I am looking into one of the IT degrees from WGU.  The website says if you have some of the certifications already, you can save money.  My question to you guys(I will ask a rep from the school this also, but feel they are simply a salesman and would prefer another opinion as well)...is would I benefit from getting ALL of the certs on my own?  I wonder if it would save me money and time...most likely I would save at least money.  I am unsure as to if the program teaches you what you need to know to pass the certs, or just tells your to go get them and move on with other course work.  Any insight would be appreciated.  I expect Cajun and Steve to reply...as they seem to troll the forums haha.  You guys run the show here or just overly helpful?

You expect right.  Steve and I are moderators so we're here often, lucky for you

Anyhow to answer your question, I don't think WGU will teach you how to pass a certification but will accept a certification as proof of competency.  I think it might be good to knock out as many as you can before entering the program only if you get some form of acknowledgement from the university that they will give you credit for those certs.  Be specific.  Ask them how long you can have the cert for and it still be considered valid, ie does it have to be less than 3 years old.  Ask them how many credits will transfer in from each cert... ie a gettin 2 credit hours to try and fill a 3 hour class isn't much help.  Ask them the maximum credit transfer from certs will apply towards the degree.  Lastly make sure you know which certs they will accept.  MCSE? Project+? Security+? CISSP? CCNA? etc. 

Then check witht the certification vendors to make sure you qualify to attempt the exam.  For example a PMP requires a BS and 4,500 hours of experience in project management for not less than I think 18 months and 30 contact hours of training.  That's a pretty strict requirement.  You can attempt it with less than a BS but the hours and months of requisite experience go up.

Cajun's said it all.  Do the checking he suggested, and then so long as WGU doesn't have a restriction on how many you can "transfer in", go nuts and get all the ones you can use.  Especially since unlike a degree, you can put certs on your resume right away.

-=Steve=-

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress

Haha..thanks again guys.  Who needs a whole forum of users with two mods like yourselves.  Think I'm pretty golden from here on out.  Now it's my turn to do the hard work and contact WGU and look into as you said, how many certs I can transfer over and be worth while.  On a side note, I googled WGU forums and a member on another thread / site said bc of all his experience and certs that transfer over he expects to sign up and have a BS in about 3 months.  Sounds like a good deal if he accomplishes it.  Again, thanks for the help. 

Maybe, that is if WGU does not have a minimum enrollment period, which I believe most schools do.  Thanks for the compliment BTW.