WGU Tuition Increase 2021

[MNomadic]

Just wanted to inform the members of this board so that they can plan accordingly. Starting August 1st for current and new students, tuition will go up between $250-$650/term(depending on the school/program). Regular tuition raises are normal and expected but I definitely feel like this was rather sudden.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WGUIT/comments/..._programs/

Even with the tuition rise, I still feel like WGU is a great option for people who can come in with a lot of transfer credits and plan to accelerate their degree or just need/want the flexibility that CBE offers.

[ss20ts]

I understand annual increases but these seem high considering how much tuition is. For the business bachelor's degrees it's an increase of almost 11% which is pretty high. A few years of increases like this and it won't be a deal anymore unfortunately. More incentive to get your degree done quickly.

[jsd]

I understand annual increases but these seem high considering how much tuition is. For the business bachelor's degrees it's an increase of almost 11% which is pretty high. A few years of increases like this and it won't be a deal anymore unfortunately. More incentive to get your degree done quickly.

Their last tuition increase was Jan 2019, and was $35 I believe. Prior to that, it had been something crazy like a decade without increase. I don't think we'll see similar 11% increases year after year at WGU. Hopefully.

[ss20ts]

I understand annual increases but these seem high considering how much tuition is. For the business bachelor's degrees it's an increase of almost 11% which is pretty high. A few years of increases like this and it won't be a deal anymore unfortunately. More incentive to get your degree done quickly.

Their last tuition increase was Jan 2019, and was $35 I believe. Prior to that, it had been something crazy like a decade without increase. I don't think we'll see similar 11% increases year after year at WGU. Hopefully.

Smaller annual increases are easier for people to swallow. An 11% increase is pretty high. What was the point in raising tuition by $35 if they had not raised it in a decade? If they managed to survive with only a $35 increase 2 years ago why such steep increases now? They're using crappy Examity and really need to find an alternative way to proctor exams. Examity is just awful. I've experienced them at LSU and that was one of the factors in my deciding to leave LSU. After problems with my first 2 exams I'm done. I don't know how people do that for months and years.

[jsd]

11% is certainly high and not a good look. I was just speaking to the point that that we're unlikely to see 11% year after year. I used Examity at Patten U and wasn't much of a fan either. When I was at WGU they were still using ProctorU for my program. Wasn't much better, but given then choice between the two I guess I'd lean toward proctoru. RPNow would be preferable, but it's labor intensive for the institution I believe.

[innen_oda]

Given that inflation in the US is skyrocketing right now, I doubt this is the last price increase we're going to see.

[jsd]

agreed, but my guess is this large one was a reaction to their long stint without any increases, and going forward we see more minor increases year after year like most institutions.

[MNomadic]

I understand annual increases but these seem high considering how much tuition is. For the business bachelor's degrees it's an increase of almost 11% which is pretty high. A few years of increases like this and it won't be a deal anymore unfortunately. More incentive to get your degree done quickly.

Their last tuition increase was Jan 2019, and was $35 I believe. Prior to that, it had been something crazy like a decade without increase. I don't think we'll see similar 11% increases year after year at WGU. Hopefully.

Agreed. I knew they had gone a decent length of time without an increase so this mostly market correction I think.

[bjcheung77]

agreed, but my guess is this large one was a reaction to their long stint without any increases, and going forward we see more minor increases year after year like most institutions.

Their last tuition increase was Jan 2019, and was $35 I believe. Prior to that, it had been something crazy like a decade without increase. I don't think we'll see similar 11% increases year after year at WGU. Hopefully.

Agreed. I knew they had gone a decent length of time without an increase so this mostly market correction I think.

Agreed... Hopefully that increase remains low for future years to come, WGU is super affordable for many students and I feel they're doing an awesome job as is. Tuition freezes can't happen forever, with inflation and all, this nominal increase is expected.

[dfrecore]

This is about increasing prices - just my personal experience.  I was on my HOA Board for 6 years.  During that time, I personally wanted to increase our dues a little every year (maybe $5/mo), to that if something came up in the future, if we had to make an adjustment, it wouldn't hit us too hard.  Others on the board did not want to do this - they wanted to wait until we actually needed to increase the dues until we needed to.  So we put out a survey.  And of the people who answered (which was like 25%), half wanted to increase annually, and half wanted to only increase when it was needed.  So there is just no winning this one.  Half the people will be unhappy with whatever you do.

Plus, I think WGU likes being able to say that they haven't increased their tuition in X number of years.  So, if they give a fairly large increase now, then they're "ahead" of things, and won't need to increase them for a good long time - like several years at least, and probably more.  Going forward, they'll be able to say "we haven't increased our tuition for 3 years" or whatever.  Giving smaller annual increases means you can never say that.