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Degree: Special education and elementary education (Dual Licensure) Time it took: 140 credits in 4 1/2 years while working full time is doable (including one break semester) Mentors: They are a nuisance and unnecessary. In the beginning I had to check in every week, being told I can’t miss the call. After a while there were Email check- ins instead of calls. After showing continuous progress I complained that I was a responsible adult and that I didn’t need looking after. She backed off after that... Read More and let me do my thing. They only checked in every two weeks to once a month via email. Key is to voice the issue politely. I was assigned a new mentor half way through. Same thing here, after she was assured I would do my work she left me alone. All in all I did not find them very helpful. Coursework: Competency based with either essay assessments graded on a rubric or proctored assessment via online testing agency. Course work was ok not too hard nor too easy, most classes were structured well, others were a mess and a headache to get through. Check for course tips, they often have valuable extra information or recorded lectures that saved the hassle of trying to figure out the course material. Course instructors: I have had zero problems with any of my instructors. They were helpful and answered emails in a timely manner. I did not make any phone call appointments with any of the instructors until the last half year for the dreaded edTPA. Appointments were plentiful to choose from and the instructor was kind, patient and helpful. Testing: Essay testing was doable. Rubrics are always presented and somewhat easy follow. Never had to deal with multiple returns. Proctored video testing was with a testing agency that provided proctors who often spoke English with a heavy accent. Some proctors let you just take your test and be done others complained that this and that was not up to standards, e.g. I had to sit in a certain angle so they would see everything which made my body ache and was more nerve wracking than the actual test but I survived it. There are several (Praxis) exams that you need for student teaching that are tested by a different agency and that cost extra money. Student teaching: This process was a little annoying because you have to read through a lot of stuff that is not too helpful. I finally had figured out what to do when I realized that one of my Praxis exams had a linger turn around time and I missed the student teaching application deadline with my school district by 2 days. I wish I had known this before and one of the mentors would have told me and I had to put in a break semester. Financial: In the 4 1/2 years I was enrolled for 8 semesters due to my missed application deadline. All in all the degree cost about $30.000. If you are a single mom like me, fafsa covered most of it and I maybe payed around $ 7000 for the 4 years and am now without student loan debt. (Huge perk) EdTPA: During student teaching you must take the EdTPA, even if it is not required for your state. This was the most annoying task that caused a lot of stress. A lesson planning task for a focus learner, a video task where you have to record yourself teaching the learner and an assessment task. WGU has many, many resources that help you through it, but it is more like an information jungle that you have to fight through to find what you need. Working with the course instructor really helped. All in all, I did not regret my decision to go with WGU. I was able to get a 140 credit degree from an accredited school within 4 1/2 years without being in debt. Is it the best school? Probably not but let's be honest, not many degrees make up for real on the job experience.They just lay a foundation in your work field which this degree did for me.

I loved attending WGU. It is the only school where I felt I got my money's worth. Coursework was cohesive to assignments and gave options to take little quizzes or to delve deeper into the content. Although some might find program mentors irritating, I generally enjoyed having someone I could count on to keep me on task and help me organize courses, tests, and students teaching to my schedule. My mentor was able to help me with class suggestions and any information about the program requirements... Read More I needed. I love that this school didn't just give me a grade and a short explanation of what I did wrong or right (which almost every professor I've had has done). WGU allows students to redo assignments until they reach competency. I got explicit details on what I needed to improve and was usually emailed by professors who offered advice. The only thing I will say is that when my program mentor told me that my new course was harder, I had to right away make an appointment with the professor, or I wouldn't get availability until the next week or two. I also love that this school gave me the option to have one-on-one video discussions with professors about my work, cohorts, recorded webinars for each section of tasks (as opposed to super long sessions of whole tasks), and detailed resource support pages that gave me access to everything I'd need to complete my assignments and tests (assignments, example papers, checklists, etc.). Usually, when I went to other colleges (2), I had to comb through books and resources to find out how exactly I was going to complete my assignment (understanding what exactly the teacher was asking me to do). At WGU I get to just spend time learning content that is actually relevant to my assignments and completing my assignments. I didn't have to comb through books and resources to try and figure out what was in tests because I knew that course content always directly related to my assessments. This school is easy in the sense that it allows you to focus only on your work and apply your newly learned skills, and hard in the sense that you don't pass a class unless assignments are completed to rubric standards. Overall, this school is the only school I feel gave me money's worth of resources and professional development. Also, this school is not for procrastinators, how fast you get done is usually up to you.

First off, this school is not everyone. If you are highly self-motivated and can set deadlines for yourself and stick to them, this is the school for you. If you struggle with that, I would suggest going to a more structured school with due dates. That said, I LOVE WGU! I love that I can take classes at my own pace. I love that I can log on to class when I want to and don't have to follow a set schedule. I can finish a class at 1am, 6am, 3pm or 10pm and there's no problem. I got my AS from a traditional... Read More brick & mortar school and thought it was fine, but it was hard to balance work and school. WGU has been great for me because I can work on it in-between customers and basically have permission from my manager to be paid to do school. Scholarships at WGU are practically non-existent (at least in my experience). They do offer some, but they are incredibly hard to come by, especially if you are under 25, even if you receive no financial support whatsoever from a living relative. It's "at your own pace" or competency-based, so it was awesome to be able to review a math concept one day, take the test and pass the next. Many of my generals transferred (29. I was a music major before, so some I knew wouldn't transfer). Because it's competency based, I could finish a class in two days, or I could take two months depending on how well I knew the material and how I felt about my learning. I LOVE that. Especially because that was my greatest frustration during traditional school. I would either get super bored or be struggling to keep up depending on the subject. At WGU, math for me was a breeze. SPED laws were something I really wanted to know and understand, so it took me 1-2 months. The Course Instructors are willing to go over any material you need more help with & some are even willing to give you memorization tips and tricks to help you get through the course faster with greater understanding. I know some people need more human interaction. MANY people already have been working in their field when they come to WGU, so the instructors are used to older learners and sometimes assume you already know what's up. This was a slight challenge to begin with as a couple would go off on applications most see in the field and I'd have to tell them I was a first-time, 20-year-old student that didn't have SPED experience. They definitely dumbed it down for me after that. I definitely called an instructor more than once for clarified instructions. Honestly, if you follow the procedures they give you to be successful, it works great. Mentors can be annoying and mine didn't seem to know who I was or what I was going into for a while which was super frustrating. You can set your call schedule for what you want after the first few months. My first semester I heard from my mentor each week. The second semester it was every other week. This is my third semester and I talk to my mentor on a "as needed" basis because she knows I'm independent. Observations were super nice to be able to visit a local school and see how classes are really run and to talk to people in the field with all of their experience. I was actually more excited to complete my degree after getting to do observations. The Field Placement people are AMAZING!! They were willing to work with me as I was moving and help me get DT placement nearby. The estimated graduation definitely changes according to how much time and effort you put into working on course material and tasks. Granted, everyone will be different. I've heard people that finish a class every two weeks. I'm NOT one of those. The average class time is usually 6 weeks. Mine usually varied from 3-8 weeks depending on the course. My first term was started June 1st 2019, so I took breaks to go on vacations, but was still able to complete 25 CUs. 2nd I got 23 done (took large breaks for Thanksgiving and Christmas), 3rd I just finished 29 CU (Competency-based Units=Credits). The further I got into my degree, the easier and less time consuming it became. It started to be more applicable. I was originally told that I wouldn't graduate until November 2022. That was pretty frustrating to see, but watching the time shave off as I worked made it worth it. I will end up graduating in the same time frame as I would have in a brick and mortar school (May 2021), but I was able to take breaks whenever I wanted/needed, get the wedding planning done, work two full-time jobs, and still finish on time, so I'm happy. Plus, COVID-19 doesn't affect almost anything because it was already online to begin with!

I love WGU! I started my degree in education and transferred to the dual license for special education. The classes are hard. If you're looking for something easy, WGU is not the place for you. I've had 2 mentors (due to the degree change) and they've both been wonderful! The teachers are great! They are super helpful and so knowledgeable. I do not have any experience in teaching but with the classes I'm taking, I don't feel like I'm going to flounder. The mentors also have experience in teaching... Read More and are great for asking questions about their experience in the field which is wonderful. I hate when you have someone guiding you that has no experience. Don't let the bad reviews sway you to not go. It's a great school with great people. You're going to have to work though to pass your classes.

I am so pleased with this school that I am not sure where I need to begin. Begin at the beginning right? in 2011 I began to look for a new school that offered a teaching degree in special education online. My choices were slim but I persisted and I found Western Governors University. I called them and started asking questions. I was assigned an application mentor. This person was amazing. They walked me through every single step to apply. They helped me transfer my credits from my old college and... Read More answered all the crazy questions that popped into my head, even the late night ones. Once I was accepted I met my degree mentor. A degree mentor is someone assigned to you for the entire duration of your degree. Above anything else that WGU did, this was the best and my most valuable and used asset. My first degree mentor was prompted to another department and I was assigned another mentor. The transition was smooth and my new mentor literally became my life coach. She lit a fire under my bum when I was dragging, she was always ready with encouragement, support, and she genuinely cared. When I moved to another state to finish my degree I was extremely overwhelmed and I took a break from WGU. The process to take a break and then begin again was smooth and tear-free. My mentor I had before was not able to be reassigned to me, but the new degree mentor I had was just as phenomenal. To this day I still talk to both of them and I cherish the friendship we have created! WGU also has multiple course instructors. I loved this concept because if I did not mesh with an instructor well, then I just spoke to another one. Course instructors are available any time and during my math courses I used them often. I truly think if I had not used the course mentors as much as I did then I would never have passed math.