WGU IT Program Changes 9/14/20

[ss20ts]

1. They replaced C993 (Structured Query Language) with D191 (Advanced Data Management) in the major. Both courses appear to have the same competencies and transfer guidelines. The difference is that D191 only offers 3 CU instead of the 4 CU that C993 offered.
   
2. They added a new course to the major: D194 (IT Leadership Foundations) which is also a 3 CU course. The transfer guidelines for this course indicate that it can be waived by transferring in an upper-level Leadership or Organizational Behavior class.
   

So these are the only changes? Asking because my husband is debating between WGU and Purdue Global. His boss has already told him which one he prefers.

As far as I can tell, yes. I started by comparing the 2018-09 program guide against the 2020-11 program guide and then cross-referenced that with the IT transfer guidelines for CS degrees on the website and those were the only changes that I could find. Of course, the new changes don't go into effect until November, so it's possible that changes will surface in the final version of the program. I haven't contacted folks at WGU yet to ask if there are any other changes slated, but I may do that later.

I'm glad they changed C993, but I still think it's odd that they threw an IT Leadership course into the CS degree. My guess is that since they replaced a 4 CU course with a 3 CU course, they had to make up the deficit and added another 3 CU course rather than make up the 1 CU difference by making another course more difficult.

So, which program does your husband's boss recommend?

The boss is recommending the Purdue Global program because Purdue is a well known name. His boss never heard of WGU. My husband was leaning towards Purdue Global to begin with. He's still working on finishing up his Sophia courses. He already has 2 associate degrees including one in IT. He's been in healthcare IT for over 25 years but was never interested in completing a bachelor's degree in it. He's now to a point where he wants to get into more of the data analytics aspect and these new college grads have knowledge he doesn't and he's nearing the end of the company structure for pay increases and promotions in his current role so he's looking to the future. I keep telling him that he can't stop learning new things especially in IT. It changes so fast and there's always something new. He thinks I'm kidding when I ask who has already created or designed what will replace clouds. Somebody somewhere is working on what's next. We may not see it for 5-10 years, but it's being worked on. IT does not stand around waiting for you. That's for sure.