Western International University

I obtained my Associates of Arts in business from Western International in April 2017. West was just what I need to complete my degree. I was able to transfer credits from previous colleges. I graduated from high school 30 years ago and attended two other colleges before attending West. West was affordable and the professors were helpful. If I needed help the professors were willing to help. The learning style is what I enjoyed about the college.

What I have discovered is that many of the people that yield negative reviews on school in general start programs, but do no finish. In the case of WIU, I graduated with an MBA in International Business and the experience was great; however, the institution is a very different story in the eyes pf many larger organizations. The main issue is that not too many people have heard of the school and therefore it is considered an also ran in the world of institutions. I cannot mention how many employers I have had to educate about the school. In other words, selling the school is a harder task than actually selling myself during and interview. d The tuition is grossly over-priced for a school with such a limited reputation. Most often many graduates from these institutions must actually go to a better school after graduating to compensate There are some firms that will not hire Apollo Group graduates because they do not consider the school accredited, despite the reality of being in the category. The one thing to expect is after graduation, taking on a marginal job while carrying a lot of student lone debt. The best thing to do is to use the Apollo Group only if your compay is paying for it. If not, save your money and choose a school that has better marketing such as Southern New Hampshire University that is non-profit unlike UOP and WIU.

I have been in this school since January 2015. I've had a long time dealing with online schools, including the Univerity of Phoenix. I like the curricula here at west. The classes are 8 weeks long. Yes, you do have to write papers but you also have test to take during the course so it doesn't feel like you have to write all the time. You're only required to make 3 post once a week (where as UoP you have to post 3 times a week with at least 8 post). The tuition is a lot cheaper than most online schools ($250 per credit. $350 per credit for graduates) and there are no hidden fees. Books are included in tuition. Also there are 3 live sessions during each course. I just started taking two classes at once here so I know it will be a challenge but I appreciate the education I am receiving here at west.

Terrible school and advisors are piss poor. Not all advisors but, one is terrible towards student. Teachers on campus are nice and helpful.

I started at WIU 5 years ago, I am currently finishing up a BS in Accounting. I have gained so much knowledge in this field that I can't even tell you. We are all adults here and we are given the tools to succeed. If you are not capable of managing your own education, I would say do not go to school online. If you feel that it's easy to cheat to get a good grade and you that, you are cheating yourself not the school. How can you get the information into your head if you are not willing to take the time for yourself to study and read? Call it a diploma mill if you want but, in this day and age, with the internet and many other technical resources, it's easy to cheat any school.

I graduated in 2007 with my AA in Business Administration from WIU. It was very expensive, but back in those days employers had no problem paying your full tuition, so the price did not bother me at that time. I never had to buy a book so I suppose if you calculate that into the equations it could have offset it some. I poured myself into this program...no socialization and being holed up to myself studying for through two summers as I recall. It did not matter if I had a new enrollment counselor because when I began my program was laid in in a specific sequence I was to follow until the end of the program so I had no use for one anyway; just followed the path. When I took this program, a lot of people were barely catching onto online learning and there was major stigma. On my resume and transcripts it does not list that this was an online program and in fact it has never came up or been questioned. Some classes I studied my arse off and the teacher was harsh on me and others were cake; it just depends. Overall, I would say the teachers were good teachers and they all followed the same format. In actuality though, it was weird. I thought I had signed up for University of Phoenix, but it turned out to be something like Argosy and half way through my program it was bought out by WIU. I was still happy with the end result. I learned a lot about business even though it was in the form of an AA. To the point I was looking at my managers and comparing what I learned to how they were conducting business and thinking to myself, "Does this guy even have a degree?" :-) As with anything, you get what you put into it.

I completed my Bachelors of Science in Business with honors at West. I read some of the prior negative reviews and feel those individuals were ill equipped for this university. The classes are accelerated and you must be ready for that experience. Specifically, working full time means you should only take one class at a time. The university has new leadership and I witnessed the difference as a student. There are scheduled hours for the professors for students to call in or schedule time. The quality of professors have also improved as they seem to hire more people with terminal degrees (Ph.D, DBA, JD) in addition to working in their respective field. I do recommend this school. I have continued on and I'm presently working on my MBA at West. If you're an adult and thinking about it, I recommend connecting on Linked In with individuals who have completed or are presently enrolled. West even has a mentor program to help others.

I am just finishing up my MBA with WIU and am shocked at the negative reviews I have read. I know when I started over a year ago they overhauled their classes. That could well be the reason I cannot relate to the negative experience some others claim to have had. I work full time and am a single parent. That being the case, I needed a quality program with a flexible schedule. That is exactly what I found with WIU. That is not to say I did not have to work hard because I did. With the typical 8 week class having five papers and three tests you have to put the time in to understand the subject to pass. That being said, I took many vacation days to finish an assignment and it was not rare for me to be working early in the morning and again late at night. Yes, the tests are inherently open book as they are with any online course. But they are also timed and questions often are not direct quotes so you have to understand the subject to get a superior grade. Also, the papers that make up the majority of your grade are definitely read with quality feedback provided via both in-text comments and audio files. Overall, I was very happy with my instructors. Were some better than others? Absolutely, as is the case with every program. I was also very happy with the curriculum and found myself implementing concepts on the job the week I learned them in class. Is there overlap between some of the classes? Absolutely, but reinforcement is a key part of the learning process. Plus, often the overlap is from a different point of view based on the focus of the specific class. Again, this only serves to reinforce the learning process.

I completed my degree in 90's. It was great school with good teachers. People who didn't want to learn complained about teachers. I had to spent a lot of evening hours in there and I am not sorry. If I had to do it I would over again. This University is for the winners only.

One of the reviewers here points out that the teaching staff overall are very good (I agree) I had maybe two or three bad ones; and one of them I'll give a break, as they were new. They also point out the support staff were more about the money than the support (I also agree). The other thing that was off putting was the constant pushing of a right wing agenda from the lecturers (especially in my later classes). I've no problem with people with left wing/right wing views, but your job as a lecturer is to present all views of an issue. We're at University and we're supposed to be using our critical thinking. So overall, Pros: it is a good Uni for working adults, due to the hours and schedule. And with some excellent lecturers. Cons: Overpriced (Thank God my company paid for it), sometimes you feel you're being preached to rather than taught. And as previously stated, don't expect much support, they're just interested in the $$$$. Still a better degree than UoP.

I graduated from this University in 2011. I have to admit that my experience was literally TOP NOTCH! I've read all of the reviews here and honestly -- if someone doesn't understand "redundancy" in curriculum, then maybe they're not as smart as they purport. Here's the deal. I've been in academia for 9 years now. WIU challenged me to think like an executive, to challenge the status quo, to be an independent thinker, better writer and more well-rounded future leader. I've been to other universities (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE) that can't hold a candle to WIU. Just remember that when you're reading these comments, that the people who are complaining are usually the ones who created their own unique situation. I'm PROUD of my degree and I know the truth behind these lies and bickering. I was with WIU for 4 years straight and NEVER had even ONE issue with billing, instruction, or anything in between. Surely in 2 years it could NOT have gone 180, not with their leadership and vision. Sorry folks. But if you want the truth, Go to this school, you'll thank yourself and me for pushing you in the right direction.

I was looking for an accredited university where I could work on a Masters degree while working. The format at WIU was just what I was looking for. Some people state they felt they did not get much from their time at WIU. But what I found was professors who not only taught the courses, but years and years of experience in the area they were teaching. They could relate the ideology of the subject to real application. The professors I had all had major accomplishments in their line of work. WIU may be no Harvard, but then I didn't matriculate at Harvard. Anything you do in life is what you put into it. WIU directed me as I put most of my all into each class. During my time at WIU and because of my time at WIU working with their professors I published my first article. Each writing assignment at the end of each class was applicable to my job. What I learned at WIU pushed me and directed me to do better. I highly recommend WIU if you are willing to put in the effort!

I graduated from this shool with an Associate in Information Systems. I am a very good student and had very good grades but I knew I did not learn a thing. I would have already completed my masters if I had continue with this school but I wanted education, not just degrees. I enrolled in an on-campus university and had to take all class over becuase this university has a weak accredition-and I can understand why. I just completed my B.Sc and feel better prepare for the workforce. I regret the huge debt I accumulate in vain but I'm now confident in my education.

This school misrepresented what would be covered by financial aid. I made it clear to both my enrollment and my acedemic counselor that I could not pay out of pocket costs for tuition and books, until after my education was completed. The school has a policy that once enrolled in a class for more than one week, full tuition is due, yet the fiancial aid counselor (debt collector is a better term) advised of a $1,000 deficency in funding 3 weeks into my class. This has caused a great deal of stress and concern relating to my financial lender and maintaining my 4.0 GPA as I seek out another university to attend. BTW, I have attended for a year and 1/2 and received money back from my financial aid until this year, so this was a total sideswipe, and I received no counseling or support when I filed a greivance concerning this issue. In fact, I was told they would be calling to collect on my current class if I were to not agree to pay the $1,000 out of pocket costs for the year. Buyer Beware!

Where do I start? I look back over the classes I completed, and think, what a waste. This was a sham if there ever was one. I started this degree because it had "Engineering" in the title, thinking this would be a technical/ engineering/ computer related degree. Not at all. One of the instructors even told us point-blank in one of the classes that this is not an engineering degree: you are not learning engineering. You are learning how to manage engineers. This is a management degree, not engineering. WHAT? Well, he was right. Check the accreditation: institutions offering engineering degrees are accredited through ABET. WIU is not ABET accredited. Add to that that problem that the instructors are full of themselves and can't be bothered to talk to their students unless they are being recorded in online sessions. In homework, I continually had 1-2 points deducted for "APA Format". I sent my papers to the writing lab and had it professionally reviewed to try to figure out what I did, but received the same comment every time. I think it was just a standard comment to make it look like they graded the paper instead of actually having to grade it. Other issues included administration enrolling me in a classes in person...400 miles away. I had to enroll in another class quickly each time to not have to wait an entire semester to take another class. Each time I lost an entire week's worth of credit for homework because no instructor would not accept late work, even though they accepted me into the class a week late. In one instance, I was enrolled in another in person class, lost the credit from the first week, then administration "accidentally" dropped me from the online class at the start of the last week because they FINALLY found the ticket/ complaint/ comment about being enrolled in class in person. They scrambled to fix the mistakes, but didn't re-enroll me into the class until after the last day of class, which meant the instructor would NOT take the last week's assignments either! Because of the administration's mistakes I received 0 for 2 weeks worth of work. Since classes are only 8 weeks, that's 25% of my grade lost because of "administrative error". Billing was the biggest stressor, as I received past due bills time and time again after I paid my account in full. They placed holds on my account, overcharged me for every class, and a couple of times even double charged me for the same class! Because of the financial holds, I could not apply for scholarships or funding because they wouldn't send out transcripts! I fought with the financial advisor weekly, when I could reach them, and they did nothing. I assume this is because they already had my credit card number for automatic payment. Even after I requested they stop auto-payment, they continued, and the problems continued. I finally took a friend's advice and cancelled my credit card. Suddenly, the finance department was more helpful...But didn't really resolve any of my issues. I left this program 5 classes in, and my academic advisor was shocked. I had excellent grades, and was a stellar student, but I just couldn't see taking one more day's worth of fights with instructors and the finance office. OH BEST PART!!!! All of the universities I applied to that evaluated classes from here rejected them as possible sources of credit because they are not good for anything, including MBA, IT, or any other type of class credit anywhere else. That's quality education for you.

I went into this school headfirst. It was the only school with the degree that I wanted. I was put off by the insane tuition because I had my goals in sight. $455 a credit is excessive for an unheard of online school that has connections to University of Phoenix no less. At the time I enrolled, there were no reviews online for me to research. The enrollment staff were very kind as they all tend to be. Customer service I have never had an issue with. However, If I can float through an online class without ever reading the book or listening in on lectures, at all, and acheive a 4.0, I think we might have a diploma mill on our hands here. In one class in particular, I was so uninterested and was forced to take it because it was part of their "core knowledge" classes, that I would turn my computer on and log into the class to receive the credit for being there then I would turn the volume off for the entire 2 1/2 hours. Then on the weekly test I would use the control find feature in the ebook to get the answers. Is this slacking and taking advantage of the system? I guess so. I figured that I was doing all these general ed classes that werent necessary to my degree in any shape or form. This is all after I completed an Associates, so all of these classes I have taken before. Needless to say I received a 4.0 in the class. Yes yes, you get what you put into it. But Im not putting into one redundant class after another that is costing me $1500 each time. I have completed one semester, 4 classes and Im not even close to taking a class that is in the cirriculum that I opted for, Criminal Behavior. There are 20 classes to your 7 core classes. Can we say cash cow? Instead, I leave to avoid further debt for absolutely no return. Have I learned a lesson? Yes. And that is that there is little hope left in our contries education system. Unless you go to a campus university, your not going to learn one useful, valuable thing that will prepare you for your field or real life. We all go to online school to simple get that piece of paper that tells people that we are educated. When we really aren't. Im sure some of you may think this is pessimistic or Im just a lazy student. On the contrary. I am a smart person that expects an intellectual challenge worth my $1500. As I research another online school, I am not turning anything up that will fit that requirement. All of my searches are in vain and I know that I will be cheating myself once again if I enroll in another fly by night university. So my advice to those considering this school, or some other for profit university; Assess what it is your really looking for. If you want a piece of paper without a solid education, to flag around in interviews in hopes the interviewer will be impressed, by all means enroll here. If you want a substantial education with tools and skills that will enrich your life and your future career field, forget about the online for profit schools.

While instructors are generally good, academic support in form of academic or financial advisers is horrible. You have to call and email them endlessly without any response. Once I got a response after 2 month of trying to contact them; the second time the person I was trying to reach had quit but still had a valid email address, voice mail greeting and was listed as my adviser online. I was only taken care of after calling WIU president.

I love WIU!! This school is taylored for the working ADULT. I'm past high school and just want my degree so that i can take the next step in my career. I'm not looking to play college sports or join the student counsel. I'm past all that in my life, even at 25 it seems kind of silly (no offense to any 25 year old cheerleaders out there) I like WIU because I drive my success. I'm not obligated to quarterly meetings with my counselors. I'm an independent learner and am able to complete my studies in my own time. I will say that the lower division courses are kind of "blah." Once I got into my upper division course work the whole atmosphere changed. The online courses are highly interactive as are the assignments. In one class my instructor had us visit a local museum and with students all over the world the presentations were amazing! Sometimes there are technical hang ups but i've not had a single instructor that I didn't like, yet its been challenging and highly useful for my field. I've been to traditional schools including ASU, Phx Community College, and GCC campuses and WIU is the one i've liked the best so far!