new to online classes, you may consider taking an online class through your community college first to see if they are right for you. Keep in mind that WGU is competency based learning so even in comparison to other online course work, this is much more independent. You dont do a lot of discussion groups or assignments through out each class.... Read More You are basically reading the course material and then doing a paper, project, or sometimes a test. It is self paced so you have to be motivated and get things done. It is also great for people who have jobs and families and need to be able to work on school work around life. I always see nurses complaining that they dont learn anything when going back for a BSN or MSN. If you arent learning, it is your fault! You will get out of these assignments what you put into them. If you seek out new information you will learn!

Read the reviews, and you will quickly find one thing to be true, either this educational setting and structure work for you, or it does not. For me, it works, and it works amazingly. I have completed 45 credits in term 1 and plan on finishing my bachelor's degree this upcoming summer or possibly earlier. I was lucky enough to come across WGU while researching schools to use my Trade Act benefits that resulted from a layoff. Traditional brick and mortar colleges and universities would only allow... Read More me to get associates or trade certification with the time that Trade act allots to finish a program. After I found out that depending on how many credits can transfer in that TAA will allow you to sign up for WGU on an accelerated plan that I created myself and had to prove multiple times that I could complete even being an accelerated degree plan that WGU cannot guarantee. It worked, and I got in, and I love it. The classes have a wealth of information if you are willing to look. There is a whole virtual library that you can research from and pull data from beyond the class themselves just like any other university. The Course Mentors and my Student Mentor have always been a pleasure to work with and I even had a CM basically walk me through college algebra providing me support and weekly calls to make sure I was on task. I had requested these calls because of my ADHD and my struggle with sticking with math and then forgetting concepts. I know that I am getting long winded but what I am trying to get across is that WGU is a college that like many others, you will get out what you put in. There are numerous resources including a dedicated math and writing center as well as tutoring services that you do not have to pay for through Wyzant if you are struggling. I consider myself lucky and have never had to retake a test and have only had to do one revision for a paper because I had accidentally deleted a little section of my writing and missed it on editing. If you are a self-motivated person who is willing to take the initiative and drive to get what you want while using all available resources, then I strongly recommend you give WGU a call.

I have worked in IT for many years, now in management I went from an associates to B.S. and I can say after going through WGU I would never want to hire any person with this on their resume and advise anyone going there to transfer somewhere better. I would advise any manager in any position to question these degrees heavily. If you have a lot of knowledge in the field already, WGU will let you speed through courses to get a degree you already have the knowledge for but are lacking the paper. If... Read More the person does not have the work experience already, and only has a degree at WGU I will not hire them because I know the education they received has no real value and they are not ready to work in the field in anything above entry level that a few CompTIA certs would have worked just as well. There are several WGU alumni working here and every single one of them agrees that WGU lets you show what you already know, but their classes do not teach you anything useful in areas you do not know. TL;DR If you have knowledge in field and just need a degree on your resume but already can do the job, WGU is fine. If this exact scenario isn't you, then do not waste your time/money on WGU because you will learn nothing.

I had a great experience with this program. It was affordable at approx $3,700 a term. They break your terms up with 12 credits per term but you can easily pull up classes to your current term as you complete them. I did 46 credits in 1.5 terms, 9 months. Many do it in 6 months. Student mentor support is great. Course mentor support is average. Tutors/help are easily available and really helpful. You need to be very organized and self disciplined to accelerate through it at your own pace. The classes... Read More are well formatted. Student support is great. Peer support was wonderful on social media. I'm 58 years old and a nurse for 25 years. I work full time and have a life and managed this program easily. I loved doing this program sitting on my couch on the computer

I just graduated in May 2018 from the ADN to BSN program and these are my thoughts. There is a very steep learning curve and a lot of it is self study. The courses are pretty straight forward, but it's very paper intensive. My first semester was the hardest because it's different than my ADN program in terms of studying. You need to be very disciplined. Thankfully, my student mentor was VERY helpful with supporting me. That was the key to my success. There is a misconception that the online program... Read More would be easier but remember the Board of Nursing in CA sets the criteria for all the nursing programs. There was extra coursework for the CA BSN program.

WGU is a fantastic institution for the motivated college student. When I first heard about this school, I was honestly surprised by the low tuition and flexibility. Competency based learning makes sense. One of the nice features about this school is that every course works differently, and it's up to you how you want to use the learning resources. Some courses I was able to finish in a few days by completing the projects (i.e., Spreadsheets, Communication), and others I had to invest a lot more time... Read More (especially my certification exams). You have to be accountable for your own and put the time in. One thing I cannot stress enough is if you are struggling, then ASK FOR HELP. The school has over 100,000 students, so you need to vocalize when you need help. There are tons of resources that are available for WGU students, which I think are underutilized (i.e., student communities, course instructors, and other optional resources). It's also up to you as to whether you would like to participate in discussions/cohorts. The instructors were really helpful here for some of the more difficult courses. WGU has tons of large groups/communities where you can ask for help with needed. My Program Mentor was also a big help. Every student is paired with an Mentor (who is usually is a past professor, or specialist in their field of study), and mine was great. We checked in every 1-2 weeks. Some days, I didn't need much support but it was nice knowing he's there when I needed. Long story short, I transferred in 32 CUs and graduated in 4 terms. My first two terms I completed close to half of my degree, but towards the end, I slowed down a bit because well, life happens. Now that I'm finished, I have my BS degree as well as six IT certifications. I was working as help desk technician for a credit union in my area, but I've recently moved onto an analyst position with a marketing company. This school really helped open some doors. Some classes challenged me more than others, but overall, I think it's been a great experience. As a FT worker with a busy life outside of my job, WGU really helped provide the flexibility and features I was looking for. I'm considering going back for my Masters early next year in Data Analytics, or I'm considering an MBA. The only drawbacks I experienced was sometimes it would take some time for projects to be graded because of the high amount of projects to be graded (WGU uses a service called TaskStream to submit papers). The Career Services department was also helpful for looking at my resume,, but they can't help much with internships. (Apparently they are working on this, but it will take some time due to having students from all over the country). I was able to network with WGU alumni/current students and get ideas for other companies to apply for (which ended up working out favorably). Do your research. Give WGU a chance if you are motivated, and you'll be pleasantly surprised with how fast you can earn your degree. Just recognize that this school probably isn't for everyone (younger students, part=time students, or students who don't have much time to commit. Also, make sure that you communicate with others as much as possible. It may be an online school, but they don't want students to full disconnected.

WGU gets it! It was designed for working adults who are serious about obtaining a college degree. The program is set up so that you can focus on learning and advancing through the courses. Everyone is assigned a mentor to assist throughout your program. The ease of having one person who can answer questions and help you through any problems saves a lot of frustration. The courses are well structured and you have numerous tools available to best suit your learning needs. They have text books, labs,... Read More practice tests, videos, course mentors and a variety of resources to assist you in learning the material. Courses last as long as it takes you to learn the material. Some, I had sufficient knowledge and experience that I was able to review and pass the class in a day. Some took several weeks, but was mostly dependent on my efforts. WGU is focused on knowing the course material, not on how long you sit in a classroom. It is a school that has embraced the 21st century and is not stuck in how things have been done in the past. They understand that not everyone wanting a degree is 18 years old, with no experience or other responsibilities. The flexibility and the student support makes it a great school for working adults. I would recommend for anyone who is serious about obtaining a degree and willing to work for it.

The good: Cheapest by far at around 3K a semester. Will only cost me 12k as opposed to the average 18K plus. Course work 100% online and module based which means you have no mandatory times you must to something. You can do things based on your schedule. Very flexible. Staff is very helpful and polite and they offer a lot of services to individual course help lines to paper writing assistance. The bad: The Staff is too helpful. Mandatory phone check ins. If I have needs I can reach out. Time waster.... Read More I was told this is for accreditation. Some of the courses get a little too cute with the content. If you are looking for a program where you can just crack out a few papers and hit some discussion boards then RUN AWAY! For one of the courses it is your responsibility to locate, set up and attend 55 (FIFTY FIVE!) hours of activities within your community relating to a primary prevention topic. It would be easier and take less time and effort if you could just crack out some shifts and a community clinic. It depends on what you are looking for in a program. The cost and flexibility is what drew me to WGU. Honestly I know that a BSN is a BS degree and I am gleaning little to nothing that will be beneficial to me other than the paper so I would have preferred a standard program. But I can't complain too much

After reading some of these reviews its clear people need a lot of hand holding. Let me clear some stuff up for future students or current students 1) This institution is competency based- that means you dont get credits that transfer. Once youre in the program, thats it. Does that suck sure it does, but it shouldnt be an issue If you finish. 2) As an online school they have to verify your attendance so you talk to a mentor every week. They help steer you through classes and set goals. Goal setting... Read More is paramount is success. If you cant handle goal setting, maybe school isnt for you. 3) Its a bargain. 3.7K for a semester is ridiculously cheap for a master program. And now other things to keep in mind 1) Ive been to multiple online universities this one by far is more invested and caring than Ive been to. Its why I switched. You can literally set up a time to speak with your instructor any time you want. 2) It has truly self-paced learning for your lifestyle (see personal goals setting). 3) You will learn what you need to. I recommend this place to all of my working friends. I