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The first part of my experience at WGU was positive. In the beginning, it worked well because the classes are self paced and I was able to complete them in my own time. Navigating the home page and submitting assignments was easy. However, this school lacks transparency and honesty with their students. When I was applying, there was no mention of clinical hours and I chose this program because it was a great option for me with a full time job. I specifically asked about clinical hours because I knew... Read More I did not want to enroll in a program that required any clinical time. I found out about the clinical hours when a new tab popped up labeled "field experience" on my WGU homepage saying that I had overdue tasks. This was in my third semester. When I reached out to my program mentor, I was told that I would not have to worry about these tasks until the last semester. When I did start working on the tasks, I felt like I had to scramble because the process to find a clinical site and get approved could take over 60 days. It was difficult to get into contact with the field e None of this information was presented to me. The staff did not provide clear answers to my questions and it was difficult to get a phone call or email back from the placement coordinator for the field experience. there were no suggested clinical sites and we had to find our own preceptors. In addition to this, the school tuition increased and the school did not communicate this change either. I would not recommend this program to anyone in the future due to the lack of honesty and communication. Overall, this last semester has been very frustrating because of this. If you are thinking about enrolling in WGU for the BSN nursing program, save yourself the time and find a different school.

Will update this once degree completed, but these people care less about me than my employer. That should be a good warning to all RNs. They had layoff of members of the nursing department with less than ten days in my term. This canned my mentor and the instructor in the course I was working on. They do have a complaints department, in fact three different complaints departments - they don’t even talk to you. One of the departments spoke to my new mentor that I spoke with less than 30 minutes to... Read More reach their decision.

Pros: Study at your pace, excellent mentor, quick services when there are any issues, they work with you, and the school as a whole is understanding/friendly people. Cons: Grading system! The professors do NOT grade the assignments. There are a separate set of people who grade the assignment. They are supposed to grade what is required, but they fail you each time because they unnecessarily require you to do more than what is required. I had to complain about this a few times. One professor said... Read More you need to include certain words for them to accept...are they robots grading these??? Two of my previous professors had to appeal because they said they saw I included everything that was required. This is wasting everyone's time and money. Half the time, I regret going here only due to the grading system. I should have paid more for a professional, organized way to grade things...not have people who can't read or don't know the requirements to grade your assignments separately because it is very inconsistent. I find it ridiculous that the professors don't grade the papers. One of my classmates pass by being very vague, yet the other fails for different reasons.

Earned my RN to BSN in 4 months, including 80 clinical hours. I did have to find my own clinical site and preceptor, but that wasn't hard for me. I started looking as soon as I found out the requirements. I felt the class material and requirements were easy to follow. The rubrics were detailed so I always knew what they expected to pass. If you are self motivated and goal oriented this will work for you. If you're lazy, have a hard time focusing, or just aren't good at school then this might not... Read More work for you.

Overall I would not recommend taking the prelicensure BSN program at WGU in Utah. The clinical assignments were a joke. I was placed at psychiatric hospitals for over half of my clinicals, and 98% of my clinicals were night shifts. I understand that it is important for nurses to work night shifts, however, as a student I hardly learned anything at night since there was barely anything to do after 10 pm. It was made clear to me throughout the program that the clinical instructors and schedulers do... Read More not care about their students and the quality of their education. I’m about to graduate in the next couple months and I don’t feel like I have any real life experiences. I know how to answer an NCLEX style question, but as far as real-life nursing goes, I’m going to have to learn on the job.

After getting accepted to the program I am finding things that a clinical field is required 75 hours. I was not told about it during the enrollment process. You are on your own to find your own preceptor and clinical field. If you don t find you lose time and money. They tell you that they help with "resources" which means they will send you the same web links to your email or phone conversation with the same information over and over. Course instructors are of no help at all. A few names to throw... Read More are Dahdal, Sauls, and the whole crew. There is no rationale for any of your pre-assessments. Even worse- I found errors that were linked to the same chapter even though the topic was different which required different web links. A perfect maze for the confusion! This college so-called university should disappear and stop making a profit out of students with such a "joke" program. There are no lectures online just some thrown web links to multiple different websites that you must read. If your goal is to acquire ZERO knowledge then go for it.

WGU does not communicate pertinent information clearly to students, and it is unacceptable. Completing my bsn will be a benefit to me as a professional, however, I would advise others to seek a different school. There has been a significant change to a class that takes place in the last term, which changed the requirement to now include shadowing a nurse for 60 hours. (First of all...I am a nurse. That is pointless.) Previous to this the requirement was much more flexible. The biggest problem is... Read More not even that the class changed dramatically from what I was told during my enrollment and when I was deciding on a program. The biggest problem is that I have never been notified by the university itself of the changes. I found out in a student group on facebook a few months ago. The changes are in full effect, and to this day the school has not respected its students enough to notify them of the changes so that they can plan accordingly. Everyone who does not know from social media will find out by surprise when they go to open the class and this is unprofessional and disrespectful. WGU has this kind of mentality towards students- so buyer beware.

I am here searching for MSN programs. I was surprised by several bad reviews. I finished RN to BSN program online 5 years ago. Here are my tips.

If you are not a self-learner, this school is not for you.
If you have difficulties organizing your stuff or schedule independently, this school is not for you.
If you are not an effective reader, this school is not for you.
If you don't understand the importance of writing format, this school is not for you.

This school provides material for study. You... Read More are the one who read, listen to the lecture( which I don't like, so I read scripts instead) and asks your questions or search answers for your questions if you have any. If you want someone to make your schedule, go there to listen to the lecture, ask questions when you see your instructors in front of you instead of searching it online or in books, and refuses to understand or follow writing formats because they look stupid to you, then this is not for you. Writing in nursing is not literature writing. It is more like technical writing. APA formats you need to follow.

Even though there are some areas that I do not like in the program-I thought that it was a complete waste of my time, but generally this was not a bad program at all. The best part was that it did not have any group project, so I did not need to wait for others to complete their parts.

I started the WGU RN to BSN program on November 1, 2019. After starting the program, I had a lot of unexpected obstacles that I encountered along the way that would cause me to lose motivation at times. WGU may not work for everyone, but in my opinion, it really is a great school. It’s competency based, so there is no room for failure. There were assessments that I had to retake along with papers that I had to revise, but all in all it was a good experience. The program requires goal setting, dedication,... Read More and studying. One of the things that helped me the most was following the rubric, and by doing that I was more successful. In the beginning of the program a fellow WGU student advised me to join a RN to BSN group on Facebook. Throughout the program, I found some courses along with a few assignments to be rather challenging, while the remaining were a breeze. With self motivation and the support of my mentor and the Facebook group, I was able to stay on track. In April of 2021, I graduated on time with my BSN. I am now in the process of enrolling into WGU Masters degree program. Two of my coworkers started the RN to BSN program 2 months ago, and they are progressing well. I think it’s doable, affordable, and I totally recommend it others.

If there were a zero, that would be the rating. I should have listened to the other reviews that said not to attend this school. However, I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt and see for myself. Welp, I did just that, and unfortunately, the negative reviews are valid. I did the work, submitted it, it got sent back to me, I followed the "mentor's" instructions, it got sent back again, I made an appointment with the "instructor", I was sitting right by my phone when I missed her call (my fault),... Read More I called right back, got her vm, listened to the message she left me and went to the website to reschedule another call with her to find that the next available appt with her was not until 2-3 weeks after the class ended. At that point I gave up. I was at this school for 15 days and now have a $1000 past due balance and my transcripts are on hold. I take full accountability for not doing more extensive due diligence before signing up with this school, but I would also not recommend this school to my worst enemy... or maybe I would.

Western Governors University is an university that is invested in the success of their students. I did not think that I would do well with taking online classes because I was so used to sitting in class and taking notes. It has been over 10 years since I have been in a classroom. I was afraid that I would just be a faceless number and get lost in the shuffle if I did not understand any of the material in class. I took an online class in the past and my experience was not positive. The class was streaming... Read More live but you could not ask any questions during the class. All questions were answered during the instructor's office hours. This system was difficult for me because once I had a question I could not follow the rest of the lecture. Then the office hours for the instructor did not occur on the same day, so that when I had the opportunity to ask my question I could not understand the notations that I wrote to ask a question. This made me despise online learning. I thought that online learning was only for the younger generation and not for me. I have been proven wrong! The university's instructors are so helpful and setting up one on one office time with your class instructor is a breeze. It takes just 2 minutes to get online and go to your course's page to sign up for predetermined times that fit your schedule. I also like the fact that as a new student I was assigned a mentor to help me navigate signing up for classes and figuring out how to plan my courses to successfully complete my degree. Now that I have experienced online classes with WGU, I have to confidence to pursue my education in a way that is convenient for my busy life!

I'm very disappointed by the negative reviews I have read about WGU. I really am glad that I found this program. I hated the way I saw traditional nursing programs instructor belittle and intimidate the students which I knew at my age I wouldn't be able to take. I also wouldn't be able to do a traditional program with my financial and family obligations. I initially had trouble but soon learn to navigate the program and rules. I found that, if I wanted to succeed then I must take control of my destiny.... Read More WGU is not a program for the weak or those who need constant hand holding. You must be a self starter and go getter! I have recommended the school to several people. It isn't easy but it can be done. I really enjoyed having a student mentor to talk with when it was needed.

I just graduated in May 2018 from the ADN to BSN program and these are my thoughts. There is a very steep learning curve and a lot of it is self study. The courses are pretty straight forward, but it's very paper intensive. My first semester was the hardest because it's different than my ADN program in terms of studying. You need to be very disciplined. Thankfully, my student mentor was VERY helpful with supporting me. That was the key to my success. There is a misconception that the online program... Read More would be easier but remember the Board of Nursing in CA sets the criteria for all the nursing programs. There was extra coursework for the CA BSN program.

The good: Cheapest by far at around 3K a semester. Will only cost me 12k as opposed to the average 18K plus. Course work 100% online and module based which means you have no mandatory times you must to something. You can do things based on your schedule. Very flexible. Staff is very helpful and polite and they offer a lot of services to individual course help lines to paper writing assistance. The bad: The Staff is too helpful. Mandatory phone check ins. If I have needs I can reach out. Time waster.... Read More I was told this is for accreditation. Some of the courses get a little too cute with the content. If you are looking for a program where you can just crack out a few papers and hit some discussion boards then RUN AWAY! For one of the courses it is your responsibility to locate, set up and attend 55 (FIFTY FIVE!) hours of activities within your community relating to a primary prevention topic. It would be easier and take less time and effort if you could just crack out some shifts and a community clinic. It depends on what you are looking for in a program. The cost and flexibility is what drew me to WGU. Honestly I know that a BSN is a BS degree and I am gleaning little to nothing that will be beneficial to me other than the paper so I would have preferred a standard program. But I can't complain too much

Update. I passed the NCLEX. My test stopped at 85. The Nclex has a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 265 questions. You have to answer 60% of your questions correctly to pass. If the test stops early, then either you did really good or you did really bad. I have only participated in WGU online nursing school. So I can't compare it to other Nursing programs. The other college experience that I had was at a traditional university, I did graduate from both. WGU is a TEACH YOUR SELF program. WGU gives you... Read More a list of courses and objectives that you have to test competent" in order to pass to the next level. "WGU gives you assess to online books to aid you in your studies. They are basically the same across all colleges. WGU uses an online course called ATI to provide skills modules, study material, and quizzes. I feel as if WGU did not buy the ATI program. I say this because I, alot of the times I used google to better understand a subject only to find a link to ATI that WGU did not give me assess to. There is a lot of reading. I would not suggest reading word for word and to also look at the charts and diagrams for understanding. All students are assigned a course mentor (Teacher) and a like a program mentor (guidance counselor). The course mentors are not very helpful for the most part. They do not do the grading if it is a Taskstream assignment or ATI test, which makes up a majority of the test and assignments. If you do not understand instructions for Taskstream, my unprofessional advice is just to google it. For the most part, it seems that all nursing programs and colleges get the same assignments that just differ a little from program to program. Worst comes to worst submit the assignment and let Taskstream reject it to get clarification about how to complete the assignment. The program mentor is a little worrisome. I really did not need someone to constantly remind me to complete assignments. Other students did. But I actually likes my program mentor. The step of the program where i needed constant monitoring ad guidance was completing the Boards of nurse paperwork, and back ground check, the nursing jurisprudence, and applying for the NCLEX exam. The instructors were tedious. A lot of people missed steps or could not find links. The links did not work. Over all this really stressed me out. There was no one to answer my questions at the university. I never really new who to call for help. WGU was really UNLESS in this department. I would suggest that you buy a Nclex review book ASAP to start understanding the language of the test makers. I personally used Hurst. But buy the book so that you can take it everywhere. The online Hurst makes you submit like some type of security questionnaire every time you sign in from a different computer. A real pain. I read the book cover to cover. A felt like WGU did not teach me, "what to do if..." and Hurst did. WGU does provide the Hurst review as part of their program. The NCLEX exam ask questions like "what to do if...".For example, I thoroughly understand ABG's. But I did not learn what to do if a patient is in Resp Acidosis. I had learn how to correct the problem on my own for NCLEX. WGU is inexpensive in comparison to other programs. This is great. WGU taught me a lot about patience and respecting the client. I feel like the culture sensitivity topics in the books need some updating. But just learn it for the quiz. I learned skills during clinicals which WGU does provide for you. This is great. Not every school provides you with a place for your clinical rotations. Some on the clinical rotations are rude (not to me personally) and as a WGU student you get the leftovers. Even some of my preceptors noted the same behavior. Its because WGU is a newcomer to the field. Remember this is a competency program not a GPA program. Your competency level is calculated to a 3.0 GPA. This has not really been a problem for me when it has come to getting a job and moving on to Nurse Practitioner college. I would remove any pictures that you have of yourself attached to your google account. I had problems with 2 instructors. One I went as far as to report her. I have never had a problem with instructors or anyone with authority in the pass. They monitor your student email account for cheating. A lot of the financial aid offers are spam. do not give them for information.

This is a teach yourself program. Some of the test are online with the use of a camera and microphone to prevent cheating Less than 1/5 of my cohort has finished the program as of today. What I have learned most was patience and constant let down. But the Price for this program is Workable. I paid for it out of pocket. The assignment criteria is so vague and the course mentors are not helpful. WGU grades your practical assessments through a company called Taskstream. Often, I would turn in my assignments,... Read More knowing that Taskstream would rejected it, just so I could get clarification back from the company actually grading my work. The BSN program is mostly online, with clinical rotations at local hospitals. WGU has contracts with the local hospitals. Some locations treat you poorly because you are in an online program. The WGU students sometimes get the left over assignments. Even though WGU is a BSN program and some of the other schools may only be LVN or ADN. WGU does not have credits, the program is a "Meets Requirements" grading system. This has not a problem for my when it came to applying to a Nurse Practitioner Program. Many programs accept WGU transfers. I actually graduated from a Traditional university, so I have that background to compare to WGU. A BSN at WGU is my Second degree. WGU says its a 2 year program but it ends up being 2 and a half because they make you retake courses. Its all about the money. For example, my undergrad is in biology. SO I have a lot of upper level chemistry and biology but I still had re-take biochemistry. I also have about 10 years in the medical field working in a laboratory to working bedside too. The first semester, I blew through it with in weeks. But I was not able to advance into the next semester. Then two course mentors blocked my advancement because they would not approve my objective assessment i.e. final exam. The course mentors felt like I did not study the material thoroughly. So every term I started in the previous term and I was ready to test like a few days into the new term. But course mentor DA and CD did not care. Lastly, They really took their time dragging my graduation paperwork through processing. Even though I express to multiply departments that I had employment pending and I need to take my NCLEX ASAP. I offered to pay to have my paperwork expedited. I have been delayed 3 months for my new job and I do not know if my new employer will hold the ob offer much longer.I do not know how other nursing programs work but I cant really say that WGU has prepare as much as my own professional background, finding information on my own, and the now 5 months that i have been preparing for the Nclex. Mentally, financially and emotionally, I DO NOT FEEL READY TO TAKE THE NCLEX. I would not recommend filling out some of the financial aid scholarships links at WGU, its spam. They do break up your payment every term into 4 less painful, monthly automatic withdraws.