careerchange wrote:
Do employers approve of "competency-based education" online MBA programs, such as WGU in UTAH?
Do employers accept competency based online degrees?
That's an interesting question.
WGU Online
of Utah is a very different type of online college and hence one that bears a closer look. It is, as you say, a competency based online college. This means that it awards degrees based not on how many courses one completes or how much seat time one spends in a course or class; instead it awards units based on if one can pass comprehensive competency exams in selected subjects or not.
Do employers accept WGU?
Actually WGU was built with the funding of a group of private corporations who wanted to help seed a new type of university -- one that would focus on certifying career skills or competencies rather than one that certified time spent in a classroom or a lecture hall. The original group of funding employers were concerned that too many people graduate college with degrees and course transcripts but without any real test(s) that show they have mastered concrete skills. WGU is still a private, non-profit college backed by large corporations like Microsoft.
There have been several earlier very successful public models of competency based distance degree programs in the USA. For example, back in the 1970s three eastern states -- Connecticut, New York and New Jersey -- saw that older working adults needed a special type of college that would award degrees based on the knowledge or competencies older students had acquired in places other than the university classroom. Places like work and the military and training academies for skills like IT and computer programming. Three great colleges were born to help older working and nontraditional students in the military and those educated on the job in careers like IT and aviation and manufacturing and so on:
Three original competency based online colleges:
Thomas Edison State University (NJ)
Charter Oak State College (CT)
Excelsior College (NY)
WGU is a little different. By the time that school was founded -- 1997 -- online learning was gaining public traction and so was the need for a new kind of university for nontraditional skilled career professionals.
The Governors of 19 states wanted to launch an affordable online university for working nontraditional students in rural areas. They wanted this college to be both affordable and have a system where older adults who lived in rural areas who had concrete job experience -- say a computer programmer or a nurse -- did not have to spend 16 or 18 weeks taking an introductory case -- they wanted older adults to be able to document or prove competency so they could enter formal study and take only those new courses where they needed to learn new knowledge. They could take tests to show they already had the basic knowledge and only take formal courses or mentoring beginning where their knowledge base ended.
WGU is expanding out of Utah.
The state of Indiana just partnered with WGU to create
WGU Indiana Online to offer career related competency degrees to its residents.
The downside to WGU may be that it is a very new school and it is an online only school so many people have not heard of it yet. The name lacks national brand clout so to speak.
Also, the competency based model sounds a bit like that old diploma mill come-on of earn a degree for life experience.
SEE:
Life Experience Degree Scams
Some people get spooked by the competency model bcs,. it is not a traditional or known learning model in the USA.
(It is however VERY WELL known and used in the UK and Europe).
Others think WGU must be a degree mill bcs. of the odd competency model.
On the upside those that have heard of WGU seem very pro on the school and its mission.
SEE
Time Magazines review of WGU Online and its mission.
I would be concerned that the new type of learning model used by this school may not be everyone's cup of tea.
Most Americans are used to sitting in a classroom, writing some papers and passing a course.
AT WGU they use a model that involves more self-paced , self-study combined with mentors rather than instructors.
This is a less structured, more independent approach to learning and some may find they need the structure of a formal classroom to help motivate them.
WGU is on several
Get Educated rankings of affordable online degree programs
BUT these degrees are self-paced so if you procrastinate or get stuck you could end up paying more for these degrees than a conventional degree with structured semester or quarter courses. At WGU you keep paying until you pass the exam so if you procrastinate the meter keeps running and fees can add up!
In terms of career acceptance all WGUs professional degrees hold solid programmatic accreditation so they would be accepted in the work force:
* WGU is Regionally accredited. By the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities—the same accrediting body responsible for the accreditation of major institutions including the University of Washington and the University of Oregon.
* Nationally accredited. By the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC).
* NCATE accredited. The Teachers College at Western Governors University (WGU Indiana's parent institution) is accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. Therefore, WGU Indiana offers NCATE-accredited teaching degree programs. NCATE is the premier specialized accrediting body for teacher preparation and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
* CCNE accredited. The nursing programs at WGU Indiana are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
* CAHIIM accredited. WGU Indiana’s Health Informatics program is now accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).
* CNSS certified. WGU Indiana's Information Security and Assurance program has been certified by the National Security Agency’s Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation (IACE) Program.
There is some early objective data that
employers accept WGU online graduates and students.
I post some data below .....
Highlights from the WGU Employer Satisfaction Case Study
80 employers responded as part of WGU 2008 Employer Case Study
* 95 percent of employers rate WGU graduates as equal to or better than their counterparts who graduated from other colleges and universities.
* 90 percent of employers rate WGU graduates' preparation for the workforce as "Good" or "Excellent".
* 81 percent of employers say they would recommend hiring WGU graduates to business associates and affiliated companies.
* 99 percent of employers rated WGU graduates' ability to analyze and solve problems at or above their counterparts.
* 69 percent of employers rate WGU graduates as "Excellent" employees.
Of course this school is new so longitudinal data is still in the hopper.
If anyone has heard or can cite any specific details of other studies of employee acceptance or lack thereof for WGU and its online degrees please post.
All the Best
Vicky Phillips
Founder - Get Educated
Online College Rankings
Online Degree Reviews
