Western Governors University Reviews of Master's in Curriculum & Instruction

"At the age of 42, I decided to flip my career direction and become a teacher. I had once tried to pursue it and had completed 83 credits of my bachelor's in 2002 (WGU only accepted 21 of them due to their age). However, I just could NOT do the in-class schooling. WGU is not for everyone and I will be the first to tell you. It is self-directed, self-guided, and self-motivating. You are not going to have homework or discussions. You are obtaining COMPETENCY units which I think some of these other neigh sayers have forgotten. You log in, you take a preassessment and if you pass, you take your assessment and move on, or you log on do the reading and write your task, submit for review to pass and when it finally passes, you move on. You are showing your competency. If you are not getting out of WGU the level of learning you expected then YOU and ONLY YOU have short-changed yourself. I have completed my bachelor's and two master's degrees in education and I am actually considering another but by my choice (I am a life learner). But once again, WGU is not for everyone. I personally could not stand being in class and having to wait for the entire class to come to their A-HA moment and stop asking the same idiotic questions over and over. Some people need that. WGU is awesome but again, it is only as awesome as you allow it to be and put the work in. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can log on and take a test. If you do not know the material as well as you would like, THEN DO THE ENTIRE COURSE. You are in charge of your education. Makes perfect sense to me as we are adults...or at least at the age of adults. They are not a degree vending machine."

"It seems that many loved their brick and mortar school and that may be a reason for the wild array of reviews. I hated my brick and mortar school. It was more interested in stealing money from me whether it was parking tickets or extra fees. It was horrible. Now, competency-based grading takes some getting used to. I definitely had a few fits about it and probably drove my mentor and instructors crazy at times. HOWEVER, I learned more, faster, and for way less money compared to my old school. To earn a legitimate Master's degree in 6 months, I had to write a 6-page paper every other day. There is no way that I wrote this much or researched this much in 1.5 years at my brick and mortar school where I obtained my first Master's degree. Let me stress one huge thing. Their response time at WGU is second to NONE. Even on the weekends. Yes, at times you will get frustrated when a paper gets returned to you for the fourth time. And yes, it will say where you are not competent which smacks your ego right in the face. However, for the money and with wonderful, rapid responses to your questions, you cannot beat WGU for this degree. In total, I will pay a little bit over $3000. If you are already teaching, start the program over the summer and get most of it done before you go back to school. I started July 1 with a plan to finish in December (winter break) if necessary. It's 9/6 right now and I am on my final class (capstone project). That pace is for almost no one, but it can be done. Just get ready to lock yourself in your basement after you put your kids to bed for two straight months."

"I LOVE WGU! It's not easy and takes a tremendous amount of self-discipline. I appreciate my mentor tons. She and I talked once a week at up to now, where I'm nearing the end and don't need as much support. She was pragmatic, clear, motivating, and supportive. But all the work comes from the student. This requires a lot of stick with it ness and hard work. But you can get a degree with less financial hardship! That's great! I would suggest a "team" of people who you know are also doing the program. It helps motivate when a friend just turned in a paper or when they feel bad with you when you are slogging through a tough assignment. It's definitely isolating if you don't proactively find ways to connect with other Owls. Or, you may like the isolated approach. I am REALLY looking forward to completing the program in December. I will finish in a year. It's been tough with full time work as a teacher and being a mom, but I'm so glad I did it! Thank you, WGU, for being awesome!"

"The amount of misinformation in this thread is ridiculous. Someone said that the university is not accredited. All you have to do is look on their webpage to see that the university itself is regionally accredited (which is the kind of accreditation that is valid...it's what state schools have). In addition to regional accreditation, the programs/colleges within the university are accredited by the respective accreditation organizations for their field. Also, it has been mentioned that the teachers college programs don't lead to certification in certain states. Also not true. If a student is unable to get licensed, it's likely because they did something wrong in the licensing process. I know several people in different states who now have their teaching licenses. Many are recommending that you do your research. I would agree. Don't take anyone else's word for it. Look into the school...any school...that you are thinking of attending closely, but don't rely SOLELY on what is essentially social media posts like these to determine what to do. Check into these claims and you will find that many of them are just plain incorrect."

"This was a perfect fit for me. It allowed me to work at my own pace and around my own schedule. The 6 month terms are great. I finished the first term with 8 credits due to my personal schedule, and then completed 22 credits in the last 4 months of my second term because I had more time. My mentor was great at keeping me on track. I love the rubrics used for assignments and only had to make 2 minor revisions during the program because the rubrics were so easy to follow. I have recommended this program/school to several of my co-workers and at least four have enrolled in the last 2 months."

"Great school! I enjoyed learning and expanding my educational career. There were times I wanted to give up, but my Mentor kept pushing me Awesome school. I enjoyed that I can put my child to sleep and finish my work at 2 a.m. in the morning. I loved that my course work was available on my device I had."

"I started my master degree on Nov. 2016. I was planning to graduate in Oct. 2018. Since it offered self paced schedule, I worked very hard along the way. I graduated on Oct. 2017. it is about one year early I saved a whole year tuition and time. My salary was increased one year early. I can't be happier than that. I appreciated all my mentors along the way, especially my student mentor, Ms. Lori. I appreciated the tirelessly weekly calls and all the encouragement from her. i learned how passionate and how seriously about her career as a student mentor. We are more than a mentor and student. We are friends, too. Some students said the weekly call is so annoying, however, it is the best way for me to complete every task on time. It is hard to study every night, however, when I looked back, all the efforts worth it."

"This was an excellent university. I needed credits to gain my 2nd teaching certificate so I decided to get my Masters. Mentors were helpful and kept me on track to attain my goals. Classes were competency based so the areas I knew well went fast which left more time for areas that I needed more study."

"Straightforward school. Entrance exam wasn't insane, they just made sure you could take life at a online university by testing your self-motivation through a written essay. I wrote about what the educational world would be like if robots were in control. The classes leading up to the capstone project were moderately difficult. I had to buckle down for the research theory section of the degree the most. This university is NOT for students who need their hand held. The online UI used to locate textbooks and find out what to read and study via the program outline is well-designed but not perfect. I am glad too. You need patience, logic, trial and error, and an appreciation for imperfection to survive in this university and those are some qualities which are paramount for real world survival so I am all for the early introduction. Student services sector was kind and answered my few inquiries fine. Lot's of support throughout the entire degree and especially at the end during the capstone project. This school is like the old wiseman sitting on an outpost at the edge of a village. Travelers approach the old man and ask what the village is like, to which the old wiseman responds, as wisemen do, with a question. "What is the place like from where you come?" "Horrible!!! Worst place I have ever been. This is why I come to this village", responds the traveler. "Interesting", says the wiseman, "But I lament for I fear this place will also be just as horrible for you". People who tend to see the silver lining will love this school, and people who always smell poop wherever they go will think this school sucks, and people like me, who are in the middle, will find that this school gets the job done."

"I chose to study Curriculum and Instruction for my graduate program in this university. This is my second graduate degree with the first from a conventional university. My experience with this school has been very positive. I was lucky to have very supportive mentors throughout my program. The professors are all with doctoral degrees and the degree of support and inspiration they provided throughout the program was a welcome change from my conventional college learning experience. They always made sure that we maintained the standard set by the school.."

"I received my Bachelors from WGU in 2011 and loved the experience so much I returned for my Masters. I just graduated in September and am so bummed they don't offer a doctoral program. My mentors were awesome; supportive and always available. Cost of tuition is affordable and curriculum was relevant to my work experience. I took what I learned and was able to immediately put it into action. Love this place!"