Frankly, I love the WGU competency-model - but I'm in the school of business so I really don't know very much about the new healthcare programs. If you haven't done so, download and read the PDF program guide for health education:

http://www.wgu.edu/ wgu/prog_guide?MS_HEDU.pdf

which should answer most of your questions.

While this program guide uses a 5-term model, 2 1/2 years to completion, please note that this is based on the minimum  of 8 credits per term. Realistically, you can complete all the requirements for graduation significantly quicker than that if you stick can with your study schedule religiously.  How much?  That's in direct proportion to how much time and effort you put into it, and how much of that time is real 'quality' study time with as few interruptions as possible, and when you aren't completely exhausted or distracted.  Sounds like a slam dunk, but it ain't!  For example, a little bit each day is much more productive than letting it pile up until the weekend and pretending that marathon sessions are going to make up for the loss  However, keep in mind that this is graduate school, so it's going to be pretty demanding - a lot of reading, a lot of mental processing, a lot of writing - and you're going to NEED at least one day a week away from it to break the monotony and recouperate!

I think most students at WGU will quickly mention the invaluable help, enouragement, and support you get from your mentor! Unlike other distance learning schools, you're getting contact one-on-one from people who have 'been there, done that' not the first *** with a degree who happens by and is primarily looking for a quick and easy second income.  As far as I know, all the mentors at WGU are putting in a solid  30-40 hours every week with their mentees.  Initially, you'll start with bi-weekly telephone calls and gradually shift into alternative those with e-mail, but your actual mileage may vary; I don't think I've had one that was less than 20-25 minutes or less than 2 pages.  On top of this, you've always got the various online forums 24/7 and your course facilitators and instructors.  I've never had to wait more than a few hours for a reply, and in most instances everything has been resolved with that first reply  

Again, I can't speak for healthcare, but I'm pretty sure the textbooks are outrageously overpriced there as they certainly are in the other disciplines - but, you can save a small fortune buying them used from other students (a bit of a problem since these are new programs) or preferrably used bookstores.  Generally, though, WGU does not overload you with a lot of expensive textbooks you don't need or won't use.

At these prices for tuition and fees, I'm paying out of my own pocket  So I wouldn't know anything about how efficient they are with financial aid - I really haven't heard any horror stories on the student forums about it, so I'm assuming they do a good job.