WGU

I thought I'd share this with everyone in case there is someone out there hoping to go back to or start school. You might remember when I made a blog post stating something like, "That's is. I'm getting my degree in Communicative Disorders, it's final and I'm doing it." I was sick of being indecisive and "wasting time." I was sold on the degree itself, but it turns out Utah State's online degree program is nothing more than annoying and unprofessional. It would sometimes take weeks to hear back from my so-called "advisor" and the whole system was just frustrating. Well, I decided it wasn't for me and I would do something else (again). I never wanted to be a teacher, but I definitely have a passion for teaching my own children. I just find it to be the most fun thing in the world right now. So one day I simply googled "Early Childhood Education Online Degree" and BAM, first result: Western Governor's University. What the what? Strange name, right? Well after doing plenty of research I found out that it is a privately owned non-profit University owned by 13 or more governor's (of western states, duh). Cool. They are a competency-based University which I had absolutely no experience with. If you're not sure what that means, let me explain: you don't spend hours and hours doing busywork. You learn what you need to know and you move one. You are presented with competencies (these could be compared to traditional "courses" yet they are in the form of an assessment, either objective or performance-based) and you prepare yourself so that you fulfill that competency. WGU gives you all the resources that you need to do that. I'm talking ALL of them. E-texts, recorded "chats," powerpoints, modules, etc. Whatever your learning style is, there is some sort of learning resource available for you. Love that. Let me also explain that there are no professors. Yep, you read right, NO PROFESSORS. Each competency or "course" is already created. You simply work your way through and take the assessment when you are prepared. Even though there are no professors, they don't leave you in the dust. You have a mentor who you are assigned to from day 1 until you graduate. They work with you to develop goals, stay motivated, etc. Love that. Each competency also has separate mentors specifically assigned to that subject in case you need some extra help in that area. In addition to mentors, there are online communities which really build a "comraderie" among students. There are no deadlines except the ones you make for yourself. You can literally earn as many compentency units (read as: "credits") as you want to in a given term. The terms are 6 months long. The tuition? Somewhere near $2,900 for 6 MONTHS. The tuition does not change, so whether you complete 13 units or 23, you pay the same amount. They are eligible for Federal Financial Aid. Have I sold you yet? I'll be honest when I say it takes a lot of self-discipline and hard work, it's not easy, but I've found it to be so rewarding and actually enjoyable. I think I've been blabbering on long enough, so if it's something you're interested in, check it out yourself: Western Governors University. Just let me know if you end up applying so I can get the $65 registration waived for you (wish someone would have done that for me).

This concludes my novel.