What is the story on Western Governor's University (WGU)? Is it a Mormon scam or on the up and up?

It was started by our wonderfully popular past governor Michael Levitt and some other old rich governors as well. For a $20K payment, and very little work compared to a brick and mortar school, they will print you up graduate degrees in any of the "soft" (touchy feely) science fields.

If you would like send me the $20K and I'll personally create a paper credential for anyone who wants one, lol.

Why would you worry about carbon ?

If that buffoon Mike Leavitt is involved I'll pass on it.

Do U offer a JD? I'm pretty sure I qualify, I Know I need one...

I looked into teaching for them a couple years ago. In my field, they pay way below market. At the time, I taught half-time at the university where I was finishing up my PhD, and my "package" was worth almost three quarters of what they offered me full-time.

And they bragged about "working from home," but then they expect you to give it back to them by working 44 hours per week instead of 40, "because you don't have to commute."

I teach computer programming classes, and they were eager to talk with me, but made it clear that 65k was the maximum salary. And not because I hadn't yet finished my PhD...that was the max, even after I graduated.

I did a little research and what I could find out was a mixed bag which varied from "it's a great place," to "it's a sweat shop."

I didn't get a good feeling from the interview process.

It was leading up to my oldest daughter's Freshman year of college, so I was looking to pump up our household budget a bit. I thought a full-time job would be a substantial increase in pay, but that wouldn't have been the case. So, instead, I bumped up to three-quarters (75%) time at my university, and increased my pay to nearly what WGU would have paid me (for 110% time).

Btw, real academic jobs don't require a prof to punch a time clock 44 hours a week, or even 40. No time clock at all. And by comparison, my 75% job doesn't require 30 hours of clocked time either.

I passed, and will never look back.

They are cheap. They expect to get the best people for the cheapest prices. They have PhDs running their courses and people with Master's degrees acting as mentors to students. They are a non-profit and do everything to keep costs down. Unfortunately, that means they don't pay people competitively. Employees are paid about half of what they should be given their educational backgrounds and professional skillsets.

Is WGU accredited at all?

Western Governors University is regionally accredited.
Regionally accredited schools are predominantly academically-oriented, non-profit or state-owned institutions. Nationally accredited schools are predominantly for-profit.

It runs about 3k per term (6 months).
They have teaching, nursing and IT colleges built in.

Its not "soft sciences" and not a diploma mill. They only thing you will miss out on is in class lecture time. Instead of going to one class for 2 or 3 hours three times a week, students are expected to put that same time or more in on their own. Most classes do have lectures offered over the internet in an adobe conference room or webex.

The hate for online schools is basically coming from people who associate it with for profit schools like Devry, university of Phoenix or ITT Tech.

"....Devry, university of Phoenix or ITT Tech."

All fine tech schools, trade schools, and tech management schools.

Too expensive. ITT Tech doesn't even exist anymore thanks to their money grubbing.

Non profit state 2 yr and yr colleges are also expensive...most likely paying for some of those deserving that pay that someone else was mentioning wasn't happening at WGU.

ITT got hosed by the govt and they bowed out...Why??...They got tired of dealing w/the govt.

It looks like the govt wants all post high school training done through the higher level school systems...

No with those higher level school systems (which are good, but many are "progressive in their philosophies and thinking), we now have the 2 main people running for president that we do..

many for profit trade schools do fine teaching trades.

nonmo_1 Wrote:
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> ITT got hosed by the govt and they bowed out...Why??...They got tired of dealing w/the govt.
>
> It looks like the govt wants all post high school training done through the higher level school systems...

ITT didn't get "hosed by the government." ITT made its own troubles. The school admitted too many weak students who were not able to complete their education and ended up defaulting on their federally-insured loans. Hence the government's interest.

A friend of my who works for the Federal Department of Education says that most post-high school job training now takes place at community colleges. That is not policy. That is fact.

It's absolutely a fully accredited school. Tuition is very reasonable considering you can accelerate your classes if you already know the material. I finished my bachelors in 3 years and saved a ton of money. It helps to be a very disciplined and tech savy person in order to enjoy the online learning experience.

Wohoo! A fellow night owl!

WG you is a regionally accredited institution. That is not considered fully accredited.

Incorrect. Regional accreditation is the standard. WGU is accredited by the NWCCU (Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.) Member institutions include the Universities of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and UNLV. Other public schools include Utah State, UVU, Weber State, Dixie State, Montana State, and others. Private schools include Gonzaga University and Reed College. Also included, (wait for it!) are BYU and BYU-I. Here is the complete list:

https://www.nwccu.org/member-institutions/directory/

Prospective students also need to check that their respective majors are accredited through the proper agencies. From what I can see, WGU's credentials for educating prospective teachers are completely in order.

I'm not making a judgement about the quality of the education that a student would receive through WGU -- just that in terms of accreditation, there are zero problems. I don't think that my school system would have any problem with hiring a WGU graduate.

Thank you for actual data. Accreditation is not some monolithic thing. Universities, colleges within universities, and individual departments, and sometimes programs within departments, may have their own individual accrediting agencies. And some programs may not have an accrediting agency.

summer Wrote:
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> Incorrect. Regional accreditation is the standard.
> WGU is accredited by the NWCCU (Northwest
> Commission on Colleges and Universities.) Member
> institutions include the Universities of Alaska,
> Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and UNLV. Other
> public schools include Utah State, UVU, Weber
> State, Dixie State, Montana State, and others.
> Private schools include Gonzaga University and
> Reed College. Also included, (wait for it!) are
> BYU and BYU-I. Here is the complete list:
>
> https://www.nwccu.org/member-institutions/director
> y/
>
> Prospective students also need to check that their
> respective majors are accredited through the
> proper agencies. From what I can see, WGU's
> credentials for educating prospective teachers are
> completely in order.
>
> I'm not making a judgement about the quality of
> the education that a student would receive through
> WGU -- just that in terms of accreditation, there
> are zero problems. I don't think that my school
> system would have any problem with hiring a WGU
> graduate.


Yep, you want to see if your school is regionally accredited. That is the first of and foremost qualification you should seek when looking at a University or community college education. ALL the big and reputable private and state schools hold regional accreditation at the institutional level. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, UCLA, Michigan, University of Virginia, Fresno State, Utah State, Boise State, Salt Lake Community College, etc. all hold regional accreditation by one of the regional accreditation agencies. If your University or community college does not hold that accreditation, avoid it like the plague. That being said, technical schools and trade schools do not typically have a regional accreditation, and that is okay as the regional accreditation is an academic accreditation.

I cant say how its viewed by employers, but my spouse got her teaching cert there and is working on a masters in admin. She has a co-worker going to BYU for the same masters and from the discussions they have had, she doesn't feel BYU is any better of a program all around. They do some things better, but are worse in other areas. She has been happy with them overall.

throckmorton.p.guildersleeve Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I cant say how its viewed by employers, but my
> spouse got her teaching cert there and is working
> on a masters in admin. She has a co-worker going
> to BYU for the same masters and from the
> discussions they have had, she doesn't feel BYU is
> any better of a program all around. They do some
> things better, but are worse in other areas. She
> has been happy with them overall.

Just noticed your screen name. Do you have any relatives who recently served a mission in Denmark?