WGU Education Degree Help?

[livelovelaugh91897]

Hello there,  I have returned to my plan of getting a degree, and I have been contemplating on getting it with WGU? I started applying for the interdisciplinary K-8 education, but realized that it can be done faster with the testing out method. Is it possible to test out almost completely with WGU? I was going to use Penn Foster's Associates for childhood education, and the rest from shmoop and straighterline. Or should I look for something else? My goal is to teach abroad if that helps. Also I have been seeing that you can't completely test out with TESU anymore, can anyone clarify? It seems the more I read the more confused I become.   Thank you in advance.

[davewill]

TESU will let you use alternative credit (AKA "test out") for 117 of 120 credits, requiring only the 3 credit Capstone course be taken directly from them. The rest of the Big3 are very similar. WGU varies on the amount of transfer credit they allow from school to school within the university, but they typically require 30 or so credits be done at the university. However, since WGU uses a self-paced format, many people finish the all of their WGU coursework in one term making it a viable alternative to testing out of more credits.

[dfrecore]

You cannot test out completely with WGU, but you can test out of a LOT of the courses, especially the Gen Ed's. You would need to create a degree plan for it, with all of the options for testing out, and see how it looks. One of the things you need to do with WGU is figure out a good balance of testing out ahead of time, and then taking the minimum number of courses needed, and testing out a lot of credits, but leaving in more because of cost (some are more expensive than others). You want to find the sweet spot, of getting as many courses done as possible, but not so many that you could have put them into your WGU portion and gotten them done cheaper. And, you want to complete the WGU degree in 1-2 terms, so that the price doesn't go up.

Also, WGU does not let you transfer in any credits after you've enrolled, so you want to make sure you plan it well, and get everything transferred ahead of enrollment.

[livelovelaugh91897]

You cannot test out completely with WGU, but you can test out of a LOT of the courses, especially the Gen Ed's.  You would need to create a degree plan for it, with all of the options for testing out, and see how it looks.  One of the things you need to do with WGU is figure out a good balance of testing out ahead of time, and then taking the minimum number of courses needed, and testing out a lot of credits, but leaving in more because of cost (some are more expensive than others).  You want to find the sweet spot, of getting as many courses done as possible, but not so many that you could have put them into your WGU portion and gotten them done cheaper.  And, you want to complete the WGU degree in 1-2 terms, so that the price doesn't go up.

Also, WGU does not let you transfer in any credits after you've enrolled, so you want to make sure you plan it well, and get everything transferred ahead of enrollment.

Thank you so much for the reply, I would have replied back but I was wrestling with the idea of getting a BSBA from TESU or getting a bachelor with WGU. The question I have is should I use the bases of Gen ed's from TESU? I ask because it won't let me see the degree plan until I register completely. I thank you advance for your reply.

[Life Long Learning]

TESU will let you use alternative credit (AKA "test out") for 117 of 120 credits, requiring only the 3 credit Capstone course be taken directly from them. The rest of the Big3 are very similar. WGU varies on the amount of transfer credit they allow from school to school within the university, but they typically require 30 or so credits be done at the university. However, since WGU uses a self-paced format, many people finish the all of their WGU coursework in one term making it a viable alternative to testing out of more credits.

How much or how little is the WGU course work if one can do 30 SH in one term?

[dfrecore]

You cannot test out completely with WGU, but you can test out of a LOT of the courses, especially the Gen Ed's.  You would need to create a degree plan for it, with all of the options for testing out, and see how it looks.  One of the things you need to do with WGU is figure out a good balance of testing out ahead of time, and then taking the minimum number of courses needed, and testing out a lot of credits, but leaving in more because of cost (some are more expensive than others).  You want to find the sweet spot, of getting as many courses done as possible, but not so many that you could have put them into your WGU portion and gotten them done cheaper.  And, you want to complete the WGU degree in 1-2 terms, so that the price doesn't go up.

Also, WGU does not let you transfer in any credits after you've enrolled, so you want to make sure you plan it well, and get everything transferred ahead of enrollment.

Thank you so much for the reply, I would have replied back but I was wrestling with the idea of getting a BSBA from TESU or getting a bachelor with WGU. The question I have is should I use the bases of Gen ed's from TESU? I ask because it won't let me see the degree plan until I register completely. I thank you advance for your reply.

I would not use TESU's gen ed plan for WGU, as they are completely different.  WGU only really requires 30-40cr of gen ed (somewhere in that range depending on the degree), while TESU requires 60cr - but WGU's credits are much more specific than TESU's.

Here is a WGU spreadsheet, a TESU spreadsheet, and a website showing the transfer guidelines from WGU.  My WGU spreadsheet doesn't list much from STudy.com on there, because I did it before Study.com was available, and I added a couple later on.  But that is an option, as well as CLEP and DSST.

https://partners.wgu.edu/TransferGuideli...tudies.pdf

[davewill]

How much or how little is the WGU course work if one can do 30 SH in one term?

I'm not the best person to answer that, but one term is 6 months long, so that helps. Also most of the people doing it are getting a degree in something they already have experience with. You have to look at the course load and ask yourself whether you can do it that fast.

Even two terms is not an unreasonable plan. What you absolutely have to avoid is getting bogged down and wasting a term. That isn't such a big deal with TESU.

[Life Long Learning]

How much or how little is the WGU course work if one can do 30 SH in one term?

I'm not the best person to answer that, but one term in 6 months long, so that helps. Also most of the people doing it are getting a degree in something they already have experience with. You have to look at the course load and ask yourself whether you can do it that fast.

Even two terms is not an unreasonable plan. What you absolutely have to avoid is getting bogged down and wasting a term. That isn't such a big deal with TESU.

OK, that helps.  Two terms is one year!  Thanks for the reply.

[livelovelaugh91897]

You cannot test out completely with WGU, but you can test out of a LOT of the courses, especially the Gen Ed's.  You would need to create a degree plan for it, with all of the options for testing out, and see how it looks.  One of the things you need to do with WGU is figure out a good balance of testing out ahead of time, and then taking the minimum number of courses needed, and testing out a lot of credits, but leaving in more because of cost (some are more expensive than others).  You want to find the sweet spot, of getting as many courses done as possible, but not so many that you could have put them into your WGU portion and gotten them done cheaper.  And, you want to complete the WGU degree in 1-2 terms, so that the price doesn't go up.

Also, WGU does not let you transfer in any credits after you've enrolled, so you want to make sure you plan it well, and get everything transferred ahead of enrollment.

Thank you so much for the reply, I would have replied back but I was wrestling with the idea of getting a BSBA from TESU or getting a bachelor with WGU. The question I have is should I use the bases of Gen ed's from TESU? I ask because it won't let me see the degree plan until I register completely. I thank you advance for your reply.

I would not use TESU's gen ed plan for WGU, as they are completely different.  WGU only really requires 30-40cr of gen ed (somewhere in that range depending on the degree), while TESU requires 60cr - but WGU's credits are much more specific than TESU's.

Here is a WGU spreadsheet, a TESU spreadsheet, and a website showing the transfer guidelines from WGU.  My WGU spreadsheet doesn't list much from STudy.com on there, because I did it before Study.com was available, and I added a couple later on.  But that is an option, as well as CLEP and DSST.

https://partners.wgu.edu/TransferGuideli...tudies.pdf

Thank you so much, I didn't even know they had this available. I think I can definitely plan more. Thanks again.

[dfrecore]

One thing to keep in mind with both schools - you can plan out your degree, and figure out ahead of time what you're going to spend, and where you're going to take the courses you need.

With WGU, though, instead of planning all the way through, you plan what you can take ahead of time, and what you want to take there during the 6-month term (or 2 terms). That way, you're only starting after you've done all of the work you can, and you kind of know you'll stick with it. If you take 3 years to do your Gen Ed and courses you need before you start, then you already know you're not super motivated to get it all done in a single term, and you can either decide to go with TESU, or plan 2-3 terms, or whatever. Whereas if you blow through everything you can in 2 months, then you know you're probably the kind of person who can get through in a single term. You'll probably be somewhere in the middle of those 2 extremes, I'm guessing.