Is University of Maine at Presque Isle or Western Governors University Better to Graduate FAST?
At College Hacked, we think competency-based college is amazing, and two of the best options are University of Maine at Presque Isle and Western Governors University.
Both schools charge a lump sum for a time period in which you earn as many credits as you have time for. You go through course content, watch videos, and read textbooks. When you’re done, you do one final exam or project, and pass or fail based on that single assignment.
Adult learners love this because there are no deadlines. You simply work when you are able to, and the harder you work, the more credits you earn. We’ve heard of people graduating WGU in well under 12 months or earning 42 UMPI credits in just 8 weeks.
At College Hacked, we coach a lot of people who are debating between WGU and UMPI. Today we’re going to compare them in different categories so you can make up your own mind. At the end of reading this, if you want to graduate quickly and inexpensively at either of these colleges, sign up for a consultation with us. We usually save our clients over $40,000 and 2-3 years of their lives.
We’ll talk about 11 different aspects of each school, and I will declare a “winner” for each. Let’s start with cost.
1. COST: WGU
WGU costs between $3,900-$4,500 for 6 months, depending on the degree plan you choose. UMPI costs a flat rate of $1,700 for 8 weeks. Essentially, WGU costs $21/day and UMPI costs $30/day, so WGU is a better deal.
2. TERM LENGTH: UMPI
Of course, an 8-week term at UMPI is better than the 6-month term at WGU. Plus, if you have a ton of transfer credits and only need a few courses at the school, UMPI will be cheaper. This is because you might only need one or two terms, so you won’t be locked into spending a full $3,900.
Metaphorically speaking, WGU is Costco. You can buy toothbrushes in bulk at a lower price. But if you only need one toothbrush, UMPI is the better option.
3. FINALS: UMPI
UMPI’s courses are nearly all project-based. The projects might be a paper or a recorded presentation, and the exams aren’t proctored, so they are functionally open-book.
On the other hand, WGU seems to have a higher number of final exams, and they are all proctored. One of the biggest complaints about WGU is that these proctored exams are a hassle to schedule. As a result, UMPI has a better final assessment process.
4. DEGREE CHOICE: WGU
WGU offers 25+ different bachelor’s degrees. They have business degrees, which are standard. They’ve got education degrees, which are popular. And they have some real money-makers in IT and healthcare. Essentially, if you want to make money, WGU has what you need.
UMPI, on the other hand, only offers 22 degrees. While they do have a large, growing selection of liberal arts degrees, they don’t have computer science or healthcare degrees like WGU does.
All in all, WGU has a more thorough degree selection.
5. DEGREE FLEXIBILITY: UMPI
On the other hand, UMPI has more flexibility in their degrees. One of WGU’s greatest weaknesses is that they don’t offer free electives. This makes it harder to transfer credits in.
However, all of UMPI’s degrees have free elective space. For instance, their Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree can have as many as 62 free elective credits. It is the most transfer-friendly and flexible degree I’ve ever seen!
6. ALTERNATIVE CREDIT FRIENDLINESS: BOTH
Both WGU and UMPI accept plenty of alternative credits like CLEP tests, Sophia Learning, and the rest. WGU is a little more open about which ones they accept, and their equivalencies are easier to find and use than UMPI’s (except for CLEP, which they sometimes seem to ignore).
But the big difference is that once you’re enrolled at WGU, they won’t accept any more transfer credits. At UMPI, you can keep transferring until you graduate. But if you plan in advance correctly, it doesn’t make a difference, so I’m calling this a tie.
7. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: UMPI
This category is easy. UMPI takes international students; WGU doesn’t. So if you’re an international student, you’ve got an easy decision.
If you’re an international student in need of a healthcare or computer degree, you might also consider Purdue University Global.
8. AGE RANGE: WGU
This category is another easy pick. UMPI’s online program only accepts students aged 20 and older while WGU has no limit.
9. ACCREDITATION: BOTH
Both schools are regionally accredited, and both degrees are completely legitimate. Points for everyone!
10. GPA: UMPI
Another one of WGU’s eccentricities is that they don’t provide a GPA. Every class is pass or fail. This means that if you want to get a master’s degree somewhere that requires a GPA (which many do), choosing WGU isn’t a good move. Your chosen grad school might have a workaround, but not earning a GPA in undergrad is very strange.
I personally think the whole idea of receiving (and therefore, worrying about) a GPA is kind of silly, but it’s the world we live in. As a result, UMPI gets the point.
11. STUDENT EXPERIENCE: NEITHER
Spoiler alert: I’m not going to assign a point here because it’s too subjective.
I will say that UMPI is tiny while WGU is huge--we’re talking 1,500 students compared to 150,000. Due to this, I’d expect more personalized attention at UMPI and a slightly smoother process at WGU. Reviews for either school are easy to find. Naturally, you’ll find people who hate both and people who love both. So much of student experience depends on your own personal expectations and needs, so I’m not giving anyone points.
Time to total the points!
UMPI: 7 (winner) WGU: 5
Let me wrap this up with a rule of thumb recommendation: If you’re an American who needs a tech, healthcare, or teaching degree, pick WGU. If you need a business or Humanities degree or have a bunch of transfer credits or want to graduate super, super fast, I’d choose UMPI. You get to make the call, but if you want more help making that call, you can always sign up for a consultation with the College Hacked team.
