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#What is it like earning a degree from Western Governors University?

Brian Feeny. Harvard Grad Student

I finished an undergraduate degree at Western Governors. The experience is very different than traditional college. I was in the BSIT program. There was not lectures or recorded lectures like you would have in a traditional school. There was a lot of web based instruction. A lot of the teaching was in effect teaching yourself. Some people work well with this. I find that it misses the element of socialization, which is unfortunate, because socialization can be very enriching.

My belief is they could be doing a better job of distance education. Some of the pro s are that you pay a fixed tuition amount, and can literally take as long as you want to complete a class. There is no firm letter grade given, instead its more of a pass/fail with passing meaning that at least a B was achieved. The rubrics they publish are usually very good about helping guide you to a successful grade on your assignments. The downside is they do not fully embrace all of the technology to the full extent. They could be doing more with video, more with chat and more with building active communities in the message boards. At times I felt the message boards were almost censored, as there were rules about what you could or could not post.

I do believe you learn, and you do earn a degree and can be proud of that. The degree is accepted by any institution (or should be).

There is a lot of value in going to school on-campus if you can swing that. I only recommend online programs if you do not have the choice. That said, more and more top schools are establishing excellent online programs that should be considered.