WGU Layoffs

[GizmoJack]

I just spoke to Audrey, the manager in Graduate Studies at WGU & she verified that actual humans grade the papers. She also confirmed a human mentor will always be available. She said 160 staff members were laid off, amongst 1000's of employees.

Thanks for making the call collegechick. This sounds more credible than an A.I. conspiracy theory post on a chat forum. Could A.I. grading of papers happen? Sure, anything's possible. Would the school attempt to hide this from the public? Probably not a good PR move. 

While the general sense is WGU could have handled the communication of staff layoffs better, it doesn't sway my opinion of the school in the least. I would rather administrators furlow 160 excess staff members vs keeping bloated departments and raising tuition higher for all students. 

Colleges, just like many other businesses have had to make tough choices to adjust to the economic fallout of 2020. In March TESU significantly reduced the number of non-RA credits they would accept. This was a huge tuition hike but they did what they had to do. 

WGU is raising tuition this year after about 5 years of little to no increases and is STILL one of the lowest cost schools in the country. Yes, I am a recent graduate who believes 
WGU is a great school. I would recommend them to anyone. I write this note in hopes of balancing the conversation in this thread for those seeking information before they make decisions.