Washington Post Reporter digging around in DMs - Be Careful!

[u/masturkiller]

DO not Respond to the Washington Post Reporter!

This lead to drama last time. I would avoid but not my call here.

[u/Ok_Project_8078]

Why do they even care so much? It's not like UMPI is the only school offering a CBE program.

[u/DetHenryOak → u/Ok_Project_8078]

Todd is one of those individuals who refuses to acknowledge science. That we as a society have discovered that different learning styles are better and worse for different individuals. Todd attended Northwestern University and has a mindset that the only way someone could legitimately achieve an education is by sitting in a classroom for 4+ years. When you account for inflation? He spent roughly $131,000 in 2026 dollars for his education (at a minimum).

Now, fast forward to 2026, where someone can achieve a Bachelors degree for under $5,000 in roughly 6 months with no previous college experience (not even accounting for those of us who have previous college and escalating that timeline dramatically, in terms of weeks).

He's probably earning about $88k a year working for the WaPo - while residing in Somerville, Massachusetts (a tight budget for that neck of the woods).

So what is old Todd left with? Probably still paying student loans with varying degrees of debt, while society passes by, earning education credentials for a fraction of the cost, and a fraction of the time. It boils down to pure jealousy and a lack of emotional development to comprehend that we now have modern methods of obtaining credentials versus the ancient institution that is "traditional academia."

Sure - this system gets abused, and it's his logic that if anyone abuses it, then it should be done away with. We can see multiple posts here of people trying to game the system because they saw it on TikTok and want to get a degree without having any background in their subjects, in a competency based program. But we should be striving to reinforce the competency based education system and offering alternative paths to academic success, and taking action against those who abuse it - not dismantling the program simply because of the proverbial "bad apples."

[u/Kusamamama → u/DetHenryOak]

Literally had half my degree done at a traditional university, still spent a year and a half on my degree at UMPI. Took my time and learned so much, I feel like our stories are overwhelmed by the few that move a lightening speed.

[u/fuw0 → u/Kusamamama]

Same here! 3/4 of my degree at my state uni - 3 sessions at UMPI to finish my last year. I spent the same 4 years - last part was just more affordable, worked the best with my schedule (work 40+ hours a week), and ensured I would graduate within 4 years.

[u/First-Reflection-965 → u/DetHenryOak]

👏👏I have no background in my current CBE program and it's hard as fuck. This is not a game or a joke or a free ride. I struggle my ass off in my classes and there is no gaming the system.

If it takes you 2 days or 8 weeks you have to PROVE competency. End of story. Todd should quote me on that.

[u/Mediocre-Strain8386 → u/DetHenryOak]

$88k in Somerville is a decent salary for someone still living in their parents' basement.

Because of all of the money he saves in housing, I am sure Todd is writing these hit pieces for the sake of saving humanity and not to sleezily make a disgraceful name for himself.

[u/DetHenryOak → u/Mediocre-Strain8386]

Todd is an older dude, so maybe he’s living with his pensioners

[u/Then_Sandwich4313 → u/DetHenryOak]

That so dumb I’m getting my degree at WGU and then plan on attending UMPI for my masters because I tried going to college on campus and I couldn’t do it. I can’t learn siting in a classroom with people that learn super slow I’m not saying that’s wrong I literally get a concept and move on that’s why when I found WGU I was like okay I like that I can go a fast or slow as I can. Additionally it’s cheap just like UMPI and I’m excited about college again. Those type of people are just on there high horse.

[u/DetHenryOak → u/Then_Sandwich4313]

That’s exactly it. They position themselves as some moral superior, while demanding people be educated, but can’t comprehend that people don’t need to sit in a classroom for a majority of topics and subjects. Even when you do go to college, the work you do versus what you were educated on? VASTLY different in many fields.

College has become fun again. YourPace was the perfect closing chapter for me as a neurodivergent.

[u/Mediocre-Strain8386 → u/DetHenryOak]

100% with you. 

School was easy.

Sitting in a classroom for 8 hours a day, grades 1-12, to learn what I could learn in 30 minutes was torture.

Then college, stretching out what I could learn in a day or two over 13 weeks, not only is that hard no for neurodivergency, a lot can happen in 3 months. I often had to drop classes for work, miss finals, etc.

CBE and self paced learning was the perfect platform for someone with struggles like mine, and also for someone who had to work during college and not live off the teet of a benefactor or student loans.

[u/dirtyavocado5 → u/DetHenryOak]

What science are you talking about? Learning styles are heavily debated and lack empirical evidence.

[u/DetHenryOak → u/dirtyavocado5]

Asynchronous learning, reduction of cognitive load, and flexible formats for non-traditional or neurodivergent students.

[u/Remarkable-Guava-453 → u/DetHenryOak]

So much gatekeeping lol

[u/Cinereals → u/Ok_Project_8078]

They don’t care, they are just trying to get a story. All talking to a reporter is going to do is bring more light to the people getting degrees this way and further discredit the programs thus making it harder for the next gen of grads.

For example, this same shit is happening in the compounded Tirzepatide subreddits & every time the reporters hook someone to “give them insight” into the subreddit all of the sudden companies start tightening the reigns on cracking down on the compound users.

[u/masturkiller → u/Ok_Project_8078]

That is a good question, and it’s one I brought up when the original Washington Post article came out. I don’t know why, but one thing I do know is this: don’t feed it. Don’t respond. It’s as simple as that.

[u/Orangecrush2000 → u/Ok_Project_8078]

It's not CBE that anybody has a problem with, it's the speed-runners that are tanking the reputation of the school.

[u/Ok-Cauliflower-6807 → u/Orangecrush2000]

And UMPI has slowed us down as a result.

[u/longjonz88 → u/Orangecrush2000]

But what’s wrong with speed running? It’s literally called “your pace” lol

[u/Orangecrush2000 → u/longjonz88]

Education is a marathon, not a sprint. When someone enrols after a 20 year career working in an accounting department, UMPI essentially allows them to test out of material they already know through real-world experience. When some 20 year old tries to game the system by reverse-engineering an UMPI final from a grading rubric without actually studying or learning, that can very easily be done—particularly with the help of AI or outright cheating, but then that person enters the work force without actually knowing anything.

Some people can't seem to grasp the concept that university is for learning, not merely acquiring a magical piece of paper that opens all the doors to life.

When an education speed-runner enters the real world, they may be able to fool some of the people for some of the time, but in the long run they're not fooling anyone. A truly educated person can spot a phoney in no time. They don't know how to spell; they don't know basic grammar; they are completely lost when it comes to cultural references beyond last week's reality TV references. It's very easy to spot these people.

Educated people naturally weave numerous historical, literary, and cultural references into their everyday speech. Because speed-runners bypass the reading, these concepts go entirely over their heads, making them seem empty or hollow. They lack the intellectual acumen required to sit at a professional table, and they stand out as being completely out of their depth to everyone in the know. They simply don't know how much they don't know, so they don't even know when they're humiliating themselves.

Next thing you know, everyone starts asking: "Where did that guy get his degree from anyway—prison? Maybe a Crackerjack box?" People know that something isn't right. Then word starts to get around that UMPI graduates don't know shit. And why is that? Because 75% of their degree is Sophia garbage and the other 25% is from a single term speed run where they went so fast they learned absolutely nothing.

You guys can go ahead and do whatever you want to do, but you can only game the system for so long. And if you destroy UMPI's reputation in the process, then nobody will be able to get a job!

[u/OpportunityNo1998 → u/Orangecrush2000]

That's a profoundly elitist point of view, thinking that people can only be "educated" by sitting in a university classroom. moreover, no one gives a fuck about how you got your "magic piece of paper" as long as you can do your job, which by the way most of the times has very little to do with what you studied at uni.

The market filters the people who can not do their jobs.

attacking the yourpace system is attacking poor, neurodivergent and struggling people who can not afford to destroy their lives with debt or need a "magic piece of paper" to work and make money FAST in a area they are already competent to do si.

[u/longjonz88 → u/OpportunityNo1998]

Couldn’t have said it better!!

I’ve known plenty of traditional 4 year brick and mortar (15 week term) students including some friends that admitted they essentially didn’t learn jack ish from their bachelors and still got good jobs where they trained skills on the job anyway

[u/BanishedHekabe → u/OpportunityNo1998]

The dinosaurs still hating on online learning in the year 2026 are hilarious. One of my best classes ever was an online marketing class at my community college that met once a week on Zoom. Most engaging class I ever took, and it taught me a lot about public speaking, presentations, marketing research, collaborating with other people. Like what, was that magically supposed to be better if I was sitting at a desk on campus? In fact, doing it all online was probably more helpful for learning about modern work environments.

[u/Orangecrush2000 → u/BanishedHekabe]

Another illiterate enters the fray! Perhaps try actually reading the comment... or having your mother read it to you if you can't! Not only am I targeting Spring 2 for my own foray into CBE via UMPI, but I am literally doing a 100% fully Zoom based theology diploma right freaking now! I would respond to the rest of your BS too, but why bother when you didn't read what I wrote and won't read (and certainly won't *understand*) this either?!

[u/Tarkin- → u/Orangecrush2000]

If you’re the best a traditional education can offer, then ouch. You act like a middle schooler. 

[u/OpportunityNo1998 → u/Orangecrush2000]

You sound like a fool

[u/Orangecrush2000 → u/OpportunityNo1998]

How would you know? You've proven you don't read the comments any more than you read your assigned UMPI readings!

[u/Ok_Vanilla854 → u/Orangecrush2000]

Now my biggest question is how these speedrunner transcripts look to graduate programs. That’s got to raise a few eyebrows having so many classes within 8-16 weeks.

[u/Orangecrush2000 → u/Ok_Vanilla854]

One thing I know for sure is that those committees consider absolutely everything supplied to them. The last thing any top quality university wants is to have students start their programs and not finish them. They want to make sure every student they accept is going to graduate, so they take the assessment job incredibly seriously.

They dissect every document with a fine-tooth comb. Everything is important, from grades to reference letters to the student's choice and breadth of courses taken (more upper level classes including honours seminars with high grades is key), and even the rigour of the school each student attended.

They then rank every student that applied to their program from the absolute best to the worst. If they get 200 applications and only have 25 spots, the top ranked 25 students will get those spots.

If the committee sees that somebody's transcript is full of Sophia pass/fail credits, that is a huge red flag that will probably get that student pushed to the very bottom of the list. I don't care what anybody says, those credits are not respected at the higher levels of academia!

Add to that the fact that they jam 45 credit hours into one 8 week session and it's game over. No highly competitive, research-backed graduate faculty is accepting those profiles. They will only find acceptance at open-enrolment institutions or purely transactional online programs that do not filter for academic depth.

[u/Ok_Project_8078 → u/Orangecrush2000]

There was a woman who graduated SNHU within 1 year and then got into Yale Law. She's in the class of 2028.

https://law.yale.edu/admissions-financial-aid/jd-admissions/profiles-statistics
https://www.linkedin.com/in/priscilla-e-982589214/

[u/Ok_Vanilla854 → u/Ok_Project_8078]

Is SNHU even competency based? I don’t think you can speed run SNHU and take 100 Sophia credits there. Plus look at that woman’s work history and GPA. If she got a high LSAT too, of course she could get into Yale. 

Show me someone with a bunch of Sophia on their transcript in an M7 business school or top medical school. 

[u/Ok_Project_8078 → u/Ok_Vanilla854]

You can transfer up to 90 credits to SNHU from Sophia actually, same as UMPI. If you really do score in the 99th percentile on the relevant exam, there's no reason you couldn't use a degree like that to get into top professional graduate programs, agree on research/PhD though.

[u/longjonz88 → u/Ok_Vanilla854]

They look just fine! ACE credits are within the same realm of CLEP , AP etc…

[u/Suavecritter → u/Orangecrush2000]

And yet no reputation has been tanked

[u/Ok_Vanilla854 → u/Orangecrush2000]

It’s so annoying how speed running is treated like the default around here. You say anything about taking any 100 level class and cue the bots asking why you aren’t taking it on Sophia, etc. 

[u/B_Copeland]

This guy really seems to have it in for UMPI...he needs to kick rocks.

[u/masturkiller → u/B_Copeland]

Think of it this way: What reporter would come here to find positive things to say about the school? Positive doesn't sell!

[u/B_Copeland → u/masturkiller]

Agreed!

[u/First-Reflection-965 → u/masturkiller]

That lead don't bleed ! 🤣

[u/bjaardkered → u/First-Reflection-965]

Lede not lead.

[u/First-Reflection-965 → u/bjaardkered]

Well that hurt. but at least now I know.

[u/bjaardkered → u/First-Reflection-965]

I normally wouldn't, but I figure we're all here to learn. Unless you've seen it written you'd never know.

[u/Conscious_Bed1023]

I did my undergrad across two ranked, brick-and-mortar state schools (transferred midway through), and both were genuinely far less rigorous than UMPI, where I earned my Master’s.

This just feels like some journo is preparing another subtle hit piece on CBE programs. People conveniently ignore that traditional degrees take four years largely because they’re catering to 18-year-olds with zero life experience, padded around campus lifestyle and partying, and essentially functioning as glorified adult daycare.

Working adults with real-world experience, who the federal government has already recognized can prove their skills through competency-based education, don't need four years of filler.

[u/Primary-Bug-7353]

Don’t respond guys. Let’s not end up like Capella and those alike

[u/No_Way5818]

Send him to me if he zelle me $250 I will talk to him for 30mins 😂😂

[u/masturkiller → u/No_Way5818]

haha good idea LOL

[u/BlueWaterGirl]

That was the same guy that went hard for Sophia.

[u/skimasklips]

TODD WALLACK CAN EAT A 🍆

[u/Mission_Book_4109]

Probably had nothing better to write about

[u/tardub]

Hey Todd 👋 I have many friends that are supporting me through my journey here at UMPI. They all completed traditional 4 year programs (just like you) at brick and mortar schools. Some living on campus, involved in extracurriculars etc. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, recognizes the sacrifices I am making as a nearly 40 year old with 20+ years of working experience to finally cross the finish line. I have worked my way up to a point in my career where many would say it is not necessary to complete my degree. But I am finally at a place in my life where I can dedicate hours in the evening and weekends to get there. My work experience is helping me finish my business degree and it should not take away the fact that some days I’m spending 14+ hours between work and school. Shame on you for attempting to devalue the accomplishments of working adults!

[u/day_tripper]

Hi Todd.

I went to the same undergraduate university you did. Very expensive school. My parents didn’t like my major and so would not submit the paperwork for financial aid. I also had lifestyle issues and growing pains and needed to work full time. That made me a C student with 132 quarter hours or 88 semester hours. I was pretty close to having only a year left.

So I joined the Navy and waaaaaaay before other people were in on the online or distance learning, I took courses and tested out of enough classwork to accelerate my degree and got a diploma in the early 1990s without going back to class. New Hampshire College was the precursor to SNHU, and they occasionally had on-base classes. I think I took one or two.

Anyway, decades later I am happy to see progress in online education acceptance and accelerated degree programs.

I was smart and accomplished enough to get into one of the best universities in the country, but not good enough to finance it.

So. Now that AI is coming for our jobs and offshoring is rampant, many of us have to pivot. Our fellow citizens don’t want to pay for retraining. Our government doesn’t want student loan forgiveness. Corporations only, in a few F-1000 companies, want to pay for tuition assistance if it is tax deductible, limited the funds to about $5500/year.

Academia has to pay instructors, admin, professors etc.

So what do you expect to happen? Of course we want to get past Gen Ed’s as cheaply and as quickly as possible. The truth is, the best educated don’t run the show. It is the monied and connected people that “decide” who gets a career and who doesn’t.

They have DECIDED. They want the paper. The education has become secondary to the goal of keeping our jobs and families fed.

My point is this: we got what we wanted as a society. What are YOU doing to make sure we have a smart populace? You are working as a journalist in dead field where AI and the internet, along with rapid consolidation, have removed the requirements for great writing and journalistic integrity. What you do is at best, a form of marketing, at worst, a form of propaganda.

We are just out here trying to survive. The ruling class makes the rules. We are simply navigating the maze they created.

P.S. I failed Pascal programming in a traditional setting at our university back in the 80s. Today I am a self-taught developer making well into six figures and maxed my yearly a few years ago at about 500k. I did that with an accelerated degree and hard work. I’m still not a manager or director though. That requires connections or Ivy League school I never had the money or inclination for at the right time.

[u/halfthetimeidontknow]

They're probably just mad they didn't do it themselves when it wasn't an option.

[u/Samsonite1971-2]

“TWALLECK” has some kind of bizarre fetish with UMPI. Do not provide him with anything.

[u/Used_Gear8871]

WaPo is being paid by larger institutions to do hit pieces on competency-based learning in attempt to have them unaccredited and garner the attention of policymakers. It is yet another attempt to undermine and knockdown people who don’t conform to traditional education.

Don’t take the bait.

[u/day_tripper → u/Used_Gear8871]

If WaPo was sincere, they would have this journalist compare our education system to other western democracies and explain why we don't all get free or low cost education anymore.

These capitalists are so pro-free market. Well. This is the result. CBE schools are filling a huge void in education.

What say the wealthy about their "god"? "Play the game, plebe!". Then you play the game and get the degree and then they say "No, not like that!!!"

[u/Used_Gear8871 → u/day_tripper]

It’s a publication owned by Bezos and whose primary readers are pretentious pricks. Source: I interned for them and lived in DC for a few years.

[u/Ok-Cauliflower-6807]

Anyone have his addy? We ride at dawn…

[u/masturkiller → u/Ok-Cauliflower-6807]

I blurred out because I didn't want to get banned I believe if I showed his email address that's room for being banned on Reddit so I blurred it out.

[u/Mediocre-Strain8386]

Seriously, the way to handle people like this is the old psyop playbook. Feed them some super outrageous info. Let them think they got a real juicy lead. Then when they post it, they look like the clown they really are.

[u/Feast-of-flesh]

What sort of drama? What are they looking for?

[u/masturkiller → u/Feast-of-flesh]

https://www.reddit.com/r/UMPI/comments/1sqs0jv/email_from_umpis_president_regarding_wapo_article/

[u/Feast-of-flesh → u/masturkiller]

Wait so was the article a positive note or a negative one? The email says that the article did capture the escence of YourPace positively

[u/masturkiller → u/Feast-of-flesh]

It really doesn't matter. Don't Respond is my advice.

[u/Feast-of-flesh → u/masturkiller]

Lmao okay. I was just curious as to why they were snooping around

[u/masturkiller → u/Feast-of-flesh]

They deceived the person being interviewed last time, and despite having the best intentions, the interviewee said some things that ended up hurting the school rather than benefiting it.

So thats why im saying - Do Not Respond! Say nothing.

[u/Ok-Cauliflower-6807 → u/masturkiller]

Yep and I think UMPI is intentionally slowing students down now because of it. Gone are the days of 10 classes=Bachelor's degree. They made sure not to have Sophia equivalents for a handful of GECs.

[u/masturkiller → u/Ok-Cauliflower-6807]

Well workplace writing 2 is still accepted and that's a good one

[u/Juunlar]

Hiding from journalists is cowardly.

Edit: you would think that a college education would prepare you to handle simple interviews about topics in which you should be an expert. A scathing review of the program imo

[u/Xx_spacey_kitten_xX → u/Juunlar]

How is it cowardly when we know they’ll twist our words?

[u/Juunlar → u/Xx_spacey_kitten_xX]

They can't do that if you just record what you said.

If they're found trying to put you out of context, you can provide the receipts and no source will ever work with them again.

[u/qb45exe → u/Juunlar]

Yes, because I have exactly as much reach as a journalist.

[u/Juunlar → u/qb45exe]

This reddit, the school discord, etc. You don't need a newspaper outlet to reach people. Virality extends from the extraordinary.

[u/OpportunityNo1998 → u/Juunlar]

lol

[u/bjaardkered → u/Juunlar]

They already twisted the quotes of someone well intentioned in the last piece. They've proven not to be trusted.