| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | 100% online, self-paced; no campuses |
| Office | 601 Carlson Parkway, Suite 1250, Minnetonka, MN 55305 (operator’s office; no classes) |
| Operator | Excel Education Systems, Inc., doing business as Washington Technical Institute; for-profit |
| Credentials | Undergraduate certificates only (no degrees) |
| Typical length | 4 to 16 months per certificate (completion deadlines; study is self-paced) |
| Accreditation | Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS) |
| State authorization | Licensed private career school, Minnesota Office of Higher Education; registered with California’s BPPE |
| Federal aid | No (no FAFSA, Pell Grants or federal loans) |
| Founded | 1999, as National Paralegal Institute of America; later Washington Online Learning Institute |
| Facts checked | 13 October 2026 |
An online certificate school run from Minnesota
Washington Technical Institute is a for-profit online school run by Excel Education Systems, which also operates Excel High School. According to its 2025-26 student handbook, it was founded in 1999 as the National Paralegal Institute of America and acquired by Excel Education Systems in 2019. It has also been known as Washington Online Learning Institute. Despite the name, it is not based in Washington State: its operator’s office is in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and no classes are taught there. WTI awards only undergraduate certificates, studied asynchronously at the student’s own pace, in business, healthcare administration and coding, paralegal studies, criminal justice and IT, and has added a 24-credit AI Innovators Program in recent years.
Certificates, credits and prices
All programs are online undergraduate certificates. Credits and lengths are from WTI’s program pages and its 2025-26 handbook; the length is a completion deadline, and students can finish sooner. Prices are the current published tuition, with books and fees included, from WTI’s tuition page, last updated 8 October 2025. A dash means WTI names no exam or credential.
| Program | Credits and deadline | Prepares for | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting | 15 credits, 8 months | Bookkeeping and clerk roles (not CPA) | $2,900 |
| Business Administration | 15 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Business Management & Leadership | 15 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Integrated Marketing | 15 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Business Law | 15 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Applied Economics | 15 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Medical Coding & Billing | 12 credits, 8 months | AHIMA CCA (aligned; exam registered separately) | $1,200 |
| Medical Coding & Billing with Foundations | 18 credits, 12 months | AHIMA CCA (aligned) | $1,900 |
| Health Insurance & Reimbursement | 4 credits, 4 months | — | $699 |
| Healthcare Administration | 15 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Health Services Management | 15 credits, 12 months | — | $2,900 |
| Pharmacy Technician (not open to Washington State residents) | 5 credits, 240 hours, 5 months | PTCB certification exam | $899 |
| Master Paralegal | 45 credits, 16 months | NALA Certified Paralegal (aligned) | $4,900 |
| Senior Paralegal | 33 credits, 12 months | — | $3,900 |
| National Paralegal | 15 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Paralegal Concentration; Legal Support: Immigration | 6 credits, 4 months each | — | $999 each |
| Criminal Justice | 18 credits, 12 months | — | $2,900 |
| Full Stack Web Development | 21 credits, 882 hours, 12 months | — | $4,900 |
| Web Development | 9 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Software Development | 12 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Programming Languages | 12 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Database Management | 9 credits, 8 months | — | $2,900 |
| Cybersecurity | 12 credits, 8 months | CompTIA Security+, CySA+, PenTest+ | $2,900 |
| Computer Networking | 15 credits, 8 months | CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+; Microsoft AZ-800/AZ-801 | $2,900 |
| AI Innovators Program | 24 credits, 12 months | — | $2,900 |
| Microsoft Office Specialist | 5 credits, 4 months | Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) | $899 (program page and handbook) |
WTI calls its coding, paralegal and pharmacy programs “aligned to” or preparation for outside exams; it does not claim American Bar Association approval for its paralegal programs. The Criminal Justice certificate does not by itself qualify anyone for Minnesota peace officer licensing.
What the main programs cover
Master Paralegal
The paralegal certificates go back to WTI’s origins as a paralegal school. The Master program has 45 credits and a 16-month deadline. Its courses are four core courses (Introduction to Paralegalism, Introduction to Law, Legal Terminology, Legal Research and Writing), Legal Ethics, Law Office Management and Paralegal Certification Prep, plus eight electives in substantive law. WTI says it is aligned to the domains of NALA’s Certified Paralegal exam. The Senior certificate (33 credits) has the four core courses, Legal Ethics and six electives, and the National certificate (15 credits) has the four core courses and one elective.
Medical Coding & Billing
The 12-credit program has three courses: Medical Coding I (ICD-10-CM/PCS), Medical Coding II (CPT/HCPCS) and Health Insurance and Reimbursement. WTI aims it at students who already have healthcare or office experience; others can take the 18-credit Foundations version, which adds anatomy and physiology and medical terminology and has a 12-month deadline. WTI says both are aligned to AHIMA’s Certified Coding Associate (CCA) exam; students register and sit for the exam separately. The insurance course is also sold on its own as a 4-credit certificate.
Pharmacy Technician
This is a single online course worth 5 credits and 240 program hours, with a 5-month deadline on the program page (the 2025-26 handbook gives 4 months). It covers prescription processing, dosage calculations, compounding, pharmacy law and ethics, inventory and billing, and WTI presents it as preparation for the PTCB certification exam. The handbook adds a 200-hour externship after the coursework, at a site students arrange themselves. The current program page does not mention the externship, and it says the program is not approved by Washington State’s Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission, so Washington residents cannot enroll.
Cybersecurity and Computer Networking
Both are 8-month certificates. Cybersecurity (12 credits) covers network security, cyber risk management, threat analysis and ethical hacking, and WTI links it to the CompTIA Security+, CySA+ and PenTest+ exams. Computer Networking (15 credits) has five courses: Introduction to Networking, Network Security, Introduction to IT Technical Support, Administering Windows Server and Configuring Windows Server, mapped to CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ and Microsoft AZ-800 and AZ-801. Students need a laptop or desktop; Chromebooks, tablets and phones won’t work.
Full Stack Web Development
The Full Stack certificate lists 21 credits and 882 hours on its program page (the same page’s text also calls it a 15-credit program), with a 12-month deadline. Its seven courses are Full Stack Web Development, Responsive Web Design, JavaScript for Web Design, Database Systems, Introduction to Python, Principles of SQL and Introduction to Programming. The shorter Web Development certificate (9 credits) covers HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and MySQL. As with every WTI program, there are no live classes; instructors are reached by email or support ticket.
Cost and paying without federal aid
WTI charges one national price, with no in-state or out-of-state rates, and has published no 2026-27 price list. Certificates run from $699 (Health Insurance & Reimbursement) to $4,900 (Master Paralegal and Full Stack Web Development), and most cost $2,900. Single courses cost $599, according to the 2025-26 handbook.
- Included: registration, lab and textbook fees, course materials, official transcripts, the certificate, shipping and a certificate case. Some programs need software the student subscribes to.
- Other fees (2025-26 handbook): 4-month extension $200 (up to two per program), late payment $10, transcript $12, certificate reprint $30, returned payment or chargeback $50.
- Payment plans: interest-free monthly plans, for example $362.50 a month for 8 months on a $2,900 certificate, or $125 to $250 a month with the balance due by graduation.
WTI does not take part in federal Title IV aid, so there is no FAFSA, Pell Grant or federal loan. For loans it names the private lender Climb Credit; the CFPB sued Climb Credit in October 2024 over alleged deception of borrowers about bootcamp and vocational programs, and in December 2024 announced a proposed stipulated judgment that includes a $950,000 penalty (the case does not involve WTI). WTI gives enrollment and payment paperwork to students using employer tuition assistance. Its website does not mention GI Bill benefits.
Admissions and pace
Admission is open to applicants aged 16 or older (under 18 with parental permission) who have a high school diploma or a GED, TASC or HiSET; a college transcript is not accepted in place of one. Applicants need government photo ID and English at a 12th-grade level, and no ESL support is offered. Students start any day and work at their own pace, with up to one and a half times a program’s normal length to finish. WTI’s FAQ puts single courses at 4 to 8 weeks and certificates at 6 weeks to 16 months. A full refund is available within 10 business days of signing, and none after 75% of a program is complete.
Accreditation and outcomes
WTI is accredited by the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS), and the CHEA directory lists it under that accreditor. The US Department of Education recognizes MSA-CESS for non-degree postsecondary schools, including those teaching by distance education. MSA-CESS is not a degree-level college accreditor, and WTI awards no degrees.
WTI is licensed as a private career school by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and registered with California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. Arizona’s eligible training provider list shows its listing as removed, updated 10 July 2026, with no reason given.
WTI publishes no completion, job placement, exam pass-rate or enrollment figures; its handbook claims “above-average outcomes” without numbers. Because it takes no federal aid, it is not in federal college data (IPEDS or the College Scorecard). No review platform we checked in October 2026 had enough reviews of WTI to summarize.
Before you enroll
- A certificate is not a degree. WTI awards only certificates, and its accreditor is recognized for non-degree schools. Each college decides which credits it accepts, so ask any college you might move to before you enroll.
- No outcome data. There are no published completion, placement or pass rates, so you cannot check how many students finish or find work.
- Pharmacy Technician has limits. It is not open to Washington State residents, and the 2025-26 handbook requires a 200-hour externship that students arrange themselves. Ask WTI whether the externship still applies.
- Check the payment plan total. Some plan examples on WTI’s website do not add up to the listed price: the Pharmacy Technician plan of $224.75 a month for 5 months comes to $1,123.75, against $899 tuition. Get the total in writing.
- Little live support. There are no live classes, instructors answer by email or support ticket, and WTI describes no career services or job placement help.
Support while you study
Courses run on the Canvas learning platform, and instructors are reached by email or support ticket. WTI lists a resource library and an Alpha Beta Kappa honor society. It describes no career services, job placement help or externship placement, and as an online school it offers no housing. It does not issue I-20s, so it cannot enroll students who need a US student visa.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Business
- Accounting
- Business Administration
- Business Management & Leadership
- Integrated Marketing
- Business Law
- Applied Economics
Healthcare
- Medical Coding & Billing
- Medical Coding & Billing with Foundations
- Health Insurance & Reimbursement
- Healthcare Administration
- Health Services Management
- Pharmacy Technician
Paralegal and criminal justice
- Master Paralegal
- Senior Paralegal
- National Paralegal
- Paralegal Concentration and Legal Support: Immigration
- Criminal Justice
Information technology
- Full Stack Web Development
- Web Development
- Software Development
- Programming Languages
- Database Management
- Cybersecurity
- Computer Networking
- AI Innovators Program
- Microsoft Office Specialist
Campus Locations
100% Online , Online,