Best Computer Science degree?

[Merlin]

I agree... still, there's something about them that I can't put my finger on.  It doesn't help that I haven't found any great reviews of their CS program. A lot of people are like "well, I got the paper, and I was able to do it in less than a year... "  Happy to have my mind changed though.

People like to brag about how fast they can complete degrees. Most of the people making those posts are people who already have experience in their field and are coming back to complete the degree as quickly as possible. Since WGU is a competency-based school, this allows those people to move very quickly through their degree programs. However, that doesn't really speak to the quality of the program since those people are not there to learn, they're there to complete the degree quickly and spend as little time as possible on new material. I know this because I did the same thing in my WGU degree. However, less than 2% of the WGU student body are accelerators (at least according to my academic mentor), so the majority of the people are taking a lot longer to complete their degrees. They just don't post to brag as much as the accelerators, which gives people a false impression of the WGU programs.

The WGU IT degrees, of which CS is one, generally have a pretty good reputation in the workforce. Particularly given they include industry certifications in addition to just passing the courses. Those certifications hold more value to some employers than any degree since they are a known quantity.

In terms of validity, I think WGU is the only university that has gained regional accreditation in four different regions simultaneously. WGU has also earned ACBSP, CAEP, CAHIIM, CCNE, NWCCU, and NCATE programmatic accreditation across their various degree programs. I am told that they are also working on getting ABET programmatic accreditation for their Computer Science program.

In any case, you may not like the approach the school takes, but WGU is not a degree mill by any definition. It is a legitimate higher learning institution that caters to working adult students who wish to go back to school to complete a degree. They do so by showing mastery of the various competencies that make up each degree rather than spending time in lecture halls. WGU is also one of the least expensive regionally accredited colleges, which allows people to pursue an education that might not otherwise have the financial capability to do so. It isn't for everyone though. People who are not good at self-directed study or who require handholding will not be successful at WGU and will be better off in a more traditional 4-year institution.