Western Governors University

Hi. Does anyone know the residency requirement for Western Governor's University?

Thanks

 

I don't believe that they have any residency requirements, at least not in the traditional sense. However, taking into consideration how their competency system is set up (from how I understand it), you can not just transfer all your credits in and get a degree. You must prove your competency. What does this mean? Good question.
Maybe a current student can chime in with first hand knowledge.

Tony

 

I know that they do handle the competancy review in a somewhat different matter from other schools, but when I spoke to an admissions person from WGU, she was at best very vague about it. On the other hand, I have yet to see a report from anyone who has enrolled there. I know they are new, so this probably explans a lot. However they are also now RA, which is good to know.

 

Mr. Turtle: when I spoke to an admissions person from WGU, she was at best very vague about it.

John Bear: That's been my experience on a dozen or more occasions over the years. You'd think that after years of planning and five years of operation and the expenditure of millions of dollars, they might spend a few minutes and a few dollars on training their customer service people.

 

I just recieved a mail from Western Governers University and they did not write anything about recidency requierements.
Do you have any information about how they handle exams? (I hope they do not want me sit the exam at their place)

Regards
Morten

 

I hope the following helps anyone interested in this school.

I spoke with someone recently from WGU who was very helpful to me, and took a lot of time answering my questions. Here are some interesting bits from what I found.

Tests: All tests are proctored at local universities. The University sets this up.

Tuition: Undergraduate is 1790/term. Two terms per year. You can take as many compentancy tests has you can handle within a term. Technically, I suppose, you could complete a degree in a term, but I can't say that authoritatively. You can also take about three classes per term (tuition covers this). Bear in mind, most of this is based on the competancy model. There are review materials for the competancy tests available online from their library.

Classes: WGU doesn't really have its own classes, but mostly directs students to approved curriculum at various other schools. This makes their virtual catalog rather large.

Application fee: $100 now dropped to $50 (free Palm Pilot for one of the Masters Degrees right now).

Number of WGU graduates: Only about 50, and those only within the last three years. This shocked me. They said they had basically refrained from much advertising until they got RA. Now they intend to expand. Apparently they are already getting an upsurge in interest.

I must admit after this conversation I am impressed with Western Governors University. I'm currently finishing my enrollment paperwork for Excelsior, but now I am starting to have second thoughts. As an IT professional, I an understand WGU's competancy model.

Who knows but that WGU might soon become one of the very big DL schools like TESC, Excelsior, COSC, UoP, etc.

 

I am currently enrolled at WGU. I am midway through the CIS program. I am willing to answer any questions as time permits. For the time being:
1- I enrolled in the spring of 2001. I did send records of previous traditional college records, as well as took two online assesments at a local college and completed two assignments prior to being accepted in the bachelor's program. Let me be clear, this is not for novices. These tests and assignments were not difficult, but I have been an IT professional for over 10 years.
2- Things have definitely changed since I first joined. At the beginning WGU was in turmoil. I had a mentor who quit on me midstream, but was assigned an excellent one later on.
3- I literally jumped for joy when WGU was regionally accredited (for obvious reasons), and hope that standards stay as good or keep improving along the way.
4- I think the program is very good, and works well for professionals and heads of households who don't have a lot of time or money for more expensive programs. It's somewhat of a tradeoff (I would much rather get a degree from a traditional college, but the reasons for DL are obvious...)
5- From my experience, I would definitely recommend the program, but only for those who have work experience and are able to carry themselves in these programs.
Again, I'll be back if anyone else has any questions.

Good luck.