University of Wisconsin has a self-paced, competency-based program

[RbxFunRocks]

I looked for some info about the UW Flex programs. Here's what I was able to find:

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Source - https://www.reddit.com/r/UWMilwaukee/com...ree_audit/

This Reddit post includes a comment that talks about a student's experience with the IT degree program. This is what the comment says:

No, no degree prior. Started with 0 college credits. The coursework was not challenging but this was not an issue for me as my motivation was to just have a degree from a mid-tier school as quickly as possible. The Information studies / IT courses don’t really have any real-world applicability but I guess most of college is this way - I just felt this way because I’m already an experienced IT professional and I would look at the coursework and be like seriously? What made it challenging was my quest to finish it in 12 months at the pace of 30 credits (10 courses) per 3 month term. I did end up accomplishing this. This required a lot of discipline - 4-6 hours a day during the week and 8 hours a day every weekend plus some all nighters towards the end of the term is what it takes to maintain that pace. Once you’re done with the Information Studies courses...it tends to get boring because for most of the general ED stuff you’re just mostly writing papers. A skill that will come in handy is quickly figuring out which of the supplied material is relevant and which is not. If you read through all the material, then maintaining pace becomes difficult. Had some issues with some of my stuff not being graded on time throwing my schedule off. A slower pace to aim for is one course every two weeks....this is doable for at least 70% of the courses if not more if you put in the time. I learned more about staying committed to a long-term project (I have a very short attention span and known to not complete projects once they are no longer mentally stimulating) then I did anything from the coursework itself.

Good luck on your journey!

tl;dr

• The gen ed has a lot of writing
  
• It takes time for the teachers to grade
  
• A reasonable expectation is one course every two weeks (w/ 4-6 hrs weekdays & 8 hrs weekends)
  

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Source - https://www.reddit.com/r/college/comment...degree_in/

This student transferred out of UW Flex, having had a bad experience.

I was in the UW-Flex program but transferred to the regular UWM online program after a year. I don’t recommend going the flex path. One main reason is that your discouraged from asking the instructors questions, even though the program advertises you can. Good luck getting a response without your advisor. Half the time you don’t know who your instructor is. I’m much happier in the traditional courses. Flex wasn’t worth the stress. UWM’s SOIS is a notable school, and I couldn’t be happier with the IST degree through the traditional learning method.

Most assignments are out of a max of 5 or 10 points. You have to pass each competency set within the course. If you fail an assignment, you have a second chance to redo it. If you can’t bring that assignment up to a passing grade, you will fail the class. Even if you get a 100% on all other assignments, you will fail. There is no averaging. Each class is setup different, but this is the general gist on grading. It’s not as scary as it sounds if you put in a full effort for each assignment. However, instructors tend to grade more strictly. It would be scary if your the type of learner who only puts in enough effort to scrape by. The “D’s get degrees” motto doesn’t work in the flex scenario.

tl;dr

• Lack of instructor responsiveness
  
• 2nd chance for assignments, but must pass. You'll fail the entire class if you fail the assignment (even if you get 100% on every other one).
  
• Competencies within courses
  

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Source - https://www.reddit.com/r/UWMilwaukee/com...le_option/

It looks like there was a much more in-depth comment under this Reddit post. It's gone, but at least the reply includes some specific info about the UW Flex classes.

Thanks for your comment! Im about to finish up my first subscription, and goodness gracious you werent kidding about the essays. I knew there'd be a lot of writing but some classes have 5-6 competency sets which is sooooo tedious. Which degree did you go for if you dont mind me asking?

tl;dr

• You have to do a lot of writing
  
• Some classes have 5-6 competencies
  

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Overall, from the looks of it, it appears that most students do not have many great experiences with these programs. It could also be that students w/ good experiences don't care enough to post much about them. Still, I'd tread with caution if anyone is considering applying.

There might be (and probably is) some more reviews out there, but I haven't been able to find much else.