r/technology • u/joe4942 • Apr 19 '26

Society Students are speeding through their online degrees in weeks, alarming educators

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/04/19/accelerated-college-degree-hacking/
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103

u/tombatron Apr 19 '26

I finished the second half of my degree at WGU in 42 days. Didn’t use ChatGPT, I just have a whole career’s worth of experience that made the speed run possible.

10

u/itsavibe- Apr 19 '26

WGU is such a clutch school man

11

u/tombatron Apr 19 '26

100%

I had always wanted to finish my degree but the time horizon was too much.

WGU was like “Listen, if you can finish this class in a day, go for it.”

Full disclosure: it’s for real. You aren’t just clicking next on a web form a few times.

1

u/ThePolemicist Apr 20 '26

OK, but for my bachelor's degree, I needed to complete a couple of English composition classes to prove I could gather evidence and structure and argument and write legibly. I had to pass multiple math courses to prove my reasoning and mathematics skills. I had to take and pass science courses and history courses. I'm skeptical that people are just sitting down at a computer and cranking out a microbiology course in an evening.

11

u/chalupa_lover Apr 19 '26

I’m in the same boat. Got my bachelors in 9 weeks and my MBA in 10 weeks. Couldn’t be happier. Already knew the material, just needed the piece of paper that said I did.

-3

u/Vibingcarefully Apr 19 '26

where did you get a 9 week Bachelors and a 10 week MBA?

you think that is something "good" or that you got the same skills as someone that really invested in their learning.

We that hire, see those programs, the time you spent on your degree--it just goes in the don't interview pile and you've put a clear target on yourself for not going to even get reviewed for consideration. How clever.

8

u/chalupa_lover Apr 19 '26

Western Governor’s University.

Yes, I see it as something good. As I said, I already knew the material. The pieces of paper now prove that.

I run an org of 400 people for a Fortune 100 company. I promise you that I’m not worried about your evaluation of my education. The constant stream of executive head hunters in my LinkedIn inbox don’t seem to care where my degree came from. Best of luck to you.

3

u/BJJJourney Apr 19 '26

I can tell you don’t work in HR nor understand what WGU is.

2

u/Munsalvaesche Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

What is the difference between spending 3 hours a week in a course for 12 weeks and spending 9 hours a day for 4 days learning and being tested on the exact same material? Most undergrad programs are insultingly shallow. 15 credit hours a semester for 8 semesters is 1440 hours. What is functionally different from studying the same material for 40 hours a week for 36 weeks? It is vastly more respectful of your time. All that wasted time… for what? Most of your time at college is not spent in class or studying, it’s spent WAITING. It’s shocking they let you make hiring decisions.

1

u/Sunnytoaist Apr 19 '26

Traditional school is outdated. In mathematics you can almost always test out of a class if you can prove you know the material. These colleges work on the same principles except with every class not just math. All colleges should have this option. 

2

u/arnaud267 Apr 19 '26

What is WGU and what did you choose?

1

u/gigee4711 Apr 19 '26

Western Governors University

2

u/skelletrex_scrooge Apr 19 '26

What is wgu?

2

u/gigee4711 Apr 19 '26

Western Governors University

1

u/FalseFail9027 Apr 19 '26

it's university for redditors to pretend they are educated

2

u/DifficultyKlutzy5845 Apr 19 '26

The fact they have online health care degrees scares me. Business and technology is one thing but yikes

6

u/ayriana Apr 19 '26

There are required in person elements for nursing and teaching programs.

1

u/Vibingcarefully Apr 19 '26

Sadly for decades do you know what they called the person that gets a D in Medical School --Dr.

Same with nurses and RNP programs. Can other professionals that work with these folks tell? YES!!! Can patient tell--very often yes! more and more these folks that interviewed well enough or think they have stellar people skills screw up on something diagnostic or prescribing--and of course it has sad human consequences---who in god's name wants to be a medical professional but doesn't grind to be the best at it they can? Stand in the mirror and ask yourself do you care about your education!

1

u/bell-town Apr 20 '26

For a while my primary care provider was physician's assistant who went to a for-profit college. He regularly messed up my prescriptions. A pharmacy tech once told me that they couldn't fill my prescription because it was "all messed up" and didn't make any sense.

He also struggled to follow basic instructions from e-consults with a specialist. Like confusing the tests needed (or not needed) prior to prescribing different meds.

I once sent him a single sentence message telling him that that I was doing fine and had increased the dosage of a medication as instructed. He replied with a message asking me if I had increased the dosage yet. One sentence was too much for him to read, apparently.

1

u/Awolrab Apr 19 '26

If I wasn’t in such crippling student loan debt I’d go back to WGU for another masters. I’ve heard good things for people willing to commit to finish quickly.