Tag Archives: online school

No Reason to Cry Foul, Texas

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Oh, Chris. Is Texas up to something here? So all of us here in the pseudo-webicised-sans-classroom-rebel-academia have been watching what you crazy Texans and your crazy Texan governor have been doing, saddling up your ponies with Western Governors University and all, but just this last Friday that relationship just got waaay more interesting.

And political?

Ok, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Gotcha. But even Texas Chris will have to admit that this does seem a little fishy. Especially the timing of it. So what is the great “it” I keep referring to? If you’d rather skip over the psychic pronoun inference game and find out the old-fashioned-read-it-yourself way, here goes:

In 1997, the Governors of several states banded together to form a new type of educational opportunity for the hard-working men and women under their jurisdiction. After all, these people deserve a chance to learn anything they want to, even if they are over 18 and already have full-time jobs. So we’re all agreed there, right? Good. Moving forward, over the last decade-plus, Western Governors University has grown and thrived. Several states-Texas included-have teamed up with this campus-free college to help incentivize the perception of this University with their state’s general populous.

Cool, right? Sure.

Up until last Friday. Now Bill Gates (who is rich, if you didn’t know), and his wife have always been big supporters of WGU. Ok, right on. Texas Governor Rick Perry announced last month that he’s running for President…um…ok, right on. Last Friday, Bill Gates made a donation worth over $4 million to Perry-sponsored WGU-Texas. Many are starting to speculate that this is Gates trying to endear himself to Perry who is starting to look more and more like a potential future White House-ian. This is only speculation.

The reality is that Western Governors University is a great school, and the type of support that this institute has received from the community should be embraced. Don’t start jumping to conclusions about something like this.

People today are always excited about a scandal. Here’s the thing: That mentality could be getting in your way. If someone like Bill Gates is going out of his way to support something as taboo as an Online-Only University, we should all be taking notice. If I was on the fence about studying over the good ol’ inter-webz, this type of thing may be what it takes to help me make the call and go for it.

Don’t worry about what people are saying. If you can earn an education and use it to meet your goals, why wouldn’t you? Who cares if it’s online or in a community college or even involves one of those dreaded liberal art schools. In the long run, you’ll be glad you did. Isn’t that what making the right decision is really all about?

-Amanda Sullinger

To applaud, ask or argue, you can reach me here.

Another Win For Online Education

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You know, after being involved with what’s going on in academia for the last six hundred, forty-seven years or so, I never did think I’d see the day when people could earn a degree without ever stepping into a classroom. Of course, I was wrong. Now I know that may come as quite the surprise to most of you, especially if you know anything about us here in Texas, but it’s the truth…but I digress.

All the way back in 1997, a handful of Governors from out here on the good side of the country got together and started up one of these schools without campuses where folks could earn degrees over the internet. That particular institution was called Western Governors University. The great state of Texas has always been heavily involved with Western Governors University and has even gone so far as to start up their own branch of the school (WGU-Texas) for hard-working Texans to have a little bit more opportunity.

WGU-Texas was the result of an initiative that our trusty Governor Rick Perry set up for us, but lots of folks from around the country are starting to get skeptical about it. Why? Because not real long ago, Governor Rick announced that he was going to run to become President Rick. Then on Friday, Bill Gates and his wife made a four and a half million dollar donation to Western Governors U. Lots of people are saying that’s Bill’s way of trying to cozy up to the good Governor in case he becomes the good President. Now me? I’m not so sure.

In fact, I really didn’t know what to think when I heard about this. Now obviously, these Gates-grants are great for folks who study at WGU. I mean, these are the types of gifts that help to keep tuition rates down and make it possible for lots of folks out there to even have a chance to participate in this school. But on the other hand, what if this was some sort of political move to help Bill and his Microsoft Army find some favor from up around the White House? I had to do a little bit of research.

It turns out that Bill has actually been a big-time supporter of Western Governors U since the beginning. In fact, Bill Gates helped front the money that got the school off the ground. I think that right now what people should be more focused on here is the benefit of what’s happening. Now if it seems too good to be true, hey, they say it probably is. This time, though, I don’t think anything is quite out of line. I think that right now is just the time to get involved if you’ve been thinking about getting back in school. Maybe it’s just me but if Bill Gates wanted to buy some smiles from the Washington where he doesn’t live, couldn’t he afford to buy off some folks who already have offices there?

-Christopher Wurley

Don’t beat around the bush. Tell it to me straight!