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I started WGU in October 2023 with my Associated in Elementary Education. I ended up accelerating so much and having extra time that I changed my degree to include special education because it is only 7 extra courses. I finished those in less than two months! All of my credits transferred, but it took a little while to get my transcript sent over. Not the fault of WGU. My mentors have both been great and helped when I have needed it. I would have actually finished with my student teaching (DT) by... Read More now and graduated, but I did not want to quit my job teaching preschool in the middle of the year. I am set to student teach at the beginning of next year and I have no doubt I will find a teaching job quickly. My only complaint is the on camera tests are through a third party and they can sometimes be very strange with their rules. For example, one of the proctors questioned my dog laying behind me. I wasn't even interacting with her, she was just there. It ended up not being a big deal, but some proctors are like that.
I have already recommended WGU to several people and I have had a great experience so far! You have to keep yourself motivated and stay on top of your work or else you will get those emails and phone calls. As long as you want to succeed, you will!

I am genuinely confused by some of these reviews, I think a lot of them show that some of them never actually attended WGU. It's against the rules to help a student understand their material and they're told to read it again? There are only mentors, not instructors? What? If that's the case, who did I make 30-45 minutes appointments with that had a doctorate that literally sat with me and explained exactly how to be successful, how to interpret the material, how to search and comprehend various concepts,... Read More among other things. They were a ghost? A random program mentor? WGU doesn't accept anyone, so not sure where that came from either. They have a pretty extensive admissions process, and they absolutely do reject applicants. They just give them a chance to meet their admission standards via their academy, and not at a community college. All in all, my experience has been AMAZING. The proctors are kind of off sometimes, but I had this issue at my previous college too. It's obnoxious but it's not anything that would ruin your time there. Some of these people need to get a life and realize that maybe they need to go to a community college and have their hands held, because they clearly weren't able to hang on at WGU.

I am in my third, going on forth, class at GCU. For me, I have had excellent instructors who give accurate feedback. In addition to their feedback, they provide rubrics breaking down each instructors grading process. I have yet to have a bad or unprofessional instructor. Additionally, I have had success with my counselors, unlike many others who have reviewed. Maybe I just got lucky? or maybe a few bad apples make all appear ill informed. I previously attended community college for another degree,... Read More in a different field. I believe education is what you make of it. It is the student's choice to learn all of the information, no matter the format of the course. I am not religious and have not been pressured or graded negatively due to personal beliefs. Everyone I have come into contact with seems to have student success as a priority.

I received my BA in Elementary Education from WGU in 2022, and I enjoyed it so much that I immediately re-enrolled to pursue my MA in Elementary Education, which I am currently working on. It seems that reviews here are mostly either 5 star or 1 star reviews. Keep in mind that most satisfied people never leave reviews. People, in general, are more likely to vent about a negative experience online than they are to write about a positive one. That said, I think the fact that so many here are leaving... Read More 5 star reviews shows how well this educational model works for many people. I'd like to address some of the complaints I've read here: 1. The idea that course credits don't transfer because WGU wants to charge you extra money is ridiculous. Most of the credits I earned during my Associates Degree DID transfer. A passing grade at WGU is 80%. If you passed classes at another school with less than 80% those classes will likely not transfer. If your previous school was not accredited, they probably won't transfer. If you are required to retake a class that did not transfer, but you know the material, you can usually complete that class in under a week - and often in as little as a day or two. If you know the material, you take the exam and do any tasks (written assignments that are often only a few pages long) required. If you pass, you just move on to the next class. It isn't a big deal. It isn't like other schools where you have to waste time and money sitting through material you already know for an entire semester. WGU charges a flat fee for a 6 month term. They don't charge per credit. This means that you can work at your own pace. You can take the minimum 4 classes to be considered a full-time student if you don't have a lot of time, or if you need longer to absorb information. However, if you are a fast worker with industry experience, you might be able to blast through 10 or 20 classes in a single term, at NO EXTRA COST. You won't find a more affordable college anywhere. 2. One person said that it is a lie that you can work at your own pace. She said that work interfered with her ability to be scholastically productive and she had to fight to stay enrolled. You CAN work at your own pace, but you are required to log in to your courses at least once every 2 weeks. You don't have to DO anything, take any tests, or submit any work. But you are required to log in to your coursework, just to show that you are still serious about being a student. Also, be transparent with your course mentor. Let them know that you are still committed to earning your degree, but work is crazy at the moment so you won't be accomplishing as much as you'd like. Work WITH your mentor to come up with a study plan that works for you. 3. Someone said that their mentor was not helpful and only had 2 minute conversations. Someone else didn't like having weekly check-ins by their mentor. If you don't like your mentor or s/he is not helpful, contact student services and request a new one. It is not a big deal. Some people go through 3 or 4 mentors before they find the one that really meshes with their learning style. WGU WILL work with you if you reach out. I love my mentor. Finding the right one really improves your learning experience. Also, if you don't like the weekly check-ins, they probably won't last past your first term. In the beginning, the mentors check on you weekly to make sure things are going smoothly because many have problems adjusting to an online learning platform. After your first term, once you've proven that you can deal with online learning, typically you will hear from your mentor less often. My mentor never calls anymore unless I schedule an appointment to speak with her. She simply sends me an email every couple of weeks asking if I need anything. If your mentor is still checking in with weekly phone calls after the first term, and you don't like that, then tell him/her. If s/he won't respect your preferences, request a new mentor. 4. There are no professors. The course instructors are unqualified. The course instructors don't teach. Blah, blah, blah. This is all poppycock. Every course I've had has had a team of instructors. Every instructor I've had has held a doctoral degree. Most of the classes include teacher created materials which might include written information/charts/graphic organizers, videos/podcasts/and cohorts live and/or pre-recorded. If you need individualized help, you can book an appointment with ANY instructor of the class - it doesn't have to be the instructor specifically assigned to you. Like any good school, WGU employs many excellent teachers, but even good schools can sometimes employ a few duds. If you are assigned a dud, reach out to one of the others. Also if you have a quick question, you will usually get a prompt response by shooting an email to the instructors' group email. Someone in the office will get back to you. I've found that most of the teachers are eager to help. As others have said, WGU is for self-motivated individuals. It is also geared toward those with excellent reading/study skills, since the vast majority of information you receive will in the form of e-textbooks, online articles, and book exerpts. You will do a lot of reading and writing, and you will be expected to seek out additional help if you need it. WGU offers far more support for students than my community college did. If you need extra help with math or writing, there are labs you can visit to get one-on-one assistance from a teacher. You have teams of instructors waiting for you to book time with them so that they can help you. If you need to, you can book several sessions a week. You have a course mentor who is dedicated to helping you succeed. The help IS there. You just need to ask. If one individual sucks, ask someone else. One or two crappy teachers doesn't mean the whole school stinks. I love WGU. I got my BA here. I'm working on my MA. If they ever offer a doctoral program, I'll be back for that, too.

I have been a Student with UOP since October 2021, and I would rate them "0 stars". Their Communication sucks, If you do not call them, they will never call you to give you an update on anything. Their representative in all their departments sucks; each time you talk to someone, all they can do is: - Apologize but don't fix the problem -Tell you they will follow up or call you with a follow-up but never does. - Transfer you from one representative to the next - They keep blaming each other for miscommunication... Read More They can penalize you for anything or kick you out of your program even though the circumstances are out of your control. They don't consider out-of-state students, knowing the time difference and the location of the out-of-state students. My experience with them has been horrible; they have brought 4x more stress in my life than my job and life. I can't rely on them for the proper support and assistance I need at the time as an out-of-state student working hard to earn a degree. I keep begging them for help. I regret signing up with them, but they were the only university offering the course I needed online. I would never recommend anyone to them. The only good service you will get is from your Professors/ Instructors other than that; administrative is a no-no.

I TECHNICALLY graduate in October but have completed all of my classes for my degree as of June. I would like to start by saying that I was very reluctant to attend GCU for a variety of reasons including (but not limited to) the horrible reviews I have seen online. While I did run into a couple of small snags with Student Services and Financial Aid, my overall experience in this university was pretty good! The vast majority of the instructors were knowledgeable and helpful, the workload was challenging... Read More but certainly doable, and the assignments were pretty straightforward and self-explanatory. I will say that this school is quite expensive. That much is absolutely true. However, all the other nonsense I have seen about not finding a career and not being a 'legitimate' degree is WILDY inaccurate. I am not a Christian and did not find my program overly religious nor was I penalized for my beliefs. I haven't even completed certification and have already received offers of employment at public district schools. If you are driven and know how to solve your own problems, this program is a breeze and gets you where you need to go if you are willing and able to put in the time and work.

I have enjoyed doing school through WGU so far but I feel like they should help you more when it comes to observation and student teaching. I was misinformed about students placing themselves and I feel like I have had no help with Complio until after I ordered the wrong package. I have done everything by myself because I did not know who to contact. I will say my mentor has tried to help me as much as she could. I feel as if WGU should have someone reach out to the students to help them way before... Read More the students plan to observe. Now it looks like I won’t be observing this term as I had hoped for.