Pulling back the curtain on Life At WGU
Background WGU is a non-profit Online University based in Salt Lake City, UT. It provides an alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar institutions with a (supposedly) more flexible and more affordable classroom model. It does this by providing a competency-based education model. It focuses more on "Can you do the thing?" more than "Can you regurgitate facts from a book?". In this exposé, I will shine some light on the aspects of this model that are less than friendly to their core demographics, the busy professional/parent and/or the individual that cannot afford traditional school. The story I am going to lay out is one of two schools: The idyllic online school that they paint in the brochures, and the reality, a mostly great school with a penchant for strong-arming students to make sure they(the school) look good. I started going to WGU in the Spring of 2019. Back in these halcyon days, WGU seemed a perfect fit.
