WGU alumni accepted into Brown for Grad school.

I’ve gone to several community colleges and have had friends in state schools and Ivy League schools. And I have a degree from WGU.

Given my direct experience and my proxy knowledge, I’d say WGU is better than the average community college and about the equal of a mid-level state school. It is not a diploma mill (one of the reasons I chose it), but it absolutely does not work like a regular school. In some ways — many ways — it’s harder. There are no classes, so you have to learn everything yourself, at your own pace.

For many people that’s impossible. Hence why there is a pretty low graduation rate.

The exams are proctored and many are extremely difficult. I’m ace at taking exams and I nearly failed one, which is unheard of for me. I don’t think I’ve failed a single non-math exam in my life. Still haven’t, but the practical SQL exam I barely passed.

Because the exams are all-or-nothing and there is only one, you have to remember a whole lot more than you do for the average college class. I have a capacious memory so this was ok for me. Many people flunk out because they cannot do this, though.

I did finish my degree fairly quickly, but it’d be fucking embarrassing if I couldn’t plow through a degree in a field in which I have nearly 25 years of professional experience. That’s why you see some people finishing so fast. Hell, many of those classes I could’ve easily taught with no prep at all. (I also had half of my credits fulfilled by community college and high-level certs.)

WGU is not a school for everyone. If you’re not self-motivated with a quality memory and experience already in your degree field, you’ll probably fail. But it’s a great school for some people and I happened to be one of them.