First off, I love WGU. I'm coming back for my Master's after a fantastic experience with my Bachelor's. But the intake process is hot trash. It was when I came in 2021, and it appears is hasn't gotten better. For anyone considering WGU, I highly recommend it. Brace yourself, apply, muscle through the intake, and you'll be glad you did.

But I'm posting here because I know some WGU staff are on this portal, and I beg of you: PLEASE get these concerns in front of someone who will take them seriously.

I submitted my application through the Alumni portal, using the returning student form. (This matters, because it comes into play here in a minute.) I used my WGU.edu email address on the application since I still have access to it. The form went through, I got the confirmation page. All good, I'm following directions. No email, but I figured it would come.

This morning, bright and early -- the first morning in five years that I haven't had to be in meetings or working a project at 5:30 and I could sleep in -- they call me to transfer me to an enrollment counselor. There are a couple issues with this approach:
* EMAIL the student to schedule a call.
* Do not cold call
* Do not cold call on a Saturday morning.

These are very basic Business 101. I did not ask for a call, and it turns out... there was no reason for it.

The scheduler who called then transferred me to an EC -- who had no clue I was a returning student. (Mind, the returning student application is one page, and on that page is the name of the WGU degree you earned, and the date you earned it.) OHHHHH, yeah, we have special ECs for that. I'll have to schedule a call with your super special EC. AND, while I've got you here, I'm going to give you a spiel about what it means and what we call it when you return to WGU after you've completed a degree with us.

So...
* you woke me up with an unsolicited call gawd awful early in the morning,
* on a weekend
* only to tell me you hadn't looked at the paperwork
* and evidently hadn't processed the application correctly
* And then you kept talking at me as if *I were the one who hadn't done the appropriate legwork? Not even an apology, but as if this is perfectly normal.

Fascinating. And irritating.

And now I know there's another unscheduled, random call lurking in the perimeter of my coming days.

Writing processes and training people to follow them is not hard. Developing GOOD processes takes a bit more work, but it's worth doing. Even just implementing a decent client management system and configuring it well would make a significant different in the intake process. It makes no sense to alienate and aggravate your clientele before you ever get to the table, and I'm bringing this up because I know this is not new. It's an ongoing issue. The entire intake process is tone deaf and ineffective, and it needs some love. Please, pass the word.

Hi everyone!!

I have a subscription that gives students discounts, but they’re struggling to automatically validate my status as a student, for WGU, and are requesting proof of transcript, etc

I know I have my academic plan and such, but is there somewhere I can specifically go for a more “formal document” for an unofficial transcript, current enrolled classes, etc?

Thank you so much!

I felt the same frustration as many other students when I enrolled in July and wanted to make a post to hopefully answer some questions and relieve some of the anxiety from the lack of transparency and multiple drop-off points that happen during enrollment. The post is quite long but I tried to format it well so you can jump through to the sections you need.

If anyone has anything to add/suggest please do.

Thank you u/Remarkable_Hurry2800 for your contributions!

THE ENROLLMENT PROCESS

This post uses the headings from WGU's enrollment portal but I've rearranged them in the order that they come up during the enrollment process. There is a full summary of deadlines at the end of the post.

Application

Step 1: Apply via the "Apply Now" button at wgu.edu by the 1st of the month prior to your intended start date. Remember the pin number you create for step 2.

Step 2: Log into the enrollment portal. You may have received an email with a link to do so. If not, to find it through the website, go back to the "Apply Now" button, then click "Applicant Login" at the top. It will ask for your email and pin number.

Tip: If in doubt, just apply. If you're confused about which credits will transfer, whether you're ready to start or not, etc. - just apply. You can always postpone or push up your start date.

Financial Requirements

Step 1: Fill out the FAFSA and list WGU under schools using school code 033394. This is the application for all federal financial aid. It needs to be filled out to be eligible for any federal or state grants or loans - and any WGU scholarships. Once your FAFSA is approved you will receive an email from the Department of Education that tells you how much federal aid you're eligible for. You may still be awarded additional aid through your state or other agencies later. There are three types of aid you'll see coming through this channel: federal grants (not paid back, taxed), subsidized loans (paid back, no interest until 6mo after school), unsubsidized loans (paid back, immediate interest). Private loans are another (bad) option that you can obtain through an institution like a bank. In Step 3 of this section you'll complete the Department of Education's Loan Counseling, which will fully educate you about the types of loans and how they're repaid.

Step 2: You can start applying for WGU scholarships up to 90 days before your start date in the Scholarship Universe portal. You won't hear anything back about them until 3-4 months after your term starts and it's very rare to receive them. If you receive an email from WGU saying you've been denied they've denied you for all of them, not just one. You can only receive a maximum of one per degree. If you're denied but feel you have a strong need, you can submit an appeal by emailing the Scholarships Team at [email protected] and explaining your circumstances. There are also external scholarships listed in the Scholarship Universe portal. If you don't have a computer or internet access, they have a scholarship for that. Get your application in early, resources are limited.

Step 3: In the enrollment portal go to Fulfill Financial Requirements > View Financial Aid Details. Once your FAFSA is received, requirements will pop up here. Click those links and fill out the required forms by the 10th of the month prior to start. These forms are not locking you into any specific loan amount - you are just agreeing that you understand what loans and interest are and will pay back any loans you later decide to take out. The WGU portal may take a day or two to update them to completed. You will not receive an email or any notification when requirements become available so check back here often. The deadline for full financial aid completion is the 22nd of the month before your start date! For self-pay, this means full payment or an active payment plan. For aid, this means your financial aid package has been awarded and accepted (if not awarded, see MISSING DEADLINES note below). The package must cover full tuition cost, otherwise the discrepancy must be accounted for by other payment method.

More About Self-Pay: Tuition can be paid all at once or in 4 or 6 monthly payments. By the 22nd of the month you must either pay the entire balance or pay a $55 payment plan setup fee. Monthly payments are charged on the 1st of each month. You must finish all of your payments even if you finish your degree in less than 4/6 months because the tuition price is based on Competency Units (CUs - WGU's version of credits), not time enrolled. During your payment plan, if you ever have an issue making a payment reach out to student services or financial services immediately. They will transfer you to payment solutions, who will work with you.

More About Paying With Aid: Once you fulfill your requirements your financial aid status will be stuck in "Processing". This is normal. Continue to check in periodically to make sure no new requirements pop up. Once the financial aid office realizes that you've fulfilled your requirements and they don't have any new ones to send you they wait until you submit your Commit to Start to further process your application. As long as your requirements are filled with green check marks, no news is good news.

Step 4: You will come back to finish this step after you complete your Commit to Start. If you are self-pay this is when you'll make your payment or set up your plan if you haven't already. If you're using aid, once your aid is awarded you'll receive an email with a link to your financial aid offer. The offer will show a breakdown of your tuition owed and available aid. You will then select how much aid you want to take out. The system allows you to take the maximum amount available, only enough to cover tuition, or even less than you owe - so make sure to read and select carefully. You can revise this amount later if needed but processing takes much longer - around 3-4 months rather than a couple of weeks. The aid amount you choose is for the year - it will be split in half and applied per term. If you finish in one term the second term will not be disbursed.

Who Gets a Refund? If your loans, grants, and/or awarded scholarship money exceeds your tuition you will receive a refund for the excess amount. Disbursement usually happens between the 6th-13th of your term start month. At some point in the initial days of your start month you will see an estimated refund date in the financial services portal. It is normal for your estimated refund date to change several times. You'll receive an email 24 hours before your refund is paid to you asking you to double check your refund method before its sent.

(Sometimes) Step 5: If you're awarded a scholarship the process is similar to loans. You'll receive an email asking you to go to the portal to the Requirements area to accept the offer. Scholarships always disburse on the 15th of the month. The amounts are split over 4 terms and if you finish before then you forfeit the remaining amount.

**MISSING DEADLINES: If you are self-paying, the 22nd is a firm deadline for tuition payment/plan setup. If you plan to pay in full but need a little more time you will need to pay $55 to set up a payment plan, then you can pay it off early later. There is no interest applied to payment plans - the only additional fee is the one time $55 setup fee. If you are using aid you may be in a situation where you aren't awarded aid by the 22nd, even though your requirements have been done. This is because the aid award is the last deliverable in a long line of deliverables and processes on WGU's end. If one thing delays, everything behind it delays. Then add a thick coating of understaffing and record-high enrollment numbers onto the delay. With that said I was delayed and I witnessed it, everyone in enrollment works HARD every month to get all the students who turned in their requirements on time admitted on time - so take it easy on them and be kind. Once you receive your aid award and accept it there's a bit of dotting i's and crossing t's (aka orientation) and then you're an active student. For this reason, you have some leeway past the 22nd here if you have not been awarded aid but have already been scheduled by the financial aid office for review. They should have you scheduled as long as you meet the Commit to Start deadline (discussed below, keep reading, there's a summary of dates at the end). If you don't have an aid package 4-5 business days before the 22nd but have already completed Commit to Start you need to ask your EC to contact an Admissions Counselor on your behalf to ensure you are scheduled for financial review and admissions review. The admissions team works with the financial aid office towards the end of the process to verify this final requirement and then give your full application the final check of approval before you can do orientation.

Enrollment Counselors

Contacting Your EC: You may receive a call from someone who's job it is to get you in contact with your Enrollment Counselor (EC). They're contracted and don't work for WGU so they aren't a reliable source of information. Don't bother asking any questions until you get to your EC. If you miss their call or want to bypass them, you can reach your EC on your own. You can find your EC's contact information in your enrollment portal in a large box to the right. If it hasn't populated and you're ready to speak to someone you can call the "main enrollment line" at 1-866-CALL-WGU and tell them you just applied and need an Enrollment Counselor. This is also the number you'll call if you ever need to switch EC's.

Why would you need to switch counselors? Maybe they're new and not familiar with your unique situation, maybe they're overloaded and keep missing calls, maybe they don't work during hours when you're available..I don't know. Anything can happen. You know when something isn't working out for you. Your enrollment counselor should be keeping in regular contact with you in order to guide you through the enrollment process, answer any questions you have, and to act as a liaison between you and the more secluded WGU offices (transcripts, admissions, etc.) If you don't feel like they're doing this, switch - sooner rather than later. To switch, call the number above and ask the person who picks up to "be switched to an enrollment counselor who [insert what you need here]". They may pick you up themselves or suggest someone for you. You can also request a specific EC if you know a guy, just know that they typically only work within one college.

Do you really need one? 100% yes. Your chances of becoming a student without speaking to one are exactly 0. Get in touch by the 5th of the month prior to your start. WGU forces you to go through your EC for a lot of the admissions process. You (usually) can't talk to the transcripts office or admissions office on your own. Simple forms that you may need aren't readily available and have to be sent through your EC. Certain things in your portal won't "unlock" until they press a button. Stay in touch and switch early if you're eager to start and they're not very responsive.

Advocate for Yourself. Enrollment Counselors know more than the average prospective student about transfer credits, admissions, etc. but they don't know everything. There are a lot of small loop holes that are shared here on Reddit or in other student spaces that newer ECs may not be familiar with. Advocate for yourself. No one else but you cares that much about you starting on time. In their eyes there's always next month. This isn't to say they're completely reckless and will purposely hold you back! I loved my EC - but when it looked like something unforeseeable came up that would push my start date back he was willing to accept it - because it's not his degree or his life and he also has so many other students he needs to work with. I started on my original date because I kept pushing for it when it "wasn't going to work".

Program Eligibility Requirements

What Requirements? Find your program's eligibility requirements inside of the enrollment portal. In the Meet Program Eligibility Requirements section click the little "i" next to your degree. You can also go to the dedicated page for your program on WGU's website. For each program you will also see that it mentions that the listed requirements are on top of WGU's General Admissions Requirements. Unfortunately it looks like they've recently taken these general requirements off the website. If I remember correctly from a few months ago it was a high school/college GPA of 2.75+ or qualifying work experience. I'd assume they took it down because they don't accept high school students without transfer credits usually, even with good GPA.

New High School Grads: WGU looks for college readiness through having transfers credits or extensive related work experience when considering your application. Your best bet to qualify for admission is to get some credits via another online institution that WGU partners with like Sophia Learning or Study.com. This is most likely going to be the quickest, most cost effective route to admissions for you. If you are enrolling in the IT college WGU offers guaranteed admissions to students who go through the American Dream Academy program, which is free and can be completed in a weekend. This program will be ending April 2024. Please also read the next paragraph.

If You Don't Qualify: If your program requires specific classes they are likely available to test out of via CLEP or to complete as a course through another online institution like Sophia Learning or Study.com. This is going to be the quickest, most cost effective route to admissions for you. The most accurate, up-to-date information on what to take and where to take it is partners.wgu.edu. You'll find your degree program first, then the applicable transfers will be listed. WGU does not publicize the CLEP credits that they accept so you will need to check with your EC for that.

A Note on Programs that Require Specific Courses + a bit of my enrollment story: I'm enrolled in WGU's Computer Science program, which is advertised as requiring a C or better in college level Precalculus or Calculus. When I went through enrollment I had precalculus credit from a community college so my EC and I thought I was good to go. I had all of my transcripts in by the 5th so it should've been smooth sailing. Wrong. On the 9th my EC called me and said the transcript office wouldn't accept my specific precalculus class because the course catalog (from 10 years ago) didn't mention trigonometry, which apparently is a hidden requirement for BSCS admission. At this point I'm sliding down the wall, throwing up, crying because I really wanted to start in July and be done by December. But as I said, I was determined to start and I got the call on a Friday so I figured I'd get on Sophia that weekend, get the Calculus credit, and then beg them to let me in. Worst case scenario, I'd have the credit ready to go way ahead of time for the next month's admissions period. There were no promises made but they ended up finishing my evaluation on time. I sent my Sophia transcript on 6/11, WGU notified me that they received it on 6/12, I received my transcript evaluation on 6/14 - one day before the cutoff.

I told the story to highlight these lessons:1. WGU staff really is trying to get you started when you want to start, but you have to do your part. I doubt that there would have been any urgency on WGU's part to get me started on time if I hadn't originally got my transcripts in on time and previously been regularly engaged with my EC.2. WGU is NOT very transparent about their admissions requirements so if your program has specific ones, make sure that you ask about any hidden requirements or caveats that can be a hindrance. It's better to take care of this early in the process.3. It's not over until it's over. The only reason that the deadline to turn your transcript in is the 5th is because the deadline to receive the evaluation is the 15th and it usually takes two weeks - but it doesn't always take two weeks. If you're cutting it close and waiting DO NOT LET YOUR EC CHANGE YOUR START DATE UNTIL THE ABSOLUTE LAST MINUTE - THE MORNING OF THE 16TH.

Transcripts

What transfers? The most up-to-date, most accurate resource for what will count as transfer credit is partners.wgu.edu. This is always accurate in the moment, but it can change tomorrow and WGU's programs often do change. No resource outside of this webpage or an employee from the Transcripts Office can give you a 100% accurate answer on what will transfer. You can transfer in a maximum of 75% of the CUs needed for your degree program.

Step 1: In the "Submit Transcripts" area of your portal add any institutions or certifications you plan to submit transcripts for. If you add something here and then decide not to turn in that transcript, you need to ask your EC for a Transcript Exclusion Request Form so that the transcripts office knows they aren't waiting on that transcript before they can complete your evaluation. Most of the form is pre-filled by your EC so you will need to tell them which transcript it is and why.

Step 2: Request your transcripts. Check first with the National Student Clearinghouse. If unavailable, go to your prior school's website and look for their transcripts page. The email address (digital) and mailing address (physical) to send them to are available here. WGU generally will notify you that digital sends have been received within 1-2 business days. Mailed of course takes much longer.

Evaluation Turnaround Time: Turnaround time for transcript evaluations varies greatly depending on how many transcripts you're sending in, when they come in, what schools they're from, and how many other students are enrolling that month. WGU advertises that they try to keep it under two weeks. It is suggested that you have all of your transcripts arrive to WGU BY THE 5TH OF THE MONTH PRIOR TO YOUR START DATE. It is required that your transcript evaluation be completed BY THE 15TH OF THE MONTH BEFORE YOUR START DATE. Generally, the quickest evaluations happen for institutions and certifications that are explicitly listed on the Partners Page. Otherwise, the course has to be manually looked up and verified, which takes time. All of your transcripts will be evaluated at once and you'll receive a pdf detailing all transfers.

Tip: If you're cutting it close ask your EC to contact the transcripts office and ask for your scheduled review date. They schedule you once all of your transcripts are marked as received.

(Maybe) Step 3: Yes, you can appeal your transcript evaluation, switch programs, or send in more transcripts after your evaluation. All of these things will require another wait and another transcript evaluation, which will likely push your start date back. You can change your program yourself in the enrollment portal at the top left but I'd recommend talking to your EC first. To begin an evaluation appeal you must let your EC know you want to do so within 15 days of receiving it. To send in more transcripts, just email your EC letting them know the plan and then add the institutions to your portal so everyone can expect them and send as usual.

Sending Transcripts

Certification Submission Guidelines

American Dream Academy / Google: You need to find the Coursera share links for the Google certificate and the ADA completion certificate if you want to lock in the ADA guaranteed admissions. Email the links to [email protected]. I emailed mine to [email protected] at the same time as well for good measure. You can not send them a screenshot, saved pdf, etc. FYI the ADA program will no longer be available after April 30, 2024.

Sophia Learning: The recommended option is to send your official transcript through Parchment for $8. Parchment offers tracking and you will generally see it received within 2 business days. When I was having the Calculus issue mentioned above I was worried about Parchment taking too long so I sent the link for my Sophia Credly badge over as well using the method mentioned above for ADA/Google. I received an email saying they received it and were honoring it as an "official document". This method is worth a shot if you need to save the money but it didn't save me any time, both "versions" of the transcript were marked received within about 2 hours of each other.

If anyone wants to chime in here for common transfer institutions like Study or specific certifications I can add.

Commit to Start

Step 1: Once you receive your transcript evaluation and approve of it, get in touch with your enrollment counselor to unlock your Commit to Start (previously Intake Interview). This is the beginning of the end! There's a bit of a wait here where I assume your EC has to meet with either their manager or the admissions office to ensure you meet program requirements. Once it's unlocked you'll receive an email saying you've been provisionally accepted to WGU and your status in the portal will go from Applicant to Admitted.

Note: There's a slightly common issue with newer ECs being mistaken and telling students their financial aid needs to be fully awarded before Step 1 here. This is false! If they are adamant and won't unlock for you call the main enrollment line and speak to a manager.

Step 2: Go to Commit to Start in the portal and go through the questionnaire activities that give you the final rundown of what you're signing up for: the program, the credits, the cost, the equipment, the suggested time commitment. You are acknowledging and locking in all of these things at this time, meaning you are committing to paying tuition and can not transfer in more CUs or appeal your transcript evaluation after this. The deadline for completing this is THE 15TH PRIOR TO YOUR START, which is why you need your transcript evaluation back by THE 15TH, which is why you should try your absolute hardest to have the transcripts in by THE 5TH!

Tip: Even if it's unlocked early, you want to complete your Commit to Start asap so you can be assigned to a mentor sooner rather than later. Their schedules get hectic towards the end of the month.

Orientation

How Do We Get Here? After you complete Commit to Start you will need to make your payment arrangements or accept your financial aid award before you can begin orientation. See Financial Requirements: Step 4 + MISSING DEADLINES above for information on this waiting period and the final financial aid process. When finances are settled, an Admissions Counselor will give your application the final stamp of approval and you will officially be Cleared to Start! This may take a few days. Then there's just one more thing you need to do before you're officially enrolled.

Step 1: Orientation opens on the 15th or immediately if you Commit to Start after the 15th. You'll receive an email with a link to open orientation. All WGU classes require a Performance Assessment (essay or project) and/or an Objective Assessment (test) to pass. Orientation will be your first Performance Assessment style class, with a graded assignment. Orientation must be completed and marked as a "Pass" before the 1st. PAs can take up to 72 hours to be evaluated. Passing PA classes is heavily reliant on you following the rubric to a T. Some PA classes also offer a template. Do not stray from the rubric or you risk having it send back for revision. The orientation task is not an automatic pass, people have had it sent back. Follow. The. Rubric. Use the template. Make sure you have it submitted with time for evaluation by the 1st.

Step 2: A few days after Orientation unlocks you will be assigned a mentor. You will get an email with their biography/contact information and will also be able to see them in your student portal at my.wgu.edu. Schedule a call with them asap! Depending on the mentor and your situation you'll need to have 1-3 calls with them before you're be able to start your classes. If you're a late enrollee and you can't find a 30-minute block before the 1st, try two 15-minutes. Otherwise, you can email them and ask if they can squeeze you in somewhere so you can start on the 1st. During the calls you'll discuss your program and the classes you'll be taking. Some degree programs allow class order to deviate from the standard path, some do not. Some mentors encourage it, some do not. These initial emails and calls are a good time to see if you and your mentor are a good fit.

Switching Mentors: Like ECs, you can switch mentors. However, you may have to speak with a mentor manager to explain why you're ditching them since the mentor/student relationship is a little more serious than EC/student. Most student/mentor issues are related to weekly call requirements and acceleration availability. WGU previously required first term student to have a phone call with their mentors weekly. This is no longer the case. With that said, many students find the weekly calls helpful, myself included, and I usually hate talking on the phone. If your mentor is adamant about it give it a try before you put your foot down about it. I will talk more about how you can work with your mentor to find a long-term solution that makes you both happy regarding acceleration below but here are some ways to escalate if needed:1. If it's the weekend or early evening and you don't have a class you can open but all your other ones are completely finished (with all PAs graded) you can contact Tier 1 Support. They will move a class up for you.2. If you have proven that you can successfully accelerate but your mentor will not budge at all regarding acceleration, it's time to go over their head. Call Student Services and ask to be put in touch with the mentor's manager or the Director for your program. Let them know what's going on and they can make an executive decision.3. If you're constantly going days without classes because your mentor is unresponsive during business hours, it's time to get rid of them. Call Student Services and tell them you need to switch mentors because you're an accelerator but your mentor does not communicate with you regularly. If you're going days without classes during the weekend because you didn't communicate with your mentor at the end of the week about needing some accelerated - that's on you and you need to plan better next time but can contact Tier 1 Support in the meantime. Mentors don't work 24/7.

Acceleration Compromises: Most students tell their mentor they're going to accelerate. Less than 5% actually do. For this reason I don't advise people to mention acceleration to their mentors during their initial calls. All it generally does is prompt your mentor to try to temper your expectations, which can be demotivating right before you get started. If your mentor brings it up I'd suggest expressing interest but not disclosing to what extent, especially if you want to finish in 1-2 terms. The stats are against you and they're primed to think "here we go again with the delusion". Just show them instead. WGU's official policy regarding acceleration is that you must finish all of your initial classes (usually 4) before accelerating any classes. After that you can move one new class into your term at a time. You can think of the official policy as a minimum offer that some mentor will stick to, while other mentors will adjust and give more than one class. Your mentor does not have the option of fully not letting you accelerate if you have finished your other classes. However, their timidness regarding the topic can slow you down. Here's a few compromises you can suggest if your mentor insists on sticking to only one class at a time:1. They can queue a new degree plan for you every time you start a class. When your mentor creates a degree plan for you it lays dormant until you go in and agree to actually take those courses in that specific term. Many mentors create an agreement with their students that they will approve courses early but that the student will not register for or open it until they complete the course ahead of it. This is still technically one course at a time but it eliminates the wait time between classes. This is the best option if you're finishing 1-3 classes a week and your mentor can be reached daily during weekdays.2. Another option is to reach out to your mentor when you're coming to a closing point on the course. For some it's when they take the Pre-Assessment (pre-test for OA classes), or when they're halfway through a PA-class rubric, or something similar. This will work if you are spending around 1-3 weeks on each course and can generally get a response from your mentor within 2 days.3. Some students get loaded up with 3, 4, 5+ classes at a time. This probably isn't reasonable for most students and I can only see this working if you're finishing 3+ classes a week, have experience in your field already, and are in the Business or Education college. This is a big risk and if something happens and you can't finish these classes they will be marked on your transcript as incomplete before being moved over to your next term. No one wants this and if it happens your mentor is likely to scale way back on what they allow you to do.4. A good middle ground for students who work in sprints or have odd job scheduling is to move 2-3 classes up to be completed over a period of time (~ 1-3 weeks) and then take a break until you're ready for the next batch.

Step 3: Everything at my.wgu.edu should be unlocked now including your Degree Plan and the Course Pages. Click a course from your Degree Plan to open it. They will be in preview mode for now but you can take the Course Planner and pre-assessment for any class at any time. On your first day your classes will be available to start around 9am MT. You will have to click "Start Course" on each course page to take it out of preview mode on Day 1.

Welcome to WGU! 🦉

TIMELINE SUMMARY

IMPORTANT: All dates reflect the official last day to fulfill each requirement. These deadlines do not leave wiggle room for delays, changes, or appeals. Earlier is better!