After Spring Arbor, I wanted to continue my education and ride the wave of motivation I had for schooling at the time. I looked at many alternatives. Ideally, I would go to a brick and mortar institution because these are considered more reputable. However, in my research for a viable school for Information Security I came across Western Governors University. Their program intrigued me. I could earn certifications and a degree from a reputable school that had DoD certification. It was a subject matter that I was highly interested in and the school is non-profit.
I decided that I would not let anyone’s opinion but mine matter for the decision to attend this school. Online degrees have a certain stigma, but I felt that the only way to really know if it was legitimate or not was to try it myself. The school does have a good rating and it is nationally and regionally accredited. One of the few schools that have both. The school was the dream of 19 western governors to provide non-traditional students like myself a chance to earn an affordable education that is competency based. The goal is to provide students with the skills needed to be effective in their career.
I feel I learned a lot during my time at WGU. Like all school work it’s like having a part-time job and another boss to answer to, but you get out what you put into it. For me, there wasn’t a lot of student interaction and I had to be disciplined to get the work done. However, I feel the experience was worth it and I value my degree from WGU.