Online Degrees in Business, Healthcare, Education, IT and More
Looking for an online education that makes use of your hard-earned professional skills? Western Governors University employs a radically simple approach to higher education: competency-based learning. Earn your online degree through tests, projects, and assignments that measure your skills and knowledge in your field of study.
Looking for an online education that makes use of your hard-earned professional skills? Western Governors University employs a radically simple approach to higher education: competency-based learning. Earn your online degree through tests, projects, and assignments that measure your skills and knowledge in your field of study.
WGU's approach rewards focused, hard-working professionals. Do you require flexibility in time and place to complete your education? Are you an organized, independent learner? Can you spare 15-20 hours a week for your studies? If so, WGU could be what you're looking for.
With WGU, you can advance toward your degree as fast as you can learn, and demonstrate your competence through WGU's rigorous assessments. This helps keep your costs down. The faster you advance, the less you spend on tuition and the sooner your new skills might qualify you for career advancement.
Online degrees based on your skills and knowledge
At Western Governors University, your competence – the knowledge and skills you possess – is the ultimate focus of every degree program. By emphasizing mastery of essential skills and knowledge instead accumulating credit hours, WGU’s approach to earning a degree rewards focused hard-working professionals. Progress toward your online degree is based on passing rigorous assessments (such as tests, projects, assignments, etc.) that measure your skills and knowledge in your field of study. We call it competency-based learning.
- Flexibility and Affordability.
Our competency-based approach allows for extensive personalization of your degree program. With assessments determining your success instead of credit hours, you’ll enjoy an education that fits your lifestyle. In most cases, you will access course material or study independently at the time and place you choose. Also, if you come into your program with years of knowledge and experience, you may be able to complete your assessments faster. You pay one flat rate per six-month term, so you may be able to save time and money depending on how quickly you can adequately demonstrate your competency in your field of study.
- Credibility through Accreditation.
WGU is regionally and nationally accredited. It is the only university ever to have received accreditation from four regional accrediting commissions. WGU’s Teachers College is also now NCATE-accredited – the first online university to achieve that distinction.
- Commitment and Support.
At WGU, students are supported by a mentoring team committed to success. You’ll work with a progress manager, faculty mentors and a support staff that will keep you motivated as they steer you toward your degree.
If you're an organized, independent learner willing to devote at least 15-20 hours a week to your studies but require flexibility in time and place to complete your education, WGU could be the university you’re looking for.
Financial Aid is Available
WGU was one of the first institutions selected by the U.S. Department of Education to offer federal financial aid to distance education students. Aid includes Federal Pell Grants and both subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans.
Flexible Enough for Your Schedule
The university does not follow a traditional calendar, and new students may enroll anytime and begin their program on the first of each month.
Residency Requirements
WGU only accepts inquiries and applications from individuals living in the U.S., Guam, and from U.S. military personnel and their spouses at overseas installations.
Accredidation
Western Governors University is the only university to have received simultaneous accreditation by four regional accrediting commissions. Currently, WGU's "home" accrediting commission is the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the same organization that accredits such leading institutions as the University of Washington, University of Oregon, University of Utah, BYU, and other public and private colleges. WGU is also nationally accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). The WGU Teachers College is the first and only online provider of teacher education to receive accreditation from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
State, Federal, and Corporate Support
WGU is a private, non-profit university founded in 1995 by the governors of several Western states, and is supported by 19 states and governors, and over 20 leading corporate and foundation partners, including AT&T, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Farmers Insurance Group, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Time Warner, Sun Microsystems, and Dell. In 2001, the Department of Education awarded WGU a $10 million Star Schools grant to fund the creation of a national Teachers College at WGU to provide online, competency-based degrees and certificates to K-12 teachers, prospective teachers, paraeducators, and second-career professionals.
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