A question has been nagging me for some time now: What the heck is Western Governors University?
And for that matter, what are all these other unknown colleges popping up in television commercials?
Watching TV over the holidays, I couldn’t seem to escape them. One of the bowl games was even sponsored by a Mystery U — the National University Holiday Bowl.
Does National University sit on a majestic campus in our nation’s capital? Uh, no. It’s scattered in office parks all over California. But more important, it’s anywhere someone has a computer and an Internet connection.
And the same goes for the much-advertised Western Governors University. These are online universities you’re seeing pitched on TV.
Perhaps I’m prejudiced by the trade schools that advertise so heavily on television. Many of them have proved to be shoddy, if not outright shams. So alarms go off in my head when I see the online university ads.
And now the ads are purposely stoking suspicion. Brandman University is running commercials tearing down other schools for their profit motive and low graduation rates.
I look at the ads and feel sorry for prospective students trying to sort it all out. There’s no doubt online education is becoming a bigger part of higher education. But it also has left a lot of students with big debt and no degree.
The good news is that online higher education does not seem as rife with outright fraud as the private, for-profit vocational schools. But still, lots of caution is warranted.
Back to my original question about Western Governors University, the commercials seem to suggest it’s part of state government. The website for WGU Texas says it was “established by the state of Texas.”
That’s a real stretch. It’s a private, nonprofit institution with no state affiliation. But it does have the endorsement of an executive order issued by Gov. Rick Perry. And as far as I can tell, it does seem to be doing things right.
WGU Texas Chancellor Ray Martinez said WGU grew out of a realization by the Western Governors Association that too many citizens have some college but not the degree needed for personal advancement or state economic growth.
“The average age of our students is 37,” he said. “They have full-time jobs and full-time families. They just don’t have time to study at a traditional brick-and-mortar university.”
I do see the appeal of working at home and at your own pace. WGU offers an all-you-can-eat sort of tuition plan. For most programs of study, you pay a flat rate of $2,890 for six months. And you can complete as many courses as you’re able. Martinez said diligent students can get the equivalent of 20 to 25 credit hours.
But University of North Texas Provost Warren Burggren said he hopes students will study on a traditional campus whenever possible. “We have more than 400 student organizations. We have more than 1,100 musical performances a year. We have dance. We have galleries. So much more goes into a holistic university experience than just the classroom,” he said.
Ideally, he said, a college degree will include some convenient online classes plus all the accidental learning and connecting that comes with on-campus study.
I also worry whether an online-only degree carries much weight with employers. “It’s becoming more accepted, but the brick-and-mortars still have the upper hand,” said Tina Johnston. She’s a career counselor in Keller.
Acceptance varies by company and profession. Whatever field you want to go into, ask working professionals for their advice on education, she said.
Going back to those attention-grabbing TV ads, Johnston said, “Don’t enroll at any college or university based on an advertisement or expensive brochure. You really need to do every bit of homework you can. Talk to everyone you can think of. You have to be an informed consumer.”
I salute anyone seeking more education. Just be careful. Back away at the first sign of a pressured pitch. Compare prices with a public college or university. And remember that a real education should come with the promise that it will be hard, not a point-and-click breeze.
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