Western Governors University Did not disclose their enrollment requirement of prior college / certifications. Salt Lake City Utah

This reply from WGU is not true.

First, they said "Note that the listed requirements are not either/or (as described in the complaint)." This is not true. To be exact, the web page at http://www.wgu.edu/admissions/it_requirements states a listing of requirements for their IT program. The list is preceeded by these exact words: "Demonstrate IT experience either through". Please note the words "either through". So indeed it is an either/or, as described in my complaint. And yet here, in their reply, they say it isn't either/or. Perhaps they didn't read their own website and failed to realize that my complaint is valid. I met the requirements which were advertised, since I had a resume, and my resume was approved by their IT admissions. But I still got rejected, over requirement of prior college, which they didn't disclose.

Secondly, they said "Prior college credit is a listed requirement for WGU students". This is also not true. Prior college is only listed as a consideration, never as a requirement. It is not on any of the requirement lists on the general admissions page. And on the IT admissions page, it is listed in an either/or listing of possible ways to prove IT experience, as I explained above, so it's not a requirement there either, only one of several options.

My compaint is true, and my complaint is simply this: even if you meet all the listed requirements, you will still get rejected if you lack prior college, even though college prior is not listed as a requirement anywhere on WGU's website. I believe that it should plainly say that prior college is a requirement, not just a consideration. The word consideration means "adds value" or "worth something". But if they will reject you for lack of college prior, which they do, then it shouldn't be called a consideration, it should be listed among the other requirements. Calling it a consideration, and putting only a GED in the requirements list is false advertising and fraud, as it causes people like me who only have a GED to waste valuable time and money taking the admissions test. This is wrong and unethical and highly unprofessional of them.

Western Governors University considers several factors in admissions decisions. In addition to general requirements for undergraduates, there are special requirements for admission to the College of Information Technology. All requirements are listed on the Admissions Requirements page of the WGU website: http://www.wgu.edu/admissions/requirements. The general admissions criteria for undergraduates include:

• Results on the WGU Collegiate Readiness Assessment
• Prior college experience and work experience
• An interview with a WGU Enrollment Counselor
• The time commitment you can make to your studies

Special requirements listed for WGU’s B.S. IT programs are:

• A high school diploma or its equivalent
• Demonstrate IT experience either through:
• An associate’s degree in IT or equivalent (A.S. or A.A.S. acceptable)
• High-level IT coursework completed within the last five years:
• Two or more upper-level networking courses; OR
• Two or more upper-level object-oriented programming courses (Java, C#, etc.); OR
• One or more upper-level operating systems courses; OR
• One or more upper-level information security and assurance courses.
• Hold transferable IT certifications earned within the last five years. Click here to see what IT certifications may transfer to WGU.
• Submit a resume showing three-plus years of IT work experience.Note that the listed requirements are not either/or (as described in the complaint). Prior college credit is a listed requirement for WGU students. While occasionally this requirement is waived based on other factors like work experience or high school GPA, it is clearly listed on our website. Students who are not admitted because they lack prior college experience are encouraged to take college courses at a local community college or with our partner, Straighterline, an online provider of college courses with transferable credit. For students who complete a course with Straighterline, WGU will even credit some of the cost of these courses toward tuition after the student has been admitted.

Because WGU protects the privacy of our applicants and students, we cannot address this applicant’s specific circumstances here. Individual questions or requests for information can be submitted to jmitchell@wgu.edu.