Western Governors University Reviews of Bachelor's in Special Education

I loved attending WGU. It is the only school where I felt I got my money's worth. Coursework was cohesive to assignments and gave options to take little quizzes or to delve deeper into the content. Although some might find program mentors irritating, I generally enjoyed having someone I could count on to keep me on task and help me organize courses, tests, and students teaching to my schedule. My mentor was able to help me with class suggestions and any information about the program requirements... Read More I needed. I love that this school didn't just give me a grade and a short explanation of what I did wrong or right (which almost every professor I've had has done). WGU allows students to redo assignments until they reach competency. I got explicit details on what I needed to improve and was usually emailed by professors who offered advice. The only thing I will say is that when my program mentor told me that my new course was harder, I had to right away make an appointment with the professor, or I wouldn't get availability until the next week or two. I also love that this school gave me the option to have one-on-one video discussions with professors about my work, cohorts, recorded webinars for each section of tasks (as opposed to super long sessions of whole tasks), and detailed resource support pages that gave me access to everything I'd need to complete my assignments and tests (assignments, example papers, checklists, etc.). Usually, when I went to other colleges (2), I had to comb through books and resources to find out how exactly I was going to complete my assignment (understanding what exactly the teacher was asking me to do). At WGU I get to just spend time learning content that is actually relevant to my assignments and completing my assignments. I didn't have to comb through books and resources to try and figure out what was in tests because I knew that course content always directly related to my assessments. This school is easy in the sense that it allows you to focus only on your work and apply your newly learned skills, and hard in the sense that you don't pass a class unless assignments are completed to rubric standards. Overall, this school is the only school I feel gave me money's worth of resources and professional development. Also, this school is not for procrastinators, how fast you get done is usually up to you.

Degree: Special education and elementary education (Dual Licensure) Time it took: 140 credits in 4 1/2 years while working full time is doable (including one break semester) Mentors: They are a nuisance and unnecessary. In the beginning I had to check in every week, being told I can’t miss the call. After a while there were Email check- ins instead of calls. After showing continuous progress I complained that I was a responsible adult and that I didn’t need looking after. She backed off after that... Read More and let me do my thing. They only checked in every two weeks to once a month via email. Key is to voice the issue politely. I was assigned a new mentor half way through. Same thing here, after she was assured I would do my work she left me alone. All in all I did not find them very helpful. Coursework: Competency based with either essay assessments graded on a rubric or proctored assessment via online testing agency. Course work was ok not too hard nor too easy, most classes were structured well, others were a mess and a headache to get through. Check for course tips, they often have valuable extra information or recorded lectures that saved the hassle of trying to figure out the course material. Course instructors: I have had zero problems with any of my instructors. They were helpful and answered emails in a timely manner. I did not make any phone call appointments with any of the instructors until the last half year for the dreaded edTPA. Appointments were plentiful to choose from and the instructor was kind, patient and helpful. Testing: Essay testing was doable. Rubrics are always presented and somewhat easy follow. Never had to deal with multiple returns. Proctored video testing was with a testing agency that provided proctors who often spoke English with a heavy accent. Some proctors let you just take your test and be done others complained that this and that was not up to standards, e.g. I had to sit in a certain angle so they would see everything which made my body ache and was more nerve wracking than the actual test but I survived it. There are several (Praxis) exams that you need for student teaching that are tested by a different agency and that cost extra money. Student teaching: This process was a little annoying because you have to read through a lot of stuff that is not too helpful. I finally had figured out what to do when I realized that one of my Praxis exams had a linger turn around time and I missed the student teaching application deadline with my school district by 2 days. I wish I had known this before and one of the mentors would have told me and I had to put in a break semester. Financial: In the 4 1/2 years I was enrolled for 8 semesters due to my missed application deadline. All in all the degree cost about $30.000. If you are a single mom like me, fafsa covered most of it and I maybe payed around $ 7000 for the 4 years and am now without student loan debt. (Huge perk) EdTPA: During student teaching you must take the EdTPA, even if it is not required for your state. This was the most annoying task that caused a lot of stress. A lesson planning task for a focus learner, a video task where you have to record yourself teaching the learner and an assessment task. WGU has many, many resources that help you through it, but it is more like an information jungle that you have to fight through to find what you need. Working with the course instructor really helped. All in all, I did not regret my decision to go with WGU. I was able to get a 140 credit degree from an accredited school within 4 1/2 years without being in debt. Is it the best school? Probably not but let's be honest, not many degrees make up for real on the job experience.They just lay a foundation in your work field which this degree did for me.

WGU is probably one of the most Narcissistically ran universities that I have ever had the misfortune to become aware of. They talk a good game. Pay for the semester, and you can achieve credit for as many courses as you are able to complete before the semester ends. They DO NOT accept credit for many courses that are nationally accredited (despite most universities having equivalent transfers). They want you to spend that money! If you enroll with an education that prepares you for the WHOLE of... Read More your degree, and can navigate the labyrinth of testing/grading companies they hire, then WGU is for you. (These testers are only required to show an Associate's Degree, even if it is wholly unrelated to the material they are grading, and are not required to understand the material you are now explaining to them through a 20 page essay). If you expect to be given any small amount of education, whatsoever, and to be tested on that material in a fair way and by someone that remotely understands the material you will want to start running, as fast and far as you can. You are given no education, WHATSOEVER! You are expected to learn and understand all the material by yourself, even if the material is provided through the use of excerpts from multiple books and in a fashion the is neither cohesive, nor uniform. And, if you think that a teacher/professor will be available to help you understand even the smallest bit of that material, think again. WGU does not provide a teacher for your course, only an employee to ensure you paying your tuition. Don't believe me? IT IS AGAIN WGU POLICY FOR ANYONE TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL!!! They are limited and only ALLOWED to direct you to read your material again. Example (True Sorry): I was lucky to have had a previously excellent education before attending WGU, but unlucky to have chosen WGU because of moving out of state (and this, not able to transfer 80% of my credits). This allowed me to quickly progress through my bachelor's degree. I was able to complete nearly all of my Elementary Education courses in roughly 20 months. I was in my last semester before I started my Student Teaching (and gaining my degree). I only had 3 courses left (outside of the ones necessary for my Student Teaching). During my time at WGU, I had faced little struggles, and easily soared through my classes (as my previous university had trained my well). The only struggles were dealing with the testing company and having been put with a grader on occasion that couldn't pour urine from a boot if the instructions written in the heel. (You learn to just deal with them). Of those 3 courses, I struggled with the last assessment on one of them. I felt that I understood the material extremely well. Even working teachers had told me that I was explaining it better than they could. When asking my course "teacher" for help, I was flat out told that she couldn't teach/explain any of the material to me. I was only to read the material again. WGU has/had a policy where if you fail a single assessment on a course 4 times (which could have 4-8 assessments), you would be kicked out of your degree program completely, and not allowed to retake the course, nor complete your degree. I had this one assessment returned 3 times, and was about to be kicked out of my degree program before my "teacher" called me, and told me that I was to never let anyone know that she was helping me. It was explained to me that the grader for this course (a high level, education course) was a person that only had an Associate's Degree in English Lit, and was confusing what the assessment was testing for. She then explained how this grader mistook the material, which allowed me to easily pass it. So, instead of educating the grader, giving the high level class to someone with an appropriate degree, or even evaluating the accuracy of the grader, they forced the teacher to risk her job by giving me information she wasn't supposed to, and risked other students to losing their degree or misunderstanding high level material in their own degree. TLDR: This is not a real University. 1) WGU does not allow credits to transfer in. 2) All courses are self taught with inadequate material. 3) There are no Professors/Teachers. 4) There is no follow up as to whether their degrees are successful. This "University" was built by a handful of Governors that have no understanding of what is needed in a degree program. All their effort in forming this online, joke of an education was driven by kickbacks, buying votes, and narcissistic and egotistical self praise. (Perhaps, they want to ensure the average American never gains enough education to vote them out of office).

First off, this school is not everyone. If you are highly self-motivated and can set deadlines for yourself and stick to them, this is the school for you. If you struggle with that, I would suggest going to a more structured school with due dates. That said, I LOVE WGU! I love that I can take classes at my own pace. I love that I can log on to class when I want to and don't have to follow a set schedule. I can finish a class at 1am, 6am, 3pm or 10pm and there's no problem. I got my AS from a traditional... Read More brick & mortar school and thought it was fine, but it was hard to balance work and school. WGU has been great for me because I can work on it in-between customers and basically have permission from my manager to be paid to do school. Scholarships at WGU are practically non-existent (at least in my experience). They do offer some, but they are incredibly hard to come by, especially if you are under 25, even if you receive no financial support whatsoever from a living relative. It's "at your own pace" or competency-based, so it was awesome to be able to review a math concept one day, take the test and pass the next. Many of my generals transferred (29. I was a music major before, so some I knew wouldn't transfer). Because it's competency based, I could finish a class in two days, or I could take two months depending on how well I knew the material and how I felt about my learning. I LOVE that. Especially because that was my greatest frustration during traditional school. I would either get super bored or be struggling to keep up depending on the subject. At WGU, math for me was a breeze. SPED laws were something I really wanted to know and understand, so it took me 1-2 months. The Course Instructors are willing to go over any material you need more help with & some are even willing to give you memorization tips and tricks to help you get through the course faster with greater understanding. I know some people need more human interaction. MANY people already have been working in their field when they come to WGU, so the instructors are used to older learners and sometimes assume you already know what's up. This was a slight challenge to begin with as a couple would go off on applications most see in the field and I'd have to tell them I was a first-time, 20-year-old student that didn't have SPED experience. They definitely dumbed it down for me after that. I definitely called an instructor more than once for clarified instructions. Honestly, if you follow the procedures they give you to be successful, it works great. Mentors can be annoying and mine didn't seem to know who I was or what I was going into for a while which was super frustrating. You can set your call schedule for what you want after the first few months. My first semester I heard from my mentor each week. The second semester it was every other week. This is my third semester and I talk to my mentor on a "as needed" basis because she knows I'm independent. Observations were super nice to be able to visit a local school and see how classes are really run and to talk to people in the field with all of their experience. I was actually more excited to complete my degree after getting to do observations. The Field Placement people are AMAZING!! They were willing to work with me as I was moving and help me get DT placement nearby. The estimated graduation definitely changes according to how much time and effort you put into working on course material and tasks. Granted, everyone will be different. I've heard people that finish a class every two weeks. I'm NOT one of those. The average class time is usually 6 weeks. Mine usually varied from 3-8 weeks depending on the course. My first term was started June 1st 2019, so I took breaks to go on vacations, but was still able to complete 25 CUs. 2nd I got 23 done (took large breaks for Thanksgiving and Christmas), 3rd I just finished 29 CU (Competency-based Units=Credits). The further I got into my degree, the easier and less time consuming it became. It started to be more applicable. I was originally told that I wouldn't graduate until November 2022. That was pretty frustrating to see, but watching the time shave off as I worked made it worth it. I will end up graduating in the same time frame as I would have in a brick and mortar school (May 2021), but I was able to take breaks whenever I wanted/needed, get the wedding planning done, work two full-time jobs, and still finish on time, so I'm happy. Plus, COVID-19 doesn't affect almost anything because it was already online to begin with!

I love WGU! I started my degree in education and transferred to the dual license for special education. The classes are hard. If you're looking for something easy, WGU is not the place for you. I've had 2 mentors (due to the degree change) and they've both been wonderful! The teachers are great! They are super helpful and so knowledgeable. I do not have any experience in teaching but with the classes I'm taking, I don't feel like I'm going to flounder. The mentors also have experience in teaching... Read More and are great for asking questions about their experience in the field which is wonderful. I hate when you have someone guiding you that has no experience. Don't let the bad reviews sway you to not go. It's a great school with great people. You're going to have to work though to pass your classes.

I am so pleased with this school that I am not sure where I need to begin. Begin at the beginning right? in 2011 I began to look for a new school that offered a teaching degree in special education online. My choices were slim but I persisted and I found Western Governors University. I called them and started asking questions. I was assigned an application mentor. This person was amazing. They walked me through every single step to apply. They helped me transfer my credits from my old college and... Read More answered all the crazy questions that popped into my head, even the late night ones. Once I was accepted I met my degree mentor. A degree mentor is someone assigned to you for the entire duration of your degree. Above anything else that WGU did, this was the best and my most valuable and used asset. My first degree mentor was prompted to another department and I was assigned another mentor. The transition was smooth and my new mentor literally became my life coach. She lit a fire under my bum when I was dragging, she was always ready with encouragement, support, and she genuinely cared. When I moved to another state to finish my degree I was extremely overwhelmed and I took a break from WGU. The process to take a break and then begin again was smooth and tear-free. My mentor I had before was not able to be reassigned to me, but the new degree mentor I had was just as phenomenal. To this day I still talk to both of them and I cherish the friendship we have created! WGU also has multiple course instructors. I loved this concept because if I did not mesh with an instructor well, then I just spoke to another one. Course instructors are available any time and during my math courses I used them often. I truly think if I had not used the course mentors as much as I did then I would never have passed math.

When I was in my mid-thirties, I wanted to do something different with my career, so I decided to study to be a teacher. I have a wife and kids, so that complicates such a decision. The first school I went to was a community college where I received an Associate of Science in Secondary Education. Of the seventy or so total credits I earned there, Western Governors University accepted forty-four of them as transfer credit. I looked at several different options before settling on WGU. I was looking... Read More for any reason at all to go to Austin Peay or TSU instead of WGU , in part because I had a hangup about an online-only school. I was worried that employers may not accept the degree or that it wouldn't be viewed the same as others. Ultimately, I got over that hangup when I realized that the school's accreditation and my licensure as a teacher really puts me on an even playing field with other new grads for the most part, no matter where they went to school. The cost of WGU and the ability to work at my own pace and on my own schedule were also very helpful. Once enrolled, I found that I like the WGU learning model. It's quite helpful for a self-starter who is motivated. My Special Education program requires 137 total credit hours (also known as competency units at WGU), and like I stated before, I transferred forty-four, so I completed ninety-three at WGU, and I finished those in two years and two months. So including my time in community college, I had a BA in Special Education in three years and six months. So how were my results? I graduated Friday, December 7, 2018. I started work Monday, December 10, as a special education teacher in an local elementary school, one of the two host schools I taught at during my student teaching. Both of them offered me a job so I had my choice of the two. WGU provided me the vehicle to earn my license to teach. And they provided me with the opportunity to spend time in my two host schools to show them that I am a capable teacher and employee. I just think it's more about the person than the school. It may be cliche, but I think a student will get out of WGU what the student puts into it. I learned a great deal and found myself in the position to get what I wanted, which was a teaching job right out of school. It's now June, and I'm starting WGU's Master of Arts in ELL program August 1. I'd like to complete it in a year. We'll see how that goes.

When I first started, I thought the school was great. My mentor was supportive and the course mentors were really helpful. Into my second year, things started to change and my experience with WGU seemed to get worse. My personal left to another position and I was assigned a new mentor. I didn't mind too much, but my mentors had withheld important information about state exams that I needed to take in order to complete a future course. My graduation was pushed back by six months because I did not... Read More complete the tests in time. Then came time for me to complete my last course and program and yet again I was assigned another new mentor, who did not seem to care about me. My last course is student-teaching, I was paired with a horrible host teacher, who from the beginning did not want to host a student-teacher. Halfway into my program, she decided to end the placement. I was told the process of terminating my placement would be simple and easy going. That has been far from the truth. They do not update you on anything, and everything you thought was going to happen, the opposite happened, with no warning. I have been given the run around and lied too. So much stress has been put on my shoulders due to their lack of support and knowledge. I was supposed to graduate this year, but now it will be next year(possibly later), as I have decided to transfer schools. If you are considering WGU for a teaching degree, I recommend finding a different school.

This "college" is a joke. They will have MANY technical issues the day u try and take your final. It took me over 6 months to pass one class because of technical issues on thier side. To add to it, if u dont pass the class in their allotted amount of time they will charge you even when it's not your fault that you have not passed the class yet. The study material is not related to the finals as well. The "teachers" are a joke too. I was in a class for two months before being told that I was missing... Read More the correct study material. Apparently, the material posted for the class was wrong and the teacher had the correct guides, but I was never informed and only found out after failing the final and realizing that the questions did not even match what I was given. But don't worry, they still charged me to do a retake. So many bad things to say about this university that I could go on for weeks.

Wgu is a great school to get a degree. Most people don't learn as much as a traditional brick and mortar school, but this school allowed me to work in my field for 3.5 years before I graduated. I am in my first year teaching, and I had 4 job offers after I graduated. I landed a job that checked off everything off my list!! During the last year of school I completed 21 credit hours in 2.5 months and the next semester I did 18 hours in 3 months. If you are a great test taker and a decent paper writer... Read More this school is for you. If not don't go! Once you figure out the system by all means exploit it and get it done. Overall I have very few complaints and if you have a chance request H. H. as you student mentor. HE IS AMAZING!!!!

I've been working as a teaching assistant in special education for 9 years. Finally decided to become a special education teacher. Since I didn't even have an Associate degree, I knew it would be a long road since I would need to get a bachelor degree as well as go through a credential program. I transferred my credits to WGU. I needed to complete 137 credit units to earn my bachelor degree which had the credential program wrapped inside. While working full time, I worked on my degree program in... Read More the evenings and during summer break at school. I was able to complete 47 credit units in each of my first two terms, and 43 credit units in my final term. At $3000 per 6 month term, I wanted to get as much out of each term as possible. I was fortunate enough to receive the "Excellence in Education" scholarship which paid $1000 per term towards my tuition. I was able to "fast track" my degree by using my extensive knowledge and experience to pass many classes quickly. Still, I had to write research papers, multiple lesson plans, case studies. I took praxis tests in special education and behavioral emotional difficulties as well as general education. I had to complete the California Teacher Performance Assessment as well as pass the CSET test for California. I had to study class videos and analyze teacher performances. I had to observe in classrooms for 60 hours. I had to do demonstration teaching under the supervision of not only a clinical supervisor, but the host teacher. I had my weekly student mentor phone calls which were amazing in terms of practical support as well as emotional support. When the chance to reduce the weekly mentor calls presented itself I declined, simply because I enjoyed having my own personal cheerleader/secretary who could keep me motivated on track, and organized. Any time an assignment was returned for corrections, the feedback was usually very clear and concise on what revisions needed to be made. Any time I was did not understand the expectations, an email to one of the course mentors cleared up any misunderstanding I had. It was a lot of hard work, I kid you not. The provided support kept me from getting overwhelmed, because it can be overwhelming. This week, I finish my student teaching and will be graduating shortly thereafter. I've already received several offers and inquiries about my availability to begin working in January. For me WGU was the only way to go, and I can't speak highly enough about the education and support I received.

I highly recommend WGU! I was a teenage mother with a dream of being a Special Education teacher. I had a newborn child and was unable to attend the traditional college, so I found WGU. 4 years later I graduated from WGU with my Bachelor's in Special Education. I immediately found a teaching job that I love. I recently started back at WGU for my Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. My husband and sister-in-law are also WGU students and they too love it. You have to be self-motivated because... Read More it is so convenient that you could procrastinate. The mentors are so helpful and caring, and you can't beat the tuition!