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Western Governors University Master of Arts in Teaching (K-8)
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Western Governors University - Master of Arts in - Teaching - (K-8)
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About this school
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Western Governors University
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Online degrees giving you the skills and knowledge you need
Your competence is the ultimate focus of every degree program at Western Governors University. The university emphasizes mastery of essential skills and knowledge in your field, basing progress toward your online degree on passing rigorous assessments (such as tests, projects, assignments, etc.) instead of accumulating credit hours. We call it competency-based learning.
With bachelor's and master's degree programs in education, business, information technology, and health professions, WGU's rigorous yet flexible approach to education gives the university a unique advantage over other online programs. Here's what the WGU Advantage means to you:
- Flexibility and Affordability. Our competency-based approach allows for extensive personalization of your degree program. In most cases, you'll access course material or study independently at the time and place you choose. If you come into your program with years of experience, you may be able to complete your assessments faster. This could save you thousands because you pay tuition at a flat rate every six months, regardless of how many assessments you successfully complete.
- Credibility through Accreditation. WGU is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and nationally accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). WGU's Teachers College is the first and only exclusively online teacher education institution to receive accreditation from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). WGU is also the recipient of two International Distance Learning Awards from the U.S. Distance Learning Association, including the 21st Century Best Practices in Distance Learning Award.
- Commitment and Support. As a student at WGU, you'll have the support of a dedicated mentor to keep you motivated as you progress toward your degree. You will work with your mentor until you graduate. You get to know your mentor as an advisor, coach, cheerleader, even a friend. You'll also interact with an online learning community of students in your same program, so you're never alone.
WGU is the recipient of the USDLA 21st Century Award for Best Practices in Distance Learning for 2008, awarded in recognition of our success in expanding access to higher education.
"Western Governors University has raised the bar of excellence," said Dr. John Flores, CEO of USDLA. "We are truly honored by WGU's contributions to the distance learning industry."
If you're an organized, independent learner willing to devote at least 15 to 20 hours per week to your studies but require flexibility in time and place to complete your education, WGU could be the university you've been looking for. Learn more today!
Go Western, Young Man
By Kathleen Kingsbury Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008
Let's not waste anyone's time or money. You won't find that phrase emblazoned on a T shirt, but it's essentially the motto of Western Governors University (WGU), a private online school that has worked hard to prove it is anything but a diploma mill.
Established 11 years ago by the governors of 19 states, the virtual university--which is administered from Salt Lake City--has experienced a surge in admissions as more college students look for low-cost alternatives. Enrollment topped 10,000 last spring, growing at a rate of 40% in both 2006 and 2007.
Some 4 million Americans sign up for a distance-learning course each year, whether at an extension of a bricks-and-mortar institution or at an online-only school. Although the latter category is populated mostly by for-profit companies, WGU stands out as a nonprofit funded mainly by tuition and the $20 million in seed money supplied by those 19 governors. To help bolster its reputation, the school obtained accreditation from both regional standard bearers and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the professional body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for certifying teacher-preparation programs. (WGU remains the only online institution that has NCATE's seal of approval.) Such moves were designed to "lend WGU more legitimacy as an educational institution," says Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, who helped found the school when he was governor of Utah.
Today WGU is the nation's largest supplier of math and science teachers in urban school districts. And its alumni are hired by such FORTUNE 500 companies as Microsoft and AT&T. "[WGU] has earned a reputation for producing high-quality graduates, particularly in education," says Kevin Kinser, a professor at New York's University of Albany who studies online learning and is not affiliated with WGU.
The school's success is owed in large part to its competency-based approach. Instead of requiring that students take specific courses or amass a certain number of credit hours--as most colleges do--WGU asks only that students demonstrate mastery of the subject matter via online exams or papers that could take a day or a decade, depending on the student.
WGU has no full-time instructors, at least not in the conventional sense. Course work for its four majors--education, IT, business and health care--is developed by and licensed from outside vendors. But WGU does have about 250 full-time faculty members who work as mentors, checking in with students by phone every couple of weeks to ensure they are making progress in their courses and to recommend additional resources. "I get to know each of my students much better than I did when I lectured to them once a week in class," says Alisa Izumi, a business professor at WGU who lives in Granby, Mass., and used to teach at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
At $3,000 per six-month semester, WGU charges a sixth of the average annual tab at private four-year colleges and half as much as an online for-profit like the University of Phoenix, a mega virtual school that has some 200,000 students. And WGU lets you take as many courses as you can fit in a semester, which means some students are able to finish an undergraduate degree in as little as two years. "Before WGU, I would have had to drive almost two hours to Richmond," says Sandy Newsome, a teacher in rural Virginia who is getting her master's in math education. "Learning this all from home seems so much smarter." Sure does.
Posted through the courtesy of the editors of Time Magazine © 2008 Time Inc.
Featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams in their “What Works” segment, WGU is the recipient of the USDLA 21st Century Award for Best Practices in Distance Learning for 2008, awarded in recognition of our success in expanding access to higher education. TIME Magazine also called WGU “the best relatively cheap university you’ve never heard of”.
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