Western Governors University Reviews of Bachelor's in Teaching

I attended for 4.5 years. On year 2 was "talked into a program change" Almost no credits transferred from the first 2 years, at 3.5 years I was talked into a program change. Rather than providing the support and guidance and actual education, there I was losing credits again. After basically starting over twice, I was in my final term (prior to student teaching) My entire term was made up of one final exam. I had one opportunity to take it (due to scheduling at Sylvan Learning Center where the exams... Read More were proctored) The scheduled date was 6 days before the end of my term. I was hospitalized with pneumonia; I came out of the hospital to my testing the following day. I got a ride to the testing center, very sick. I was placed in a room packed with people, no windows, hotter than the dickens, no airflow at all. I had contacted my mentor to be allowed more time, but nope. Sylvan put me in the last seat available in a corner with a fan blowing in my face. I requested to be moved. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. They didn't have any other seats available but offered to have me sit in their lobby for 2 hours for a seat to open up that wasn't in front of the fan. I agreed. I got a new seat, took the exam. Struggled like crazy to breathe while fighting a fever. I did not pass. I missed the exam pass by 3 points. I was kicked out for 6 months for failing my term. I was told I could return in 6 months. I emailed, I called. No one would answer the phone, no one answered my emails. I was literally ghosted. I would NEVER recommend this school to anyone. They should be ashamed of themselves. They got their money, that is all that they wanted.

I have never been so disappointed. WGU says that they offer flexibility, but they have not helped me with COVID constraints. I am supposed to student teach next semester. I have completed absolutely everything required for student teaching, except the results for one exam are going to be 11 days late because of the proctor site having a higher demand right now. Due to this SINGLE delay in results, they won't let me student teach. My mentor is horrible at communicating as well, and I feel like she... Read More never tells me important information or helpful tips.

Ok where do I start. I am a current student. 5 starts because its online and I will have a teaching license. Now to the ZERO STARS. You are not a customer in their eyes. They talk to you like a child. I recieved my AA from a local community college and to get my bachelors it will take me 3 years at WGU. If you have common sense you know why that is frustrating. They call you every week to check on you which I hate. Every class is laid out differently and the material, videos, secrets, etc are never... Read More in the same place. The textbook is easy to find but the easy to use materials are very hard to dig around for. This school is a joke. If anyone tells me that they earned there degree or it was hard I would probably laugh in their face. They Proctor site they use it inconsistent and the proctors dont speak english. Sometimes you have to have nothing on your table and have the curtains shut and sit in the dark. Other times they dont care and don't check anything.... if you pass every assessment this school is fine. But if you fail its hell. They make you talk to a course instructor that never has availability and they won't approve the next test until you talk to them. You cant even talk to a dean or manager because it does not exsist. Every college has a dean with an open door policy. Not WGU. They dint have a dean. When I told a manager I was considering changing schools because of my situation she said do what you feel you need to. Are you serious!?!?! Most school says oh that's not nessecary. They want your business and your money. Not wgu. If they have ti be nice and cater to you they would rather you go somewhere else and be someone else problem. Between my husband and I (we both gi here) we pay 12,000 a year. Is it worth it. Not is you want to feel like a customer. But if you want an easy laughable school go for it. 8 regret my decision in going here. But none of my credits transfer so I'm stuck.they offer all kinds of help until you actually need help or need to hurry and get a class done for time reasons. Then they do absolutely nothing. They send you generic scripted emails that have no personality or info on your personal situation. They just send you a generic email with there policy. I'm tired of it

I am extremely unimpressed with my degree experience. After many years of hard work to earn my degree to become a math teacher, I finally finished the program. I was lead to believe that WGUs degree program satisfies NJs requirements for certification. However, this is not the case. I took thousands of dollars of grant money and in return I committed to teach four years in public school. Now I cant get my certification because NJ state requirements were not met by my program. Therefore, I cant get... Read More a job and I will have to pay back all of that grant money. WGU is not taking responsibility so Im left with thousands of dollars of debt and no way to pay it back because I cant get a job. I have learned the hard way that you cant trust WGU.

Reading these reviews, I see many students that were not equipped to master this program. I am currently in my last term at WGU and l have had more support than the two previous brick and mortar colleges I have attended. I know exactly what is expected of me and I can either choose to procrastinate (which I have at times) or take it upon myself to accelerate and succeed. Complaining that you can't find something on the portal? It's super user-friendly. ASK QUESTIONS! Stay on top of your e-mail. Attend... Read More all the webinars and cohorts if you can't figure it out. The incompetent should not attend a competency based college.

WGU is a great school, but not for everyone. If you can do school online, and you're a self-starter, it's great. If you go to WGU and expect a diploma mill and hand-holding, you'll be sadly mistaken. The courses are designed to be real-world problems that you would experience. Pros: -Self-Paced: you get to do your own pace, and not worry about due dates and such, but you need to stay on top of it, since the school is still challenging. Having school available 24/7 is really nice. You can study after... Read More kids are asleep, after work, weekends, etc. No need to worry about being to class on time. -Affordable: for about three thousand dollars a semester of six months, you can do however much work you want. The tuition stays the same if you finish 3 Competency Units (equivalent of a credit) or if you finish 50. Note: your books are all e-books and included with your tuition, which is nice (most books I had to use were from VitalSource, which you can access from an app called Bookshelf (I have it on my android phone and kindle fire, but I think it works with iOS as well), you can also use it from the website/download it to your computer). You can download the books and access them without wifi most of the time through this app, too. -Competency Based: if you already know the materials being taught, you can take a test and, if you pass it, get credit for the course and move onto the next part. One of the best parts of WGU. -Certifications: when you graduate you get a bunch of certifications (that's included in your tuition cost) that you can show potential employers. Examples include: CompTia, Windows, NCATE, CCNE, CAHIIM, and others. This alone is a huge value, imho. -Basics: it's accredited, private (to impress your snooty friends), good administration-in my experience, anyway. Cons: -Lack of Programs: they have four colleges, and each one is designed to get you a job. Most schools have degrees offered in psychology, liberal arts, languages, etc. WGU doesn't have these. That being said, if you go to WGU to get a good, stable job, you'll be good. I know many people with psychology/sociology degrees (who learned a lot in school), who aren't able to find a job in their field. WGU programs are typically in high demand. I initially wanted to do environmental science, but they didn't have a program for that, sadly. -Mentoring: you're assigned a mentor that is with you from start to finish in the program. That is both good and bad. Sometimes they aren't on the ball and you have to wait for them to approve you to take an assessment or other such things. Sometimes, they're amazing and will go above and beyond. It's a give/take there. -Time Consuming: school is hard. It should be. It's especially hard for people who aren't as self-motivated and they can stumble and fall behind. This isn't really a negative on the school as a whole, but sometimes it's hard to want to power up a computer and work after spending 8+ hours at work staring at a screen, but that's just me. If you're looking for a diploma mill, move on to another school, because this isn't it. -Technical Issues: as a fully online school, I did have some technical issues from time to time. Most of them were from third parties they used, but still an inconvenience. Overall, I think WGU is great. If you're interested in one of the programs they offer, go for it. It won't be easy, but if college was easy, it wouldn't be worth it. It will help you move forward in your career, and give you great hands-on experience. The biggest downfall (to me, at least) is the lack of variety in the programs. Worth it, and my life is better for it.

Personally, I love WGU. I'm almost finished with my first term after transferring from a traditional university. My admissions adviser was there every step of the way to make sure I was completely ready once my term started, my student mentor meets with me every week to make sure I am reaching the goals we set, and my course mentors have always been very helpful and return calls/emails quickly. The classes aren't easy, but you can take a pretest at the beginning of your course so you know what areas... Read More you need to spend more time on and can accelerate through the parts you are more knowledgeable in. I am a military spouse so being able to student teach and work on my observations in any state that I am, even if we have to move, is perfect for me. I love the flexibility this school has. If you have extra time one day you can work longer on school and if you need to skip a day you can without consequences. How fast/slow you graduate is completely up to you and how much time and effort you are willing to put in. If you aren't self disciplined it can be very easy to put it off and get behind. This school was ranked #1 for their secondary education program and the school I transferred from was ranked #14. I love everything about this school, I've learned so much and I've had a great experience with it so far. I definitely recommend it for everyone.

I am back in college after 20+ years. I attended college right out of high school, but wasn't sure the direction I wanted to go with my life, so took a long break. Now, with my experience as a substitute teacher, I decided to pursue a degree in education. I first completed my associate's degree at a local community college and then had plans to transfer to the university that they worked with. This is where the frustration began. This university was not helpful at all. I was on my own for scheduling... Read More as my advisor was not involved and did not seem interested in my goals. I was put into classes I didn't need or it was the wrong one. I was also not told about classes that were only available at certain times of the year. Very frustrating! I took both online and on campus classes through this school, but after 1 semester, I had enough and that is when I found Western Governor's University. Because of the problems with the university, a couple of classes did not transfer because they were wrong for my degree. I loved how WGU laid out my degree plan, class by class. I also liked how each class was taken individually instead of 4 or more classes going on a time. That was some different that I really enjoy. I can concentrate on one course and get through it. All of the classes are online... however, that doesn't mean I am on my own. There are so many resources available!! I have taken advantage of all of them and that really is the key. Each student has a "mentor" that calls every week. Now that I'm into it all, those morning calls are annoying, but I would rather have annoying contact than nothing at all (as was with the case with my last school). Each course has course mentors who are wonderful! There are usually 3-5 of them, so you can get a quick response. You can email or call and they will help you through any problem. The course mentors also offer webinars, cohorts, and even private sessions. The webinars are live or recorded depending on when you can make it. All of these options are just as good as any on campus instructor. I love that I can work at my own pace. At my previous schools, I would get bored waiting on the next assignment to be posted. The course mentors are not the ones that grade your performance based essays, but I find this to be good as different evaluators will grade you. This makes for a more real-world situation as you find what different people like. This can help you grow as a student. The only thing I don't like about this school, and I'm not sure how big of a deal it is, but there are no letter grades. All of the classes are pass or fail. I'm going into teaching and I did call DESE to speak to them about WGU to make sure everything was on the up and up. They gave it a thumbs up. Now, having said all of that, the type of person best suited for WGU is someone who is very organized and motivated. You can't procrastinate or get lazy about your course work. WGU makes it convenient for any schedule, but you still have to commit to it. You have to be pro-active and take charge of your studies. You have to be dedicated. Working in the field that interests you in some way, is also a big part of it. If you don't have that experience, WGU may be more difficult for you. You should also have prior college (classroom) experience. This would only help you be a better WGU student. College is the ticket to any degree. It's a process that you must go through, so finding the right college that fits your needs can make all the difference on whether you are able to complete your degree. Good luck to all and congratulations on pursuing your degree!!

I am very pleased with WGU. I spent 4 years at a traditional university and got nothing from it. It was just not for me. Now at WGU I am almost done and start my in-classroom student teaching in September. When I was searching for schools I looked at everything and WGU seemed like they had everything I needed right in front of me. There was no guessing or assuming what I would need to complete my degree and the best part is the acceleration of the program. When I began, my projected graduation date... Read More was January 2017 and I was able to cut two years off of that and will now be graduating in Jan 2015. Traditional schools make that near impossible. The other thing I love is the tuition price. This school year (12 months) I will pay $6,070. That is $10,000 less than I was paying at the out-of-state university I was previously attending. That number also does not change if more classes are added. The more classes completed in a 6 month term the less each class costs. Traditional schools have a price per credit unit so if more classes are added the more tuition costs. I have been able to work full time during my time at WGU which would not have been possible if I was attending a traditional university. Because there is no classroom time, there are no teachers, but instead there are course mentors. They are experts in their field and are always willing to help. My chemistry mentor is friendly, knowledgeable, and has answered any questions I have had. I guess the real teacher is yourself. WGU gives you everything you need to complete your degree, you just need to take the time and have dedication to teach yourself. All in all, I love WGU and the opportunity it has given me to chase my dream.

WGU requires that you take the Praxis which is the test required to get certified in 1 term. Bad thing is they are completely spate and WGU has nothing to do with the test dates. The company who provides the tests is ETS and they have riduculously inadequate test options. For my program of Earth Science they offer the test Oct. 8, 9, and 10 for the entire Fall & Winter. This has made it impossible for me to test during my term and gives me an automatic not passed.... Read More WGU should not have requirements when they have nothing to do with the scheduling and should require the test be done before you are able to graduate like most certifications rather than setting you up to not pass a course. They have given me no option to take the course at another time when test dates are available so I cannot pass the course and will lose my good standing with financial aid. The mentors were completely misleading and decieving.

I would not because they set you up for failure.

Do not sign up for your teacher content course until ETS sets their test dates even if it makes you graduate late at least you canwill actually get a chance to take the test.