WGU IT Data Management Degree Plan

Degree Plan

Here is a Degree plan for Western Governors University (WGU) as of approximately June of 2023. Please make sure that the suggestions are still valid before beginning to follow this plan.

The alternative credit courses were handpicked using experience from previous students as to what courses will be the easiest and quickest courses to take. In places with multiple courses listed, the first course is assumed to be the fastest/easiest course to take.

Doing Certifications at WGU vs Transferring Them In

Certifications are free at WGU, so it's optional if you want to pay the fees to transfer in certifications.

You would want to do certifications outside WGU if:

• You wanted to maximize the 90 credits of transfer credits
• You were trying to do a WGU degree in 1 term or few terms as possible

Tips on Order in Which to Complete Courses

Start with Sophia, do English Composition first. Unfortunately, Sophia only allows 2 courses open at one time, so after you start English Comp, do a course that doesn't have any touchstones (written assignments). Once done with Sophia, start doing Study.com courses.

How Long Will It Take To Complete This Degree Once I Finish All the Alterative Credits?

How long to complete depends on various factors such as experience, time commitment, the efficiency of studying, etc. However, considering you spend at least 20 hours a week on your studies, completing this degree should take 1-2 terms. 

Source of Credit

This degree plan was made using this source to map out all the alternative credits.

https://partners.wgu.edu/

Sophia ACE Guide

Study.com ACE Guide

General Education Requirements

Course	Competency Units Value	Course Provider	Course Name	WGU Credit
Composition: Writing with a Strategy	3	Sophia	English Composition I	3
Critical Thinking and Logic	3	Sophia	Critical Thinking	3
Technical Communication	3	Study.com	English 305: Advanced Technical Writing	3
Introduction to Communication	3	Sophia	Pubic Speaking, Workplace Communication, Business Communication	3
Introduction to Humanities	3	Sophia	Visual Communications (Lots of other options from Sophia)	3
Ethics in Technology	3
American Politics and the US Constitution	3	Sophia	U.S. Government	3
Introduction to Geography	3	Sophia	US History II (Lots of other options from Sophia)	3
Applied Algebra	3	Sophia	College Algebra	3
Applied Probability and Statistics	3	Sophia	Introduction to Statistics	3
Integrated Physical Sciences	3	Sophia	Environmental Science	3
Natural Science Lab	2	Sophia	Human Biology Lab, Introduction to Chemistry Lab, Microbiology Lab	2
Totals	35			32

Core Courses

Course	Competency Units Value	Course Provider	Course Name	WGU Credit
Introduction to IT	4	Sophia	Introduction to Information Technology	4
Data Management - Foundations	3	Study.com or Sophia	Computer Science 107: Database Fundamentals, Introduction to Relational Databases	3
Network and Security - Foundations	3	Study.com	Computer Science 108: Introduction to Networking	3
Scripting and Programming - Foundations	3	Study.com	Computer Science 109: Introduction to Programming, or Computer Science 115: Programming in Java,	3
Web Development Foundations	3	Sophia	Introduction to Web Development	3
Business of IT - Applications	4	ITIL	ITIL Foundations Cert	4
Totals	20			20

Additional Courses

Course	Competency Units Value	Course Provider	Course Name	WGU Credit
Data Management - Applications	4	Study.com	Computer Science 204: Database Programming	4
Advanced Data Management	3	Study.com	Computer Science 303: Database Management	3
Data Systems Administration	3
Scripting and Programming - Applications	4
Data Structures and Algorithms	4	Study.com	Computer Science 201: Data Structures & Algorithms (Take Java first since the assignment is in Java)	4
Introduction to Programming in Python	3	uDacity or Sophia	uDacity Data Analytics Nano degree or Intro to Python	3
Business of IT - Project Management	4	Sophia	Project Management	4
Introduction to Spreadsheets	1
Data and Information Governance	2
IT Leadership Foundations	3	Sophia	Principles of Management	3
Networks	4
Introduction to Data Science	4	uDacity	uDacity Data Analytics Nano Degree or uDacity Intro to Machine Learning	4
Data Wrangling	3	uDacity	uDacity Data Analytics Nano Degree or uDacity Intro to Machine Learning	3
Data Analysis with R	2	uDacity	uDacity Data Analytics Nano Degree or uDacity Intro to Machine Learning	2
Machine Learning	3	uDacity	uDacity Data Analytics Nano Degree or uDacity Intro to Machine Learning	3
Data Visualization	2	uDacity	uDacity Data Analytics Nano Degree or uDacity Intro to Machine Learning	2
Data Analytics	4
IT Foundations	4	CompTIA	CompTIA A+	4
IT Applications	4	CompTIA	CompTIA A+	4
Total	61			43

Non-Transferable Courses

Course	Competency Units Value	Course Provider	Course Name	WGU Credit
Data Management Capstone	4
Version Control	1
Totals	5			0

Total Transfer Credit

Course	Competency Units Value	Course Provider	Course Name	WGU Transfer Credit (Max 90cr)
General Education Requirements	35			32
Core Courses	20			20
Additional Courses	61			43
Non-Transferable Courses	5			0
Total	121			95

*To copy this degree plan, hold down left mouse button, drag to select tables, then copy/paste (CTR+C/CTR+P) to Sheets or Excel.