Complaint Review: Western Governors University

Western Governors University (WGU) has retained the services of a testing company called ProctorU. Upon connecting to ProctorU from your computer, the proctor installs a secure web browser, and monitors your test via a webcam which is also equipped with a microphone.

Twice during my last three exams I have experienced technical difficulties though no fault of my own or my computers. During the first issue, WGU authorized the wrong exam. After waiting 1.5 hours, WGU and ProctorU were able to locate and load my test.

My second experience occurred on 6/14/2014. This time the test loaded, but I was unable to continue taking the exam. I experienced "technical issues". These issues included a "404" error message, server busy, and "technical difficulties dialog screen". In all three instances, my exam was unavailable. My proctor and her supervisor could not collectively resolve the issue. Though ProtorU attempted to contact WGU to discuss a work-around, nobody at WGU was available. This process took 2 hours and 45 minutes without resolving the problem or obtaining a work-around.

Students pay for a positive learning experience when they attend college. What they receive when they attend WGU are constant delays, requests to reschedule and retake exam(s) from the beginning and a barrage of e-mails that dictate school policy. My last e-mail received from WGU contained the verbiage "Do you want to argue or graduate".

ProctorU also conveyed to me that they monitor the exams for over 500 universities. The problems I have experienced are all originating from WGU solely.

During the past six months, I have been accused of cheating, have had to retake exams twice due to technical difficulties, have received harassing e-mails from the person responsible for testing and receive frequent calls at work. These persistent problems have caused my classes to over-lap into the next semester, have wasted many weekends preparing for exams I did not have the ability to complete and has caused more anxiety than I can handle. As a result of lost time, I have also lost money. Had I had the ability to finish these courses as scheduled, I would have graduated six months ago. This resulted in higher tuition costs.

I have screen shots of these errors, many e-mails from the school and the complete chat dialog's from ProctorU. After performing a "Google" search on these issues, I discovered many students are experiencing the same issues, I am prepared to initiate a class action lawsuit against the school.

Sasha, Canyon Country Ca.