About Graduation Rates
Every year, colleges and universities like WGU are required to submit data about our institution and our students to the federal Department of Education. This information is then posted on the federal web site, College Navigator where you can search for colleges and compare information. WGU is also required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008, to provide all students and prospective students with specific information about our institution, including the retention and graduate rates on this page.
At WGU, graduation is our goal. It’s the reason we exist: to help every student who enrolls achieve the degree that will turn dreams into realities; so we take graduation rates very seriously. You may have seen graduation rates reported for WGU, including a rate on the College Scorecard of under 20%. That’s because the College Scorecard uses Department of Education data that only counts first-time, full-time students.
In other words, the nontraditional students who make up more than 98% of WGU’s student body are not counted in the College Scorecard data. The vast majority of WGU students have previous college experience before coming to WGU. These students are not considered first-time students, so their success at WGU is not counted in the rate reported by the Department of Education through the College Scorecard.
To put it another way: The College Scorecard data excludes the very students WGU was designed to serve.
Graduate Career Success
While students come to WGU for widely different career reasons, when they graduate, they’re finding the opportunities they sought.
Advancement: According to a 2022 Harris Poll survey1 87% of WGU graduates reported they were employed in their degree field.
Employer Acceptance: When employers were asked how the WGU graduates they’d hired performed on the job, 99% said WGU graduates met or exceeded expectations. 97% said that their WGU graduates were prepared for their jobs, and 95% said that would hire another WGU graduate2.
Graduate Satisfaction: A 2022 Harris Poll revealed that 96% of WGU graduates have recommended WGU to others, compared with 84% of those who attended other schools. 96% of WGU grads said they would choose WGU again, compared with 91% of grads from other schools3.
Low Default Rates: Most WGU student borrowers are careful about their school loans and repay them in a timely fashion. WGU’s FY2019 cohort's official 3-year default rate of 0.7% is less than half the national average of 2.3%, much lower than at many similar institutions, and has actually decreased in recent years, bucking the national trend.4
1 2022 Harris Poll survey of 1,542 WGU graduates.
2 2022 Harris Poll survey of 300 employers of WGU graduates.
3 2022 Harris Poll of 1,542 WGU graduates and 1,443 national, non-WGU graduates.
4 The Institute for College Access & Success
Graduation and Transfer Rates
The overall graduation rate is also known as the “Student Right to Know” or IPEDS graduation rate. It tracks the progress of student who began their studies as full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking students to see if they complete a degree or certificate within 150% of “normal time” for completing the program in which they are enrolled.
WGU also reports a transfer-out rate, which is the percentage of the full-time, first-time students who transferred to another institution.
Note that, as mentioned above, WGU has less than 1% of the student population which are first-time, full-time students. The majority (99%) of our students began their studies at another college or university and are not tracked for this rate. For this reporting timeframe, 123 students or 1% were counted as “full-time, first-time”.
Race/Ethnicity
Cohort
Grad Number
Percent
American Indian or Alaskan Native
5
2
40.00%
Asian
2
1
50.00%
Black, non-Hispanic
4
1
25.00%
Hispanic/Latino
13
6
46.15%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
1
0
0.00%
Race or Ethnicity Unknown
4
3
75%
Nonresident Alien
1
0
0.00%
Two or More
2
0
0.00%
White, non-Hispanic
91
47
51.65%
Total
123
60
48.78%
Race/Ethnicity
Cohort
Race/Ethnicity
Grad Number
Race/Ethnicity
Percent
American Indian or Alaskan Native
5
American Indian or Alaskan Native
2
American Indian or Alaskan Native
40.00%
Asian
2
Asian
1
Asian
50.00%
Black, non-Hispanic
4
Black, non-Hispanic
1
Black, non-Hispanic
25.00%
Hispanic/Latino
13
Hispanic/Latino
6
Hispanic/Latino
46.15%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
1
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0.00%
Race or Ethnicity Unknown
4
Race or Ethnicity Unknown
3
Race or Ethnicity Unknown
75%
Nonresident Alien
1
Nonresident Alien
0
Nonresident Alien
0.00%
Two or More
2
Two or More
0
Two or More
0.00%
White, non-Hispanic
91
White, non-Hispanic
47
White, non-Hispanic
51.65%
Total
123
Total
60
Total
48.78%
Status
Cohort
Number of Grads
Percent
Male
79
35
44.30%
Female
44
25
56.82%
Total
123
60
48.78%
Status
Cohort
Status
Number of Grads
Status
Percent
Male
79
Male
35
Male
44.30%
Female
44
Female
25
Female
56.82%
Total
123
Total
60
Total
48.78%
Status
Cohort
Number of Grads
Percent
Received a Federal Pell Grant
32
14
43.75%
Received a Subsidized Stafford Loan who did not receive Pell
36
18
50.00%
Received neither a Pell Grant nor a Subsidized Stafford Loan
55
28
50.91%
Total
123
60
48.78%
Status
Cohort
Status
Number of Grads
Status
Percent
Received a Federal Pell Grant
32
Received a Federal Pell Grant
14
Received a Federal Pell Grant
43.75%
Received a Subsidized Stafford Loan who did not receive Pell
36
Received a Subsidized Stafford Loan who did not receive Pell
18
Received a Subsidized Stafford Loan who did not receive Pell
50.00%
Received neither a Pell Grant nor a Subsidized Stafford Loan
55
Received neither a Pell Grant nor a Subsidized Stafford Loan
28
Received neither a Pell Grant nor a Subsidized Stafford Loan
50.91%
Total
123
Total
60
Total
48.78%
Retention Rate
Retention rate measures the percentage of first-time students who return to WGU to continue their studies the following year. Data come from the 22-23 IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey.
Entering year-to-second-year retention rate for first-time (full-time) students: 65%
Continuing Education
WGU completers who have continued their educational pursuits.
In accordance with the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, WGU must make available information regarding the types of Graduate and Professional education pursuits in which graduates of WGU’s four-year degree programs have enrolled.
Sixteen percent of WGU’s four-year degree program graduates (183,629) between July 1, 1998, and April 30, 2022, went on to complete a Graduate or Professional program. Source data: National Student Clearinghouse Subsequent Enrollment and Graduation Survey.
Degree Earned
Total
Percent
Doctorate
7
0.02%
Master's
29,348
99.62%
Juris Doctor
6
0.02%
Post-Master's
80
0.27%
Post-Bacc
18
0.06%
Total
29,459
100.00%
Degree Earned
Total
Degree Earned
Percent
Doctorate
7
Doctorate
0.02%
Master's
29,348
Master's
99.62%
Juris Doctor
6
Juris Doctor
0.02%
Post-Master's
80
Post-Master's
0.27%
Post-Bacc
18
Post-Bacc
0.06%
Total
29,459
Total
100.00%
WGU Baccalaureate to Graduate Program
WGU’s four-year degree program graduates who continued with WGU and earned a graduate degree.
Degree Earned
Total
Percent
Master's
28,883
99.72%
Post-Master's
3
0.01%
Post-Bacc
15
0.05%
Endorsement
62
0.20%
Total
28,963
100.00%
Degree Earned
Total
Degree Earned
Percent
Master's
28,883
Master's
99.72%
Post-Master's
3
Post-Master's
0.01%
Post-Bacc
15
Post-Bacc
0.05%
Endorsement
62
Endorsement
0.20%
Total
28,963
Total
100.00%
Updated 5/26/23
