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I chose WGU because I needed a degree quickly after I got some bad medical news and was told I'd be medically retired soon. I work in cyber for the military so I have gotten training and have a handful of certifications. WGU was largely based around CISSP with a class about CEH and one about CHFI. They've recently updated the curriculum. I loved how WGU works. My mentor was hands off after I finished 4 courses in a month, but was always on-call when I was ready to start my next course. The mentors... Read More are really just there to make sure you're on track to graduate and get you enrolled in courses, they have degrees in completely different feilds. When I reached out to a course instructors they responded in less than a day most times. This is a very independent program because you just get a stack of e-books to read, but if you already work in cyber or study before hand (reddit has study tips for every course) you'll be fine. The papers you write are pretty accurate and are decently realistic for the business world. For about $4,700 and 5 months I got a master's, another certification, and made finding a great job that much easier. I didn't use tuition assistance because of all the requirements for officers and I was told that TA would slow me down. No one has questioned the credibility of my degree because WGU has four regional accreditations and is recognized by the DHS and NSA--that and a number of people I work with are also going to WGU.

I graduated with a 4.0 GPA in the M.S. in Cybersecurity & IT online program. That being said, the program felt like they were copying and pasting a template throughout the entire program. There were 11 courses at 3 units each, making 33 program hours. Each class was 8 weeks long and consisted of a 5-8 discussions, 1 mid term, 1 final, and maybe a project. I would say about 4 courses were challenging and required some time to actually read the course text. Also, some instructors are really on one... Read More with the whole APA formatting and taking grades down for minor errors. One of the frustrating things I had to overcome was the fact that some instructors have a syllabus/ rubric set out that they did not follow for grading. This meant I had to adjust but in the end, its not right. Cindy from Bisk was my advisor, she was great and worked with me. I didn't take any loans for this and I paid out of pocket, so I was adamant about getting my moneys worth. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I would reference the program content closer to what you would find at a Community College; which is not terrible, just not what you'd expect when paying ~$2400 a class. My advice? Go get your piece of paper somewhere else.

I was really excited about obtaining a Master's Degree. However, I'm in the middle of class I receive a bill for $1780.00 contact the financial aid department who transferred me twice had me in hold while I waited for them to talk to their supervisor. And then was told oh we thought you were in another program. However. a month prior I received a financial aid award letter with the correct program. Therefore, all studet loan info was correct and all ready to go. Now, everyone else in my class received... Read More their refund. They decide to process my aid the 4th week of class and it's the 6th week and I have not had anything deposited into my account. This is the worst thing every. I have never had this experience with any other university. Now, I am receiving emails that my deferment was denied because fedlian does have the correct information. After I have received emails telling me how much purdue university global has received. And no one from financial aid can provide a reason and tell me to was two weeks. However, my session is almost over. They need someone to come and train and investigate the financial aid department in Indiapolis, Indiana.

I have nothing against Maryville but this is my opinion and for students thinking about entering the Masters in Cybersecurity online program. I graduated with a 3.6 program GPA. The program is approx. 85 readings and quick quizzes. The other approx. 15% is a labs. The terms are accelated 8 weeks with zero breaks in between terms (end of term is on Sunday, next subject starts the next day). The instructors are ok but how much extra time can they spend on difficult subjects with 8-week terms? Labs... Read More are short with not much practice happening. Again, how much can you do in 8-week terms. Some course have tech issues but they're solved by a 24/7 support time. I graduated Aug 2021 and had like 3 interviews in cyber. Two of the interviews went horribly as I couldn't remember all that I'd done in the program. In my opinion, I think that's due to the short 8-week terms. I work for a top 5 bank, and the majority of my cyber job submissions (14) were ignored (8 of those were rejected outright with no interview). I'm internal and still couldn't get a cyber related interview. I'm not really sure of the exact number of outside resumes I've sent but I'm sure it was over 15 (13 rejected with no interview) throughout the year of 2022. Conclusion: In my opinion, I would save the 26k-30k debt and take a quality cyber security boot camp instead. Bootcamps are mostly (75-85% hands-on labs and projects. Despite the supposedly high demand for cyber security professionals, employers appear to want candidates with experience over degrees and certs. Bootcamps give you that hands-on experience and practice with systems and projects that are required for these jobs instead of quick homework assignments. A lot of bootcamps come with CompTIA cert (e.g., Security+, Network+) prep and exam. Also, boot camps are half the cost of master programs. P.S. I applied for a CISA apprentice program with my company in Sept 2022. After months of not hearing anything, I emailed the recruiter and hiring manager multiple times and my emails were ignored. I'm an internal candidate and I was still ignored. Finally, in December after receiving the rejection email, I emailed the recruiter for feedback and advice. She told me that there were a bunch of qualified candidates and although I've been in financial services for over 15+ years in different lines of business (e.g., financial crimes, investments, trust, audit), my resume is impressive, and to get some cyber hands on experience and try next year. Go with a boot camp which is mostly hands on experience that comes with CompTIA prep and exam voucher.

First of all, please read the other 4 reviews on this page. Both negative and positive have good points (except, "WGU Student"). The concept behind WGU is excellent and there are some good Bachelor programs there. Once you get to the Masters level, things tend to decline. As some mention, you need to be self-motivated. What this really means is: there is a lot of information missing or incorrect in the assignments. FAR beyond motivation, you have to search Reddit for clues, push the instructors to... Read More divulge more, perform lots of stress management and expect a lot of frustration. Figure out your learning style before registering. If you are like the commenter, Siva, the challenge should be good, especially if you have a lot of security experience. If you need any of the following, look elsewhere: 1) Paper or eReader textbooks for easier reading/bookmarking - does not exist 2) Related to #1 - very few mechanisms to study large blocks of information (paper or electronic flashcards/summaries-rather than sifting through hundreds of screens) 3) Technical videos directly related to the course material - almost non-existent 4) The ability to work with other students in the program - Reddit is the main way to contact others (and can sometimes be outdated). There are sometimes other groups like Facebook but very limited - a moral support tool 5) Freedom to take the classes in any order you want - no I will rate the school as recommended (only because the good bachelors program and you may have the right skill set as mentioned earlier).

I completed my bachelors program through WGU in late 2017, early 2018. I had small gripes here and there about how the college worked but felt my bachelors experience was generally positive overall. I cannot say that for my Masters Degree experience which resulted in me leaving the program 10 days in for the reasons below: 1. The intake process consists of you meeting with a counselor who discusses aspects of the degree you're interested in, telling you about the program courses, financial aid and... Read More information WGU needs to get you in the door. The person I was assigned borderline harassed me week after week with unscheduled calls asking me if I had all the information I needed. I felt that process could have been managed better. My reason for leaving the program will ultimately come back to this first point. 2. The bachelors program allows a lot of flexibility with the order of classes you choose as you progress through the program terms which I really enjoyed about my bachelors experience. The masters program provides no flexibility here outside of the first term where your classes are preselected but you may change the first term class order. WGU appears to claim the terms are setup in a prereq fashion to build you up for the next classes which is not only dishonest but just flat out false. There is little to no correlation whatsoever between the classes offered in the program I was pursuing. This inflexible class structure was never discussed in early in take process which would have saved me amount of time and money. It actually doesn't even make any sense that the masters has less flexibility over a bachelors program. It should be the other way around if anything. 3. You are charged and expected to pay tuition starting the 1st day of the month your term starts in, but are typically not assigned a mentor or able to access and start studying for the first 3-5 days of your term. I can't wait to see how WGU screws me over on the refund aspect. Their policy is they do not refund application, program or resource fees. I never enrolled for any classes and therefore did not access and resources or interact in the program. If cost is your driving motivation for obtaining an accredited online degree WGU is a good option. The courses are somewhat challenging and achievable but averagely bland overall. Expect to be routinely frustrated by an inefficient, wonky structure that makes little sense.

This school is meant for people who are extremely self-motivated. If you expect that the school will spoon feed you, you will be very disappointed. Each course is like a big puzzle and, if you can crack it, you will love the courses. I start every course with great fear that I may not be able to complete it but, after making progress by going through all their helping guides and course materials, I will feel little confident and once the course is through, I get all my energy back to start the next... Read More one. It is like challenging us to overcome our own fear since the journey is going to be mostly alone and, based on your own personality, either it would be very refreshing or frustrating. After going through the pain, I would recruit anyone from this college as far as cybersecurity goes since these jobs require a commited, self-motivated and very patient persion, which is a rare commodity.

The bad reviews on here seem to be entirely based on financial aid problems. I certainly understand the frustration about this. Their financial aid department is pretty bad if you rely on it to supplement income, but this is no reason to give them one star. The school is pretty rigorous. It is not uncommon to have labs that take 5 or more hours, 1000-2500 word papers, plus professors that hold you accountable for everything. The financial aid has been infuriating at times, but the school itself is... Read More good. I would do it again. I am currently evaluating my options for my PhD, and I would go to PG if they had a program. The cost is perhaps a bit too high though. I may choose a different option because of that, but it would only be based on the price.

I learned early on that everyone at WGU was there to help me succeed. Shortly after I sent my initial application in, I was contacted by my admissions mentor Tim. He helped my finish my application and everything I needed to get admitted into my masters program. Admittedly I was frustrated because my first application was rejected, but Tim was patient and worked with me. My second application was accepted and I was on my way. Once I was accepted into my program I was assigned a student mentor. My... Read More student mentor Lisa was there to keep me on schedule for graduation. I thought nothing of it at first but once I started classes and checking in with Lisa every week, I realized I was getting more work done than I did when I took traditional online classes during my undergrad. Having Lisa to be accountable to really pushed me. Overall, I think very highly of Western Governors University. Every email Ive every sent was responded to in less than 24 hours. Your student mentor is there to help you from start to finish, and each class has a course mentor (SME) there to answer any questions related to the class you may have. I would recommend WGU to anyone that asked and hope they expand their curriculum someday.