Top 135 Reviews From Legit Western Governors University Buyers (2024)

Let me first start off by saying that I paid out of pocket to attend WGU. There are different restrictions when paying cash for college and getting federal funds. My first term started in July 2023. It clearly states upon enrollment that you need to complete a critical action by the first 30 days of the term, every TERM. Unless you completely flaked on reading anything, or even attempting to log on, there’s no way to miss that statement! I mean, it’s everywhere, and coming out of your mentor's mouth. No excuses full stop. That was not a problem for me because my mentor gave me a super easy first class. I think most mentors set it up this way.

In August I had a major life disruption! My mentor was constantly reaching out as I explained what happened and why I wasn’t able to give the class 100%. This is where things are different. Once I told my mentor that I paid cash, no Fed funds, she actually only called or emailed every few weeks. For someone like me, who doesn’t qualify for Fed funds, I appreciate that they don’t let others use tax payer funded school for people who will take it for granted!

Let me be clear; I am all for grants and such for students who can’t afford college. We should all be given EQUAL opportunity for college. I would give my eye teeth for Fed funds! So I can appreciate that if you’re not able to give it your all, you should wait to enroll until you can. These are the “terms” you agreed to when using Fed funds. It’s not WGU kicking you out, it’s the loan or fund department recognizing the loss. Blame them. That’s their terms, unless you didn’t complete the critical action. This shouldn’t be a problem if you’re going to school because this is what YOU want. It’s when things got tough that people usually lose the determination. I was still able to complete my full “term”, 12 credits, and I knew I could’ve completed more and was only upset at myself as I felt that I was wasting MY money, and I was.

Fast forward to my second term ending in 26 days. I’ve completed my full term (12 credits) and will be adding a class to my term. This is called acceleration. Once becoming a student at WGU Reddit will find you! lol. I mean, you can’t avoid it. I keep reading, “Passed Intermediate Accounting in 2 days!” Well, in reality, it takes someone like me 5+ weeks to finish a class like that. I’ve never worked in my field of study. So this is mostly new to me. It takes time to learn and retain the information. They offer Webinars and Cohorts, which are lifesavers for people like me who have trouble teaching themselves unfamiliar concepts. There’s the writing & math center and FREE Grammarly! They give you so many tools to use I’m just flabbergasted at some of these comments. I didn’t have many hiccups in the enrollment process. I was itching to start, but the delay by one month was actually a blessing. A new term starts every month.

As far as the exams go, I think I just got lucky. I am able to use Examity to take my proctored OA’s. They can be a pain sometimes. And yes, the test questions are tricky! You will hear others complain about their MCQ (multiple choice questions). They are sinister sometimes. The only class that I’ve complained about the OA not being consistent with the PA is Prob & Stats. That was a tough class and I passed by the skin of my teeth! I haven’t had to retake any exams yet, fingers crossed, but that’s because I do all the coursework until I am able to pass all the unit quizzes and the PA before I even attempt the OA. This is what works for me.

Additionally, I’m still in mostly pre-req and GE classes so this could be a complaint that comes up in the future. Here’s my two cents, if you failed the OA the first time, you should contact your CI and mentor to find what you need to study. I think because I use Examity, it tells me what areas I was competent on and areas that I need work. I can’t speak for those who have to use testing centers. WGU should clarify that first with students looking to attend if Examity is not an option for you. I agree TC would be a PITA. The test retake fee after a third failed attempt is $60 for the classes that I’ve taken. I am in BS Acct, so I can’t speak for IT or any other program. If you can’t afford the extra fee to retake the exam then you should do everything to learn the concepts for FREE before using the OA’s as a quick guide to study by. This is a sure fire fail, in my opinion. If you think you’re going to outsmart the school by using the tests to guide you, I’m here to tell you that they’ve seen it ALL.

Pros:
The amount of work you put into the program is the benefits you’ll reap.
They have cohorts, webinars, recorded cohorts, the writing center, math center, course instructors, and mentors to help you succeed if you’re willing to use them.
You can get your bachelor’s for less here than any other online school I’ve researched. YOU are in control.
The classes are pass/fail, so there’s a pretty large margin of error. With Prob/Stats, I would’ve failed that class at any other University.
Credits will transfer to other Universities with same accreditation if going for same major.

The classes are “major dependent”. Meaning that I can work out of the gate in my degree bc my classes were designed that way.

Cons:
If you’re using Fed grants, loans, etc. there are terms to stay enrolled. Your mentor will be on your case if you’re slacking.
If you don’t have the discipline it takes to stay focused in school, you’re going to struggle here.
The MCQ’s are purposely worded to make sure that you KNOW the coursework.
There’s no easy diploma here. No instructor or mentor can give you a pass with extra credit, or because they know “how hard life is for you”. You MUST pass the OA.

If grades are important to you, WGU doesn’t give grades, only credits.

I hope this clarifies WGU for those looking for a quick diploma. I admit that even I enrolled with the hopes of a BS in 6 months! I enjoy school, and I’m good at it for the most part, and I can’t accelerate a 4 year degree in 6 months.

Most of the reviews on here are by those who seem to be disappointed that WGU is not in fact a diploma mill. The truth is that for most classes, you have to study hard and have a firm grasp on the material to be able to pass the final (OA). Those OAs are not easy and are extremely broad generally, so are just as challenging -- if not more so -- than what you'll find at a brick and mortal school. I think when people read reports of those who accelerate (as I did), that they think they can do it too. That the school is easy. However, I have more than twenty years of experience in the industry, have been playing with computers since I was just out of diapers, and spend even non-work time learning new things in my field.

I loved attending WGU. I graduate with my B.A. in special education and elementary education in 2 years. 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 student teaching to my schedule. My mentor was able to help me with class suggestions and any information about the program requirements I needed. I think the key is to look at your program mentor as a support, not a hindrance. Only then can you really utilize that support. That being said, I had a previous mentor that didn't do much. The good thing is that if you don't have a mentor you feel meets your standards, you can ask for a different one.

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, and provided 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 (I've went to two previous colleges), 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, professional development, and support. Also, this school is not for procrastinators, how fast you get done is usually up to you.

May 24. 2024: I called WGU to get an update on my application process. I was told they needed my transcripts. I was sent an email on how to get them and what website I could use, the email says “you can always send your transcript to, “‘transcriptinfo@wgu.edu’”. May 26, 2024: I order and paid for the transcripts. I have them sent to myself in case I need to forward it elsewhere. That same day I get my transcripts, I don’t open them. I forward them directly to Eli.

May 27, 2024: I get an email stating the eligibility requirements, and a link to sign into their portal, all login attempts fail, I note to look further into this another day. May 28, 2024: I decide to follow up on it since I forwarded the transcripts to the councilor and could not login to the portal. I’m told they cannot find my email on their files and then was told that I could not send my transcripts to them through email because it’s “not official” and that it is in fact a REQUIREMENT to send it to the email not an option like how the email portrays. I am then told I need to have it mailed or directly emailed by my OLD COLLEGE as well, no acknowledgment that the website I was referred to was even an option at all at this point.

So I call customer service to get this rectified as one of their employees were the ones who referred this website and who NEVER SPECIFIED it was REQUIRED to send it to that email and that anything else would be unacceptable. The rep just backs up the person saying that since they mentioned where to send it to, that that’s enough. I ask for the manager, Don **, who not only tells me what the other employee is telling me, defending their employee's obvious miscommunication, but then doubles down saying that they have an UNSENT EMAIL on the transcript process.

So over the course of the 4 days, they NEVER send me that email?! And my “councilor” just so happens to never respond to the email I sent her with the transcripts and NEVER calls me back either. All of what happened was not my fault at all, in fact, if the email stated that it was a requirement, I would admit fault and begrudgingly do the whole process over again, but this was on the employee for not using the correct vocabulary, failing to state their very strict policy, and for NEVER SENDING ME THE EMAIL when they send me everything else regarding the enrollment process. This whole thing was very unprofessional and disappointing, and I’ll be sure to spread the word that no one apply for this school, and the staff have zero accountability and horrible customer service, offering me nothing to try to help me rectify this issue that is clearly their fault.

I am reviewing the admissions process I experienced, as I decided to reconsider attending shortly thereafter. They seem to enjoy their bait and switch.

1) I spoke initially with an enrollment counselor who told me that transcript requests from prior universities would be free, so I submitted an admissions application listing my education history. Shortly thereafter I received a notice that "requirements [were] needed" as they were unable to request transcripts on my behalf. I emailed the counselor I initially spoke with, who never replied. After completing the admissions application I was given a new enrollment counselor, so I reached out to them. They told me that a FERPA release form (whatever that is) was not completed during my application, however the admissions application had no such form listed. In effect, they seem to default to exclusion on their "free transcript request" promise by not providing the underlying criteria. At any rate, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and paid for my transcripts to be sent to them.

2) My enrollment counselor next informed me that I would need to go through an official transfer evaluation to receive credit for my undergraduate degree. So I obliged and spent several weeks coordinating with her, sending my official transcripts and IT certifications to the transcript evaluation department, and waiting for them to process my "official transfer evaluation". When I received this official evaluation, it seemed they didn't even bother to open my transcript or certification documents and just denied all credit transfers. According to the official transfer documentation however, it is very clearly spelled out that I would receive credit for specific courses due to my previous degree and certifications. At any rate, I messaged my enrollment counselor again notifying them about this and they again kicked the whole process back to me to resolve, because apparently this is how WGU operates. Another review here on consumer affairs seems to describe their process perfectly:

"I don't think that the evaluators even read the requirements under the competency in our task review. I thoroughly followed all requirements from there yet I've been having issues with the assignments being sent back lately. They seem to have a different requirement than what the students see. I don't think they even cared to look at the assignments since they tend to kick it back with simple reasons (such as not being able to open the document....really?!). We pay to have lazy people who can't even open a document?? What kind of college is this? Then, they kicked it back because they claimed that something was missing from the document when it was clearly there (I had professors and an evaluation coordinator check). This is a waste of time and money. I would not continue with this type of unprofessional, lazy, neglectful type of college."

3) As one might expect, when I mentioned all of this to my enrollment counselor, she basically gaslighted me, saying "I'm sorry that you struggled with the enrollment process."