Perry Announces Creation of Online Texas University
Higher education leaders in Texas have been pushing for more pathways to college degrees for Texas. Today, Gov. Rick Perry, along with higher education committee chairs Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, and Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, announced a new one: Western Governors University Texas.
"Earning a college degree is one of the most effective ways for individuals to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families," Perry said in a statement.
Western Governors University is an online university that was created by governors of 19 states, including Texas, in 1997, and has grown steadily over time. Currently, roughly 1 ...
Comments (29)
David Huang via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Well, on the bright side, can't be worse than those for-profit degree mills. Of course, on the other hand, I fail to see how online schools are going to give students a quality education and won't just result in flooding the market with more degree holders.
Dylan Osborne via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I recently finished my B.S. and I can tell you- on-line classes are a joke. It's open book all semester long. I took multiple on-line classes and the only ones I learned anything in were the most interesting, the classes I really enjoyed. Everything else I did the bare minimum and I know I am not the only one. The busiest people, the people this targets, will do as little as possible, if only because they have to.
James Williams
I am all for people getting accredited degrees in any format that they can. Many fine schools award degrees online - Harvard, Duke, Stanford, etc... Granted those mentioned are primarily at the Master's level but still - to disrespect a degree from one of those institutions is not the norm.
Grading an on-line course would depend on what university and the type of course - self study, independent or other. I have taken on-line courses that were a bear and then some that were easy. Physics, calculus, and other math and science's are, on the average, tougher since you don't have the benefit of student and teacher support that you would get in a traditional setting. The social sciences and other may be easier. But then, as I said earlier, it depends on the school - and maybe more importantly, the student.
Susan Cummings via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Sounds great until you really learn more about the effectiveness online education. Part of learning should shake you out of your comfort zone - mentally, emotionally, geographically. That won't happen with degrees attained only online.
Susan Cummings via Texas Tribune on Facebook
And if you like the current cuts in state funding of higher education, you'll love what's sure to be next: state funding for WGU.
Ann Pittman-Thompson via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Once again the dumbing down of education in the state of Texas. The goal is not to just get a degree, but to LEARN and have your thinking broadened. Once again, our Governor just doesn't understand education.
A.M. R.H.
I think that people should research WGU before judging it by its cover. WGU is not a degree mill. It is an institution that provides education for those who simply do not have time to attend brick and mortar institutions. I have my Bachelors Degree from University of Utah, and I am currently working on my Masters in Business Administration through WGU. Without WGU, I would not be able to further my education due to my 60 hour a week work schedule. The courses are extremely challenging, and require me to show I am competent in a subject matter. I dedicate about 20 hours a week to my studies, and those 20 hours are decided by me. I am honored to be apart of WGU, and I think that people should research and learn about WGU before making negative comments. Isn't the foundation of education questioning what is presented, and discovering answers for yourselves rahter then making judgement calls on what you think you know?
Kelly Grossman via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Dylan: Which online school did you go to? I went to Phoenix online for a short time and it is a huge joke. I am currently a student at WGU and there is a huge difference between the two schools. It is not an open textbook school. Don't group all online schools in the same group. Do your research about each individual one and then make your judgements.
Ori Pomerantz
I have an M.Ed. from WGU. Some competencies required a proctored exam, same as for a certification in the IT industry. Others required you to submit material you created, which is similar to the job requirements you have after you finish your degree.
Susan, the effectiveness of online education depends on the learner. If you want to learn, you learn. If you don't, you can cram or cheat. How is that different from a regular university? I'm a grownup. I don't need to be placed outside my normal environment to learn. Certainly not when I am learning to be more effective at my normal environment (specifically, my current job).
Erin Simmons
@ Dylan - If you would actually research the University before you shoot your mouth off, you would realize we don't get to take "open book" tests! All are watched live over webcam. Tests can be stopped at a moments notice! It also makes you do more than the bare minimum between assignments and tests.
Teresa Kasten Wright via Texas Tribune on Facebook
At least this is innovate...With current overall six-year graduation rate is only slightly more than 57 percent. (Source: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's release of its annual progress report.) WGU is a nonprofit university. It is accredited by The Northwest Commission which is also responsible for the accreditation of other major institutions such as the University of Washington, University of Oregon, Gonzaga University, University of Utah, University of Idaho, and Brigham Young University, to name just a few. Board of Directors are governors from 22 states. Advisory Board is MAJOR Corps/Foundations. AT&T, Dell Computer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Hospital Corporation of America, Marriott Foundation, Microsoft, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, etc.
This is all on About Us on their web site: http://www.wgu.edu/ Might want to read it to know what it is all about...yes, there are LOTS of PRIVATE COLLEGE online rip-offs, but this is not one of them.
Glenn Melancon via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I am sorry. I was at one of the original conference that created WGU. When I asked about quality and integrity checks, I was told that those things don't matter. The goal is increase access not increase learning.
A.M. R.H.
@Glenn If you look at their retention numbers and percentage of graduates it is competitive with all Universities nationwide. I researched the question of who WGU admits, their retention rates, and graduates, and I have to say that a school that is just looking for enrollment, would not hold these types of numbers. You can research this information yourself.
Tim Strawderman via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Let's face it, if Perry is supporting something most likely he has some financial stake in it...just sayin.
T D
"Tuition is about $5,780 per year."
I challenge Governor Perry to make the entire degree cost only $10,000 (including books).
If he can't do it with WGU, why should we think it can actually be done elsewhere?
Richard S. Moore via Texas Tribune on Facebook
WGUT meets THEBC - This will be interesting!
Nikole Wicks
I have learned more at WGU than I ever have at the traditional universities I attended in the past. I am very grateful for the education I am receiving and it has helped me to be successful at my current place of employment. I have been a student at WGU since August 2009 and it has been an answer to my prayers. The WGU assessments and papers are NO easy task, so for those who say online schools are "dummed down" are highly mistaken. I am highly engaged in each online class I take. Traditional brick and mortal schools did not work for me and WGU opened doors and provided great opportunities for me. Because of WGU on my resume, I had employers calliing me for interviews left and right! I now work for the best school district in the State of Utah and I'm still employed there because of the education I have received. I have proven myself to be competent and that was seen by the staff. So tell me how can you go wrong with an online degree? Online universities are not degree mills, they are a way to provide people with additional options to obtain a degree. I highly recommend WGU to anybody! Faint of heart need not apply. Be ready to work if you enroll! :)
Matthew Rice via Texas Tribune on Facebook
You need to have testing performed in an professional testing environment to eliminate cheats, otherwise this is a welcomed change to me.
Almost all of my science classes I've taught myself overnight from the textbook, youtube, and wikipedia. You can't replace time in the labs, but there's no reason for someone like me to sit through a physical chemistry lecture when I know I'm just going to tear apart the textbook later. General Anatomy? The average Med school youtube is leaps and bounds better than whatever Powerpoint my $1200 class will put before me.
Bill Gates is right, all we need to do now is establish testing mechanisms that allow for individuals to demonstrate their knowledge without attaching the enormous debt that comes from a "traditional" university education...coulda saved me about $15k in pre-requisite costs alone.
Frances Demps via Texas Tribune on Facebook
There's something incongruous about cutting K-12 education to the bone and then starting a new path to a college degree.
Matthew Rice via Texas Tribune on Facebook
recently read a sociology paper that followed preschoolers vs non...they showed markedly better employment rates, annual income, decreased arrest and incarceration rates. While we must not confuse correlation with causation, at an estimated 14.5 billion nation wide for preschool we could save billions in social safety net spending and actually make money through taxes as people with better social skills inevitably make more. (though for that little, you don't even need the government...community organizations or churches can totally pull it off)
(on my mobile, forgive the english)
Jon Roland
Online instruction and testing can be as good or better than classroom, if done well. One of the things I do is create learning management sites using the Moodle content management system, and design and author courses for them. I have recently begun one of my own, constitutional-courses.org and will load it with courses as I can find the time. The challenge is to provide the kind of learning experiences that can't be done at the keyboard, such as labs and performance workshops. My college experience at the University of Chicago was greatly enhanced by numerous bull sessions, presenting papers to the Physics Club, and having faculty over for dinner at our frat house. Much learning is collaborative and works best when the participants are having fun doing it. Online instruction can largely replace lecture delivery, reading assignments, and homework, but should be used to free up resources for those things that require other modes of delivery.
I would like to see more and better use of online instruction for the K-12 students, where it can be most effective at encouraging practice of more repetitive skills and focus on tasks, in an environment that is less subject to disruption by the many students who are uncooperative and undisciplined. If the students come to class prepared and focused, teachers can then do what only they can do.
But we also need to revive Lancasterian monitorial education methods. See lancasterian.org. As Joseph Lancaster said, Qui docet, discit -- He who teaches, learns.
Only Me
Very nice. Get your online Texas degree on Amazon while you order computer parts, clothing, and music!
Pathetic! Students need to be with instructions to REALLY learn.
Only Me
Sorry students need to be with "instructors" to learn and be prepared.
Ori Pomerantz
Only Me, have you heard of Autodidacticism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodidacticism)? Some of us are self starters, and don't actually need to be in the same room as instructors to learn.
Jon Roland
Most highly people are autodidacts. I was, and generally stayed ahead of not only my classmates but most of my teachers until I got to college, but I can't say I didn't benefit from occasionally being pointed toward something I might have overlooked. For autodidacts educational programs are just a way to credential.
The problem is that most people are not autodidacts, especially in their early years when their brains are being wired. I noted that a lot of my high school classmates who didn't do well in school smartened up a great deal when they had to get out and make a living. A kid and a mortgage focus the mind.
Online learning is not the complete solution for everyone, but it can help many of them greatly. Until we can develop a way to impart learning with some kind of Krell machine, we just have to struggle with whatever tools we can. To paraphrase, "You go to education with the tools you've got."
Jon Roland
Correction: Omitted "educated" after "highly" in the last posting.
Lauralei Clower via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I am currently working towards a Bachelors degree in Special Education with WGU and I am disappointed at some of the uneducated comments on this article thus far. I too was very skeptical before entering into an online program but have been very surprised at how much I have learned. WGU offers a wide variety of learning resources and very comprehensive study guides in all of their courses. It is not a walk in the park trying to pass an exam either, it is not just a matter of fill in the blank and multiple choice. You have to really know what you are talking about on the subject matter. To address the concern as to weather or not online students get proper instruction the answer is, YES! I am confident that I will be more than ready to teach once I earn my degree from WGU. To all of you out there who do not know what you are talking about, do some research, for lack of better words, GET AN EDUCATION!!!!! LOL!
Cindy Ethridge
I read these comments and think that some people are either blind to real life or prefer to sweep it under the rug.
Brick and Mortar schools offer very little to our children. They are not required to go to class, they show up if and when they want, because most instructors do not have the time to do a roll call for over 100 students. If college students were honest, they would tell you, they spend the semester partying, cram for finals, and hope they pass.
I live in a college town, where the college is our major source of income. We spend a lot of time with these kids in their everyday college life. I challenge anyone here to spend a few weeks on a college campus during the year, not at finals or graduation, not at holidays, just during the semester when all the parents are gone and the kids are set free. Find out where the local hangouts are, what types of places they are. Get a good look at what your money really pays for.
Philip Harris
This is yet another encouraging step towards higher ed reform in Texas and increasing access to that education.