Western Governors University

[Lindagerr]

Has anyone ever gone here? I was looking for a way to get my teaching certificate and found WGU. They say they are the only online school that can get you NCATE accredidation. They are RA & NA.

It sounds really good, I would probably have to redo some credits, I need to think this over. I would love to hear if anyone has tried this school. They also have business, nursing and IT programs.

[gregjohnson]

Just a couple of points, but first the disclaimer: I have not attended WGU.

I was accepted (before I found this forum), but they only allowed the equivalent of 42 of my approx 85 semester credits, whereas TESC allowed 75- that was a BIG difference to me. Also, they use their own method of tracking credits, neither quarter nor semester. This, amongst other things, makes it very difficult to transfer OUT OF WGU if you so desire. They have their own way of doing things. Some people love it, some people hate it. It may be different for teaching certificates or grad school, but it did not make sense for me to finish my BSBA at WGU.

On a separate issue, I saw that you were undecided about DSST vs TECEP for a couple of "classes". I have taken 3 TECEPs in the past 3 weeks, but have not received scores yet. The TECEPs I have taken were much harder than any of the 11 CLEP or DSST tests, except Money & Banking-that was tough. They were not "deep", but just covered A LOT of territory. The wording of the TECEPs also is more exacting. I had several questions where I would be willing to swear in a court of law that ALL 4 of the choices were correct.

I hope this helps. Greg

[PeteDude]

Just a couple of points, but first the disclaimer: I have not attended WGU.

. . .

Also, they use their own method of tracking credits, neither quarter nor semester. This, amongst other things, makes it very difficult to transfer OUT OF WGU if you so desire. They have their own way of doing things. . . .

The big difference with WGU is that they're centered around competency-based learning as opposed to traditional programs. When it was founded, the idea was to have a college that would train people to enter their fields directly and not be distracted as much with a traditional educational "program".

This different focus means 6-month "terms", credits are units, and completed courses are "competencies earned".

I seriously contemplated WGU for an IT-related path until I found the Big 3. The advantage for me would have been that I already had a number of certifications I could apply against the list of competencies required. However, it would have been a little more costly than the Big 3 and I was concerned I might lag on indefinitely if I got stuck on any of the certifications required en route.

I'm still a big fan of their approach-- I think it's needed in modern education, even if the ideas never catch fire elsewhere. They have a fair number of accreditations-- four or five at the regional level if I understand correctly.

The downsides I've heard-- requirements change frequently in some programs and some staff are tough to get in touch with. There's also credit transfer issues for many folks. But there are many other online programs with similar issues.

If they had a nursing program, I think they'd give Excelsior some serious competition. For teaching, I don't believe there are many online programs, let alone online programs with the flexibility they offer.

[jefsq]

Wetern Governors is a good way to go if you plan to complete your Teachers degree their at WGA. Another online Teachers Education Program is from Ashford, they certify you through Rio Salado College in AZ. Ashford may cost a little more than Western Govenors for tution. Another onlne college for Teachers Education is Grand Canyon College, which is becommng alot like the Unversity Of Phoenix, in how they conduct business. Personally I would go with the big three or Ashford and stay away from University of Phoenix, the money grind University.

[twosidneys]

after your degree, 7 states will accept ABCTE which is fairly quick and reasonable in price for a teaching credential apparently

Sidney

American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence | Promoting teacher quality - Impacting student learning

[Lindagerr]

New Jersey does not accept the ABCTE, but it does look like they would accept the NCATE from WGU.

I like the idea of competency based learning, that seems closest to what we do by taking exams.

I have taken CLEP/DSST & TECEP exams I also feel there is something just a little different more exacting in the TECEP's. I have not taken an ECE exam yet, from what I have read they seem the hardest.

Has anyone ever done a WGU course?

[frankiebleyes]

My son is currently attending WGU. He had completed an AS degree and they only accepted 9 of his 60 hours of credits. His credits were from our local CC state RA college. One of the courses he has to retake is English 102. He had an A in that course. Their version has no instructions, nothing to follow and then he has to take a competency exam (paid for proctor) at the end of the semester. He is attending for the IT certifications, but the credits not being allowed and requirements to meet his already basic courses really does not impress me about this school. Also they charge $2,900.00 a semester (two six month terms per year). For that I think you could attend one of the big 3 (am I right)?

[Lindagerr]

Actually considering you can take as many courses as you can fit in WGU at $2900 per 6 months is about average. I like the fact that it is self paced and you just do an assesment of knowledge.

I am concerned that they took so few of your sons credits. I would be afraid they would count few of my 82 credits, most of which are either 20+ years old or CLEP/DSST/TECEP credits.

I did some more checking and I would probably need to pass the praxis either way, so I might just adjust my TESC degree plan to include more educational exams and get my BA, then look into the praxis.

Any NJ teachers with suggestions greatly appreciated.

[barbeque22]

Unfortunately, WGU can not accept transfer credit for upper level courses. They require you to retake them as they are competency based. You have to prove you know the info before you get credit. I highly recommend anyone wanting to go to WGU to be sure you transfer in your gen eds as those seem to require much more work then the upper levels (in my experience).....especially science, lit and history. i am a current wgu student and i actually like it. if anyone wants to know what will transfer for a certain degree, let me know. wgu students have access to the program transferability in their online student handbook. I will say that I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to test out of most classes but can not afford to pay for cleps. You can use financial aid for wgu and that covers exams. wgu pays the proctor fee so you don't have to.

[EricaJean]

My husband finished his teaching degree through WGU last year. They accepted many of his very old credits (not upper level) from a B&M university. Most classes had no teachers, just tasks and assessments through Taskstream followed by a proctored exam. He was a little frustrated with the graders, as they worked for Taskstream and were not at all consistent. He was not allowed to test out of assessments without doing the tasks (writing papers), so he really improved his writing skills! You have a mentor to guide you, and a good mentor can make all the difference. That said, my husband had six mentors in 2.5 years. They weren’t all good. He’s teaching now, though and feels as though he was well prepared by the WGU program. At first, he was worried that the local principals might not respect an online teaching degree, but everyone he has dealt with felt that it was a rigorous program. They also arranged placement for his student teaching.