I am a person with a disability under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) and the administration here is truly awful. I requested some simple accommodations for my courses in the College of IT and was laughed out the door. My student mentor was highly unprofessional, calling me at strange hours of the day when we did not have an appointment, and nobody was willing to help me work through my issues when I called several different departments for help. (Yes, I escalated, and the supervisors at Student Services are just as bad!)
They KNEW I was struggling with my disability and I was mocked, lied to, misdirected, and put on the back burner. While they may cost you less money, they provide much less value. Western Governor's is an unprofessional and hostile environment for anyone covered by ADA. I have told every single family member and friend to AVOID this place. They want your money, but if you need access to normal learning resources and help (like those found at any serious public University), they will shame you and blame you and make your life hell on Earth.
Save yourself some heartbreak and run as far and fast from WGU as you can. If you don't believe me, go read their surprise audit from the Department of Education. You won't believe what they have been getting away with.
Shame on WGU. College students, disabled or not, deserve better than this.
Had my first infringement of privacy on line via WGU when they decided to use a Proctor on line company based out of India I never gave my permission to do so-I was then told by the India man I needed to remove scripture from my wall in which I refused to do so-when WGU was contacted about this via my mentor WGU never responded they just switched me to Proctor U based in United States-Second proctoring issue I had was just recently where the Proctor told me I needed to remove a picture of my child an obituary and a calendar off of my wall in front of me but yet the family portrait 2 appointment reminders a notebook at eye level where allowed to remain-when confronted with this WGU says that is handbook policy testing area is to cleared but yet WGU couldn't make an Excuse for the difference only referring back to their generic response of handbook policy-also with the infringement of my religious beliefs in my home as well as infringement of privacy as to WGU-I'm willing to be contacted to discuss legal options-Im not paying for a school to infringe on my religious beliefs, privacy, or be in consistent with what THEY pick and choose
WGU has proven to b one problem after another for the past 5 years. My daughter started there with all gen. ed. classes filled at a community college. She even had extra units. WGU in it's arrogance and money grubbing, would not give her enough credits. They wnated her to attend for 3 years. She needed to work 20 to 30 hours a week to support herself while we pay the tuition. From the begining ther were tech problems. The mentor originally assigned was completely useless and only wanted to be a schmoozer into the personal lives of group. Many of the classes were truely competency based and the student was able to move through the class well. Others , many others were not. There were so many assignments that fimishing more that two classes a semester was nearly impossible which meant that 3 years turned into 4 and then 5 and though close, these last few classes are so overflowing with assignments, that it looks like there will be no degree for this student. Life does require paying the rent, the utilities, the food bill, etc. At some point, a person just wnats to get on with life.
Possibly the WGU employees have fallen to the anger pit made available by the internet. The student with no face and no known life is an easy target to abuse. Also, I have seen class leaders (not deserving the title of professor or teacher) who brag that no one can pass their class with just one semester. (great for job security, bad for tuition payers). These, often women, but some men too, want to prove thier own value by cracking the whip over the heads of students and making them work. Once a person knows somethig, there is no point in beating the concept and student to death. That is the culture I have seen currently at WGU
I am here to give a thorough and honest review of this University. Like many, I was sold on the ability to move through quickly, and of course, the cost. I consider myself very open minded, and before investing into anything, I research it. A simple google search gives this school way too much credit. It is apparent there are numerous "Planted" reviews everywhere for this school. Even on this very site. As well as paid search engine spots. Lets be real, what normal and sound minded individual that is enjoying and loving their WGU education, is spending their days responding and cluttering forums with rebuttals on negative reviews?
I will first say I finished my AA entirely online at my local community college. I loved it. I proudly wore my cap and gown when graduating and walked away with lots of knowledge. The format was traditional. Each week I had assignments, a physical book to study, and worked through topic by topic leading to a final paper or exam. This school sometimes required proctored tests and used turnitin to weed out plagiarism. I also had a professor/teacher I could reach out to when needed. I was not exactly excited about WGU, but the price ultimately sold me for a BS. There are things I wish I knew and I wish enrollment counselors explained before I made this leap. I will list them below.
Format - How I missed this concept, I am not sure. But there is essentially no "coursework" for WGU. They are a pass or fail concept with a weird percentage calculation, known at "cut scores". You have one exam and an ebook and that is it. Some courses have cohorts and some have videos. Not all. Each is different. The classes and material are not consistent. It is difficult with this concept to figure, where to start? All of my mentors told me much of the material isn't used on the exams, and to only focus on certain areas. I was also told to always take pre-assessments first and then only work on the areas I performed poorly in. How is this a constructive learning format? I think it is confusing and misleading. When you take multiple choice assessments, pre or final, you can never see what you got wrong. The written assessments are equally frustrating. Some 3rd party nit-picks your work to death. You can have 99% of the format correct and above and beyond what was asked, but if you forgot your student ID, it will be returned and hold you back days. Again, not learning a thing, just re-wording things and moving material around to please the "graders" from who knows where. 99% of schools are traditional format teaching, and that is for a reason. I, like many others, learn best going topic by topic, and having a more engaged experience to retain information. This "unique" approach WGU speaks of isn't really unique. It's a quicky degree, for those that can actually absorb the crappy material. I say it is crappy because not all of my credits transfered, and I did re-takes of classes I have already done. WGU complicates simple concepts.
Mentors - I did not like this idea, but figured, oh well. Can't beat the price. Your mentor is your babysitter. They call weekly and then eventually bi-weekly. My relationship with my mentor was awkward. Couldn't really have comfortable conversation and often long silences on her end. I did not like that she wouldn't assign me the courses I wanted. When I would be in waiting periods, either for an assessment to be graded, or to be re-approved for an exam by a mentor, I was not allowed to move forward with other classes. Your mentor has to approve each one. Pretty misleading of the school to say you can go as fast as you want, when each class needs approval first. Mine never did. She never approved the ones I requested, and then began to tell me that classes were changing so I had to do a particular order. She became especially slow as a term was coming to a close. Some classes I could finish in days, but during that last month I heard every excuse in the book as to why I needed to wait til next term. I read a little bit about mentors intentionally holding students back, for the school to get the most bang for their buck, and I find this "rumor" to be mostly true. If you go on glassdoor and read employee reviews, many say this is true. They also say they are overwhelmed with students, and get docked for losing them. Anyway, the whole purpose of a mentor is not for motivation. It is to keep the school rolling in the bucks. This reminds me of University of Phoenix. Pretty disgusting to see a supposed "non-profit" using this method. Real motivation and respectable adult behavior is going to college and finish without anyone telling them to. That is the idea of college. Is to be completely self-disciplined, and if you are not, you do not finish. Boom. With a grad rate of 22%, the mentors and school in general are clearly focused on quantity more than quality.
Course mentors - WGU fanboys on this site will argue mentors are for motivation and course mentors are your "teachers" and are there to teach you when you need it. As I mentioned, the school is booming so fast each mentor is increasingly overwhelmed. You have to schedule a time with them, most often when you fail an assessment. I will mention, once you fail one, you cannot just "re-take" the course. The course mentor must approve. This can hold you back for a month or two, on just one course. The 2 I did fail involved long discussions that did not teach me a thing. I dreaded the conversations because they EXPECT you to know what you are struggling with. I am not seeking answers, just simple explanations. I am a logical learner. I do best with straightforward explanations. Virtually none of the material is this way. My best analogy of them "helping" is as follows. Normal teacher lecture: Giraffes have evolved long necks to adapt to eat from tall trees. WGU "course mentor" explanation: What animal is evolutionarily equipped to eat what food source in the sahara? See the issue? You fill in your own answers. For someone who does not understand something or is drawing a complete blank on a topic, this is not teaching or guiding or helping someone understand. They don't even give you a page of the text to reference. That is why course mentor talks never did a thing for me, and I assume others feel the same frustration. This brings me to the next topic..
I am a former WGU student now. I withdrew from WGU after a nasty little encounter I had with WGU and Course Hero. I paid good money to get help with a class I was taking. Course Hero said that they provided help in getting assignments completed and would be happy to tutor me. The next thing I know is I am in trouble for asking for help.
I still had funds that I had paid to Course Hero. I wanted to use those funds and move on. Since I knew that the WGU didn't like you using Course Hero I changed all of my personal information with them. I changed my sign in name, my e mail account, and change the school associated with my account. I talked to a tutor and asked if everything between the two of us was confidential and private. I was told that the only people who could see what we had talked about were the both of us. I deleted my account after the exchange and moved on with my life.
Imagine my surprise when I find out that WGU has my information again! The only possible way that they could have my information once again was to HACK my personal email or they have someone working inside Course Hero.
I have to say this is the dumbest way to get business. You want to get students kicked out of college. Brilliant thinking on both the schools and Course Heros part. People don't need tutoring services if they aren't going to college. Then there are the reviews for the schools, I am sure that negative reviews does the school or Course Hero any good.
I am done with WGU. I like going to school, and have plenty of college under my belt. I am at WGU for my MBA. I passed a class, then I took a management class that was really easy. I read the text and took all the pre-tests. It is an interesting class. Then I took the final, I failed. I thought ok, so I went through all the material again trying to find out the ones I got wrong. I suppose I made some adjustments. Anyways, I took it again and got 2 points lower. I thought, how can I be failing this class. It is easy! Anyways, it is a 70 question test, I suppose you can miss only about 9 then you fail. I took it a third time and failed. I immediately saw that I am not learning what they are teaching. Now they are charging me $60 a retest. SURPRISE! It seems like a scheme. Not to mention, the graders of the exams are outsourced to India, which is fine with me, but they don't share the answers you get with the mentor/instructors here in the USA so you can review the material you are having difficulty with. This is another thing I find strange. I don't think learning is having to pay to retake tests until you get a passing grade on a test that has just enough questions to put you at borderline pass-fail from the start. I may report them to get out of my last bill.
This school is a complete rip off and wrought with con artists. I have had trouble with the school since day 1.
I had hoped that after I got started it would smooth out, but that has not happened.
As a student you are required to talk weekly with a "mentor". Athought they promote, go at your own pace. They promote a school that can fit into any schedule. This is NOT the case.
I set-up a time with my mentor during my work day each week, since my mentor was not willing to speak to me after business hours. So, I had to block the time on my calendar each week Holding this time each week has caused problems -- and guess what -- my mentor has not called me at this time once!!!
The mentor was so uproffesi=sional she couldn't even compute time zone differences, keep her schedule, or take responsiblity and keep calendar appointments. The last communication I had from this mentor was that she was going on a "WGU retreat" and unable to assist me with taking final exams. She is the one that needs to intiate these exams -- so I was stuck waiting for her return to even complete my courses. But, to my surprise, she never did contact me again.
Now, the school is threatening me with withdrawal and inactive status because I the lack of contact with the mentor -- who has not called me or emailed me back in months.
So far, I have not been able to get answers from any department on changing mentors, filing a complaint, or any way for me to continue my course work.
This school has been nothing but unprofessional, and seems like a big scam to get money out of people.
I attened the university for one semester and realized it is a fraud in my opinnion. You learn nothing. They just want you to pass few tests. You get harrassed with phone call every week. If you are smart do not go there.
Western Governors University Reviews
I am a person with a disability under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) and the administration here is truly awful. I requested some simple accommodations for my courses in the College of IT and was laughed out the door. My student mentor was highly unprofessional, calling me at strange hours of the day when we did not have an appointment, and nobody was willing to help me work through my issues when I called several different departments for help. (Yes, I escalated, and the supervisors at Student Services are just as bad!)
They KNEW I was struggling with my disability and I was mocked, lied to, misdirected, and put on the back burner. While they may cost you less money, they provide much less value. Western Governor's is an unprofessional and hostile environment for anyone covered by ADA. I have told every single family member and friend to AVOID this place. They want your money, but if you need access to normal learning resources and help (like those found at any serious public University), they will shame you and blame you and make your life hell on Earth.
Save yourself some heartbreak and run as far and fast from WGU as you can. If you don't believe me, go read their surprise audit from the Department of Education. You won't believe what they have been getting away with.
Shame on WGU. College students, disabled or not, deserve better than this.
Had my first infringement of privacy on line via WGU when they decided to use a Proctor on line company based out of India I never gave my permission to do so-I was then told by the India man I needed to remove scripture from my wall in which I refused to do so-when WGU was contacted about this via my mentor WGU never responded they just switched me to Proctor U based in United States-Second proctoring issue I had was just recently where the Proctor told me I needed to remove a picture of my child an obituary and a calendar off of my wall in front of me but yet the family portrait 2 appointment reminders a notebook at eye level where allowed to remain-when confronted with this WGU says that is handbook policy testing area is to cleared but yet WGU couldn't make an Excuse for the difference only referring back to their generic response of handbook policy-also with the infringement of my religious beliefs in my home as well as infringement of privacy as to WGU-I'm willing to be contacted to discuss legal options-Im not paying for a school to infringe on my religious beliefs, privacy, or be in consistent with what THEY pick and choose
WGU has proven to b one problem after another for the past 5 years. My daughter started there with all gen. ed. classes filled at a community college. She even had extra units. WGU in it's arrogance and money grubbing, would not give her enough credits. They wnated her to attend for 3 years. She needed to work 20 to 30 hours a week to support herself while we pay the tuition. From the begining ther were tech problems. The mentor originally assigned was completely useless and only wanted to be a schmoozer into the personal lives of group. Many of the classes were truely competency based and the student was able to move through the class well. Others , many others were not. There were so many assignments that fimishing more that two classes a semester was nearly impossible which meant that 3 years turned into 4 and then 5 and though close, these last few classes are so overflowing with assignments, that it looks like there will be no degree for this student. Life does require paying the rent, the utilities, the food bill, etc. At some point, a person just wnats to get on with life.
Possibly the WGU employees have fallen to the anger pit made available by the internet. The student with no face and no known life is an easy target to abuse. Also, I have seen class leaders (not deserving the title of professor or teacher) who brag that no one can pass their class with just one semester. (great for job security, bad for tuition payers). These, often women, but some men too, want to prove thier own value by cracking the whip over the heads of students and making them work. Once a person knows somethig, there is no point in beating the concept and student to death. That is the culture I have seen currently at WGU
I am here to give a thorough and honest review of this University. Like many, I was sold on the ability to move through quickly, and of course, the cost. I consider myself very open minded, and before investing into anything, I research it. A simple google search gives this school way too much credit. It is apparent there are numerous "Planted" reviews everywhere for this school. Even on this very site. As well as paid search engine spots. Lets be real, what normal and sound minded individual that is enjoying and loving their WGU education, is spending their days responding and cluttering forums with rebuttals on negative reviews?
I will first say I finished my AA entirely online at my local community college. I loved it. I proudly wore my cap and gown when graduating and walked away with lots of knowledge. The format was traditional. Each week I had assignments, a physical book to study, and worked through topic by topic leading to a final paper or exam. This school sometimes required proctored tests and used turnitin to weed out plagiarism. I also had a professor/teacher I could reach out to when needed. I was not exactly excited about WGU, but the price ultimately sold me for a BS. There are things I wish I knew and I wish enrollment counselors explained before I made this leap. I will list them below.
Format - How I missed this concept, I am not sure. But there is essentially no "coursework" for WGU. They are a pass or fail concept with a weird percentage calculation, known at "cut scores". You have one exam and an ebook and that is it. Some courses have cohorts and some have videos. Not all. Each is different. The classes and material are not consistent. It is difficult with this concept to figure, where to start? All of my mentors told me much of the material isn't used on the exams, and to only focus on certain areas. I was also told to always take pre-assessments first and then only work on the areas I performed poorly in. How is this a constructive learning format? I think it is confusing and misleading. When you take multiple choice assessments, pre or final, you can never see what you got wrong. The written assessments are equally frustrating. Some 3rd party nit-picks your work to death. You can have 99% of the format correct and above and beyond what was asked, but if you forgot your student ID, it will be returned and hold you back days. Again, not learning a thing, just re-wording things and moving material around to please the "graders" from who knows where. 99% of schools are traditional format teaching, and that is for a reason. I, like many others, learn best going topic by topic, and having a more engaged experience to retain information. This "unique" approach WGU speaks of isn't really unique. It's a quicky degree, for those that can actually absorb the crappy material. I say it is crappy because not all of my credits transfered, and I did re-takes of classes I have already done. WGU complicates simple concepts.
Mentors - I did not like this idea, but figured, oh well. Can't beat the price. Your mentor is your babysitter. They call weekly and then eventually bi-weekly. My relationship with my mentor was awkward. Couldn't really have comfortable conversation and often long silences on her end. I did not like that she wouldn't assign me the courses I wanted. When I would be in waiting periods, either for an assessment to be graded, or to be re-approved for an exam by a mentor, I was not allowed to move forward with other classes. Your mentor has to approve each one. Pretty misleading of the school to say you can go as fast as you want, when each class needs approval first. Mine never did. She never approved the ones I requested, and then began to tell me that classes were changing so I had to do a particular order. She became especially slow as a term was coming to a close. Some classes I could finish in days, but during that last month I heard every excuse in the book as to why I needed to wait til next term. I read a little bit about mentors intentionally holding students back, for the school to get the most bang for their buck, and I find this "rumor" to be mostly true. If you go on glassdoor and read employee reviews, many say this is true. They also say they are overwhelmed with students, and get docked for losing them. Anyway, the whole purpose of a mentor is not for motivation. It is to keep the school rolling in the bucks. This reminds me of University of Phoenix. Pretty disgusting to see a supposed "non-profit" using this method. Real motivation and respectable adult behavior is going to college and finish without anyone telling them to. That is the idea of college. Is to be completely self-disciplined, and if you are not, you do not finish. Boom. With a grad rate of 22%, the mentors and school in general are clearly focused on quantity more than quality.
Course mentors - WGU fanboys on this site will argue mentors are for motivation and course mentors are your "teachers" and are there to teach you when you need it. As I mentioned, the school is booming so fast each mentor is increasingly overwhelmed. You have to schedule a time with them, most often when you fail an assessment. I will mention, once you fail one, you cannot just "re-take" the course. The course mentor must approve. This can hold you back for a month or two, on just one course. The 2 I did fail involved long discussions that did not teach me a thing. I dreaded the conversations because they EXPECT you to know what you are struggling with. I am not seeking answers, just simple explanations. I am a logical learner. I do best with straightforward explanations. Virtually none of the material is this way. My best analogy of them "helping" is as follows. Normal teacher lecture: Giraffes have evolved long necks to adapt to eat from tall trees. WGU "course mentor" explanation: What animal is evolutionarily equipped to eat what food source in the sahara? See the issue? You fill in your own answers. For someone who does not understand something or is drawing a complete blank on a topic, this is not teaching or guiding or helping someone understand. They don't even give you a page of the text to reference. That is why course mentor talks never did a thing for me, and I assume others feel the same frustration. This brings me to the next topic..
I am a former WGU student now. I withdrew from WGU after a nasty little encounter I had with WGU and Course Hero. I paid good money to get help with a class I was taking. Course Hero said that they provided help in getting assignments completed and would be happy to tutor me. The next thing I know is I am in trouble for asking for help.
I still had funds that I had paid to Course Hero. I wanted to use those funds and move on. Since I knew that the WGU didn't like you using Course Hero I changed all of my personal information with them. I changed my sign in name, my e mail account, and change the school associated with my account. I talked to a tutor and asked if everything between the two of us was confidential and private. I was told that the only people who could see what we had talked about were the both of us. I deleted my account after the exchange and moved on with my life.
Imagine my surprise when I find out that WGU has my information again! The only possible way that they could have my information once again was to HACK my personal email or they have someone working inside Course Hero.
I have to say this is the dumbest way to get business. You want to get students kicked out of college. Brilliant thinking on both the schools and Course Heros part. People don't need tutoring services if they aren't going to college. Then there are the reviews for the schools, I am sure that negative reviews does the school or Course Hero any good.
I am done with WGU. I like going to school, and have plenty of college under my belt. I am at WGU for my MBA. I passed a class, then I took a management class that was really easy. I read the text and took all the pre-tests. It is an interesting class. Then I took the final, I failed. I thought ok, so I went through all the material again trying to find out the ones I got wrong. I suppose I made some adjustments. Anyways, I took it again and got 2 points lower. I thought, how can I be failing this class. It is easy! Anyways, it is a 70 question test, I suppose you can miss only about 9 then you fail. I took it a third time and failed. I immediately saw that I am not learning what they are teaching. Now they are charging me $60 a retest. SURPRISE! It seems like a scheme. Not to mention, the graders of the exams are outsourced to India, which is fine with me, but they don't share the answers you get with the mentor/instructors here in the USA so you can review the material you are having difficulty with. This is another thing I find strange. I don't think learning is having to pay to retake tests until you get a passing grade on a test that has just enough questions to put you at borderline pass-fail from the start. I may report them to get out of my last bill.
This school is a complete rip off and wrought with con artists. I have had trouble with the school since day 1.
I had hoped that after I got started it would smooth out, but that has not happened.
As a student you are required to talk weekly with a "mentor". Athought they promote, go at your own pace. They promote a school that can fit into any schedule. This is NOT the case.
I set-up a time with my mentor during my work day each week, since my mentor was not willing to speak to me after business hours. So, I had to block the time on my calendar each week Holding this time each week has caused problems -- and guess what -- my mentor has not called me at this time once!!!
The mentor was so uproffesi=sional she couldn't even compute time zone differences, keep her schedule, or take responsiblity and keep calendar appointments. The last communication I had from this mentor was that she was going on a "WGU retreat" and unable to assist me with taking final exams. She is the one that needs to intiate these exams -- so I was stuck waiting for her return to even complete my courses. But, to my surprise, she never did contact me again.
Now, the school is threatening me with withdrawal and inactive status because I the lack of contact with the mentor -- who has not called me or emailed me back in months.
So far, I have not been able to get answers from any department on changing mentors, filing a complaint, or any way for me to continue my course work.
This school has been nothing but unprofessional, and seems like a big scam to get money out of people.
I attened the university for one semester and realized it is a fraud in my opinnion. You learn nothing. They just want you to pass few tests. You get harrassed with phone call every week. If you are smart do not go there.