Help decide between Patten University / Western Governors University !!

Dear all respected forum members, I am trying to select an institute to complete my Bachelor Degree in Business. I enrolled in PennFoster but after found the level of acceptance here in Canada, I have decided to go through a Regionally accredited Institution.

I am interested in Patten University and Western Governors University. I applied some 2 months go to WGU and they turned down my application due to "written assessment". I did not satisfy admission body on written part. Its now almost over 3 months, I can take assessment again and apply back to WGU.

At the same time, I found Patten University, regionally accredited, online, sound affordable than WGU. I am wondering if someone here has experience in taking courses with Patten University? any information would be highly appreciated. My only concern is, I found on wiki, Patten website itself and couple of other places that Patten University's Regional Accreditation is on Probation, if some one can explain me " does that mean a red signal to proceed with Patten"?

Although WGU is affordable option too, but Patten is best in my case, as I have to pay $325 per month while WGU is about $500+ per month and even WGU doesn't have per month option, I have to pay half/half which means around $1500 + $1500 for 6 months.

As a final point, any personal suggestions, opinions and experience sharing with both institution would be highly appreciated. Thanks so much in advance for everybody reading/commenting my post. Have a blessing day.

Cheers!

 

Why not consider Thomas Edison State College. College Education for Adults at Thomas Edison State College.
You can find a ton of information on that school online and much more on the other degreeforum site and degreeforum wiki.
I have a bachelors from TESC and loved the process. They allow you to test out of courses as well.

 

I agree with Steve but I'd state it even more strongly. I'm betting that every state university system in the USA (not to mention places in Canada like Athabasca) have a Bachelors degree program in Business through DL. With that in mind, why would you even consider a school that's on probation?

 

Since you're Canadian, why's not Athabasca University's? I assume Canadian citizen pays less in tuition.

 

Patten was a faith-based non-profit school until recently. However, the school struggled under its previous management. It was placed on probation with WASC back in February 2010, when it was still a non-profit.

Probation means that they are in danger of losing their accreditation. Loss of accreditation would be a severe blow to the school and its students. Credits or degrees earned at unaccredited schools are commonly rejected by other schools, employers, government agencies, etc.

Patten recently changed ownership and direction; it is now a secular for-profit institution. WASC is planning to conduct a comprehensive review in spring 2013, and will reconsider Patten's probationary status in June 2013.

We can safely assume that the new management wants to end the WASC probation (as this would significantly increase the school's marketability), and that they are taking steps to correct the situation. So there is a good chance (in my opinion) that Patten will be taken off probation in June 2013.

However, there is no way to guarantee this. So if you enroll at Patten now, you are taking a chance.

 

Thanks everybody for replying in thread, highly appreciated.

* Thomas Edison College / Athabasca are for sure great institutions for distance learning, but again, as I don't want to apply financial aid etc, paying from pocket is what I want to go with. Furthermore, I am a full time working professional, so self-paced and affordability are my priorities.

So far, I am unable to find any regional accredited University/College other than Patten/WGU in terms of self-paced and price. Just for a quick review, here is the link for "Accreditation Status of Patten University" Patten University | WASC


It says although accreditation is on probation, but " Candidate and Accreditation Status continues during probation"
Any comments on this please?

So, if that's the case, my option is to go with WGU.

Thanks again everybody for their contribution and advise.

 

Take this into consideration... If you are the type of person is is aggressive and can push yourself, you can use WGU's advantage of taking as many classes as you can within the 6 month period. My friend recently graduated with his MBA from WGU. He pushed himself and was done within a year. He ended up earning a six figure job soon after (which I am both happy but envious at the same time).

Consider your goals and consider your capabilities... if you need a more structured environment where assignments are due each week by such and such time, then chose another institution. However, if you are able to set your own schedule, WGU is a great avenue to go.

 

I believe Patten offers the same model as WGU. It is owned by UniversityNow, a company that also turned Andrew Jackson University into New Charter University. I'm pretty sure online programs at both are self-paced, and according to the article I read, they hired some former WGU admin to help design NCU program. It's a very interesting new dot-com startup, actually.

 

Bottom line: WGU is more established, looks (to me) more rigorous, and offers far more degree choices. Patten is cheaper, and may have better service, as it is now essentially a dot-com company. I think something can be said for either of the choices. For a generic Bachelor's in "business", I'd say pick cheaper. FWIW, and YMMV.

 

If Patten survives, I bet they'll change the name, to get out from under quite a bit of Patten baggage. Here's what I posted here 8 years ago:

"Bible school founder goes to San Quentin for fraud (in 1950) And the reason that was in today's San Francisco Chronicle is that when C. Thomas Patten was sent off to prison for three years for defrauding their followers ("the longest and most colorful trial" in county history ), his wife kept things going. And she, Bebe Patten, died this week at 90. Her Patten University is in Oakland, CA, and the obituary quotes the regional accreditor as calling it, in 1998, "a model of diversity."
Incidentally, Dr. Patten's only degree, per the university website, is a doctorate from "McKinley -Roosevelt" in Chicago, which appeared on the one and only official list of degree mills ever published by the U.S. Office of Education (1959-60)."