Love the Concept- Will it be Respected?

liberated847 · Nov 9, 2014

Will it be respected? Well that depends on the person judging it. Impossible question to answer. Accreditation is all anyone "should" care about.

elkpark · Nov 9, 2014

Accreditation is all anyone "should" care about.

Are you really suggesting that there are no significant or meaningful differences among (accredited) schools??

liberated847 · Nov 9, 2014

Are you really suggesting that there are no significant or meaningful differences among (accredited) schools??

Yes, exactly that. Unless you know about some illuminati secret nursing wisdom taught at certain schools? Good Nursing education is highly dependent upon how much the student applies him/herself. Show me the studies comparing efficacy of nursing programs, I'm curious.

klone, MSN, RN · Nov 9, 2014

WGU is accredited, non-profit (so that right there sets it apart from U of Phoenix and DeVry), and has had VERY good press from places like Consumer Reports, MSNBC, as well as President Obama.

I would not recommend a person get their Master's and Doctorate from the same institution, so even if they did offer it in the future, I wouldn't do it nor recommend it to anyone else if they got their MSN there. Any facility or job that is requiring a doctorate level education would also not look favorably upon it. There's a term for it, called "academic incest" and it's to be avoided at all costs. For this reason, I really had to struggle a lot with the decision to continue my MSN at WGU after getting my BSN there.

ShondaJ · Nov 10, 2014

WGU is a non profit university, NOTHING like For Profit Schools like University of Phoenix or Devry. Can't compare them to WGU. Although all these schools are respectable. I have a bachelor degree from UOP and companies are hiring them with no problem. UOP is respected. Why anyone would think otherwise I don't know. I guess because it's a for profit school.

Anyway WGU has many graduates with great careers and their clinicals are at great reputable hospitals and they are supported by big corporations in the healthcare industry.

I am planning to start August 2015 for their Pre-Licensing BSN to get my RN License.

I will say you won't pay as much at WGU as you will with other universities.

EMT6530 · Nov 13, 2014

Hi everyone. I love the concept of WGU and I've been considering doing my MSN here, but I am concerned about putting in the money and effort for something that isn't respected. I've heard so many horror stories of HR directors shredding applications of people with degrees from schools like University of Phoenix and Devry, even though they hold the desired regional accreditation. I've heard it may also be difficult to transfer credits for doctorate and PhD degrees. Does anyone know if WGU will be offering PhDs in the future? Any and all opinions welcome.

I have the same concerns about WGU. Also keep in mind that because WGU requires a "B" to pass a course this also means that your overall GPA will automatically be a 3.0. It can't be higher and it can't be lower if you pass the entire program. For that may struggle to maintain a B average this can be a good thing. However, I am worried that NP or CRNA program I am looking into for the future may want a for example 3.4 GPA, does this mean that I am ineligible for those programs? Just something to consider. Please correct me if I am incorrect about the 3.0 GPA issue.

klone, MSN, RN · Nov 13, 2014

You are not wrong. However, I feel the need to clarify this statement:

your overall GPA will automatically be a 3.0. It can't be higher and it can't be lower if you pass the entire program

Your GPA actually can be lower - if you are unable to complete a class by the end of the semester, it will be a "fail" - you will then have the class to complete the next semester. But that "fail" will affect your overall GPA. Happened to me in my BSN program with one class, and again with one class in the first semester of my MSN program.

klone, MSN, RN · Nov 13, 2014

That being said, I know many people who have gone on to graduate or post-grad programs at other schools and had no difficulty getting accepted, including CRNA programs. I know I saw a list somewhere of schools that accepted WGU grads into their programs. It was quite lengthy, with normal universities everyone has heard of - state universities, some Ivy League programs, not just hole-in-the-wall for-profit schools.

ShondaJ · Nov 13, 2014

Keep in mind. WGU does not grade by letter grades (traditional grading). WGU grades you based on competency, you are either competent or your not when it comes to the skills of nursing. So you won't see A, B, C, D, or F,s. You will see Pass or Fail.

That's what I was told about their programs.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 24, 2014

I've heard so many horror stories of HR directors shredding applications of people with degrees from schools like University of Phoenix and Devry, even though they hold the desired regional accreditation.

My former chief nursing officer earned an online MSN degree from Walden University, an investor-owned for-profit school. A former director of nursing education at a school I once attended earned her BSN and MSN degrees from University of Phoenix online. And my current chief nursing officer earned her BSN degree online.

As online and distance-based education becomes more mainstream, the stigma once associated with it is rapidly disappearing.

liberated847 · Nov 25, 2014

Agree with Commuter, the only negative comments I hear about online education now a days come from old people that never even tried it, instead they were spoon fed their outdated education.