WGU: Connecting Talent to Opportunity, Nationwide
If you’ve never heard of nonprofit Western Governors University, you’re not alone. In fact, only 45% of people have, according to Qualtrics research. Many are surprised to learn WGU currently enrolls over 191,000 students and has a thriving alumni base of more than 389,000 across the United States. WGU is quietly transforming higher education as the largest online university in the nation by number of graduates.
As Forbes highlighted, WGU “...offers more than 80 degree programs in its four schools of business, education, technology, and health ... accounts for 5.2% of all U.S. bachelor's degrees in education, has trained 2% of the nation’s registered nurses, and provides a cybersecurity program that is the largest in the U.S.”
The university also offers numerous certificate programs for students seeking specific skills at a lower investment of time and cost. These certificates focus on topics from accounting to nursing leadership to AI skills.
While the numbers tell a story, they’ve never been the goal. Rather, individual student outcomes have always been the driving force. WGU’s mission is to change lives for the better by creating pathways to opportunity. That core focus on life-changing outcomes for individual students inspired the founders and continues to influence every decision the university makes to this day.
Founded by Governors, Focused on Students
“Universities measure the wrong thing,” said one of WGU’s founders and former Colorado governor Roy Romer. “They measure time. They measure prestige. I wanted to base a degree on performance—and that was a real revolution.”
As the name suggests, Western Governors University was founded by 19 governors from the Western Governors Association in 1997, as the internet became more widely adopted.
WGU founders recognized the internet’s potential to provide broader access to education to solve states’ workforce needs. To meet those needs, they built a more affordable delivery method called competency-based education. It measured skills rather than seat time, allowing students to accelerate their progress, graduate sooner, and spend less money to earn their degrees.
“WGU is about fundamental change in the way higher education is delivered. It's right, it's real, and it's efficient,” said Michael O. Leavitt, a university founder and former governor of Utah. “It's what higher education will require to succeed in the future.”
WGU’s current president, Scott Pulsipher, recognizes the need to stay true to the founders’ focus—students. "From the very beginning, our founders understood that innovation would be critical to meet the needs of our students, since traditional models often haven't aligned with their circumstances and goals," he said. "It's a commitment we take very seriously, and one that's deeply woven into the very fabric of our university."
From its humble beginnings, WGU has grown to be a major force in the higher education space. WGU is an accredited online university with students in all 50 states and U.S. territories, including Guam and Puerto Rico.
While WGU has no brick-and-mortar campus, the university is headquartered in Millcreek, Utah, where key leadership and around 1,850 of its more than 9,500 employees are based. The university also focuses on building communities and making an impact through meaningful connections with businesses, healthcare organizations, and school districts, and the building of nursing simulation labs across the country.
Rooted in its mission to create pathways to opportunity, the university has blossomed into a tremendous source of strength and progress for individuals and communities.
WGU Differentiators
What truly sets WGU apart? Real outcomes. Real return on investment. Truly thriving alumni. And a system built to provide custom-tailored pathways to opportunity.
From competency-based education to a unique flat-rat tuition model and personalized support, the university is built to give each degree seeker an individualized learning experience.
Alumni Who Truly Thrive
“I believe in the transformative power of education as a catalyst for a better life, and I embrace the thought that ability is of little account without opportunity,” said Gene Hayes, WGU senior vice president and head of strategic partnerships.
Students who take the opportunity to pursue an education at WGU most often find their experience leads to a better life. According to the 2024 Gallup Alumni Survey, “approximately three-quarters (73%) of WGU alumni who were at least 25 when they graduated are thriving, compared to 55% of national alumni of the same age.”
Naturally, the positive life outcomes of a WGU education lead graduates to share with their friends. Recent data from the same report shows WGU’s net promoter score—calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters of the university—is 64 compared to a promoter score of 14 among national peers. The 2024 Harris Poll Graduates Study found that 95% of WGU grads have recommended WGU to others.
Above all, WGU alumni are changemakers in their communities and professions. Many are working professionals and parents who use their degrees as a stepping stone to make a significant impact in their local communities.
WGU students are resilient and inspiring. Take Beatrice Bedolla, a single mother of three who earned a master's degree in curriculum and instruction and works to uplift low-income students while leading philanthropic efforts as president of Zeta Mu Phi. Jay R. Flynn earned his MBA after dedicating over half his life to public service, transforming his community at the Prairie Center for the Arts. And Shanell Murphy, a first-generation graduate with a bachelor's degree in nursing and an MBA in healthcare management, dedicates her career to enhancing patient care.
Shanell Murphy
Saving Time and Money: Competency-Based Education and Flat-Rate Tuition
How has WGU created a learning environment that allows students to thrive and want to share with others? From the start, WGU pioneered a new approach to education that measures knowledge over time spent in class. It’s called competency-based education.
What makes this system unique is that it gives students the opportunity to accelerate their studies, moving ahead as quickly as they can show mastery. This means some students can earn bachelor’s degrees in just two and half years and master’s degrees in 12 to 18 months.
On top of efficiency, competency-based education prepares graduates for work by teaching them the skills needed for success on the job.
“Competency-based education is transformative because it shifts the focus from time spent to skills mastered,” said Sarah DeMark, vice provost, academic portfolio. “By clearly aligning credentials to workforce-relevant skills and competencies, we empower students with exactly what they need to succeed, thereby unlocking potential and driving real economic mobility.”
But the competency-based model is only part of the equation. Since WGU charges tuition at a flat program rate per six-month term, regardless of how many courses a student completes, many can move through their coursework in fewer terms, spending less overall to earn their degrees.
Chief academic officer and provost Courtney Hills McBeth, said, “Our competency-based and disaggregated faculty model sets us apart in the higher education landscape, and I am continuously learning about the unique ways in which it benefits our students.”
While some students accelerate their program, others find the competency-based model helpful because it allows them to slow down and truly focus on mastery. At WGU, no student is left behind because each learning journey is so individualized.
“As we look to the future, I am excited about the possibilities that emerging technologies and AI present for further enhancing our model and expanding our impact,” continued Hills McBeth, referencing the university’s personalized approach.
Online, But Never Alone
While WGU is an online university, it doesn’t mean that students are left to fend for themselves. In fact, the institution takes a “student as the patient” approach, meaning that each learner gets timely, personalized care. A program mentor calls them weekly just to see how they’re doing, providing program-specific guidance and support.
One student said, “I don’t know what I would’ve done without my mentor, Geri. I suffered a significant mental health setback that landed me in the hospital for five weeks. Because of the support and encouragement of my mentor and the acceleration available through WGU’s unique model, I was able to jump back into my program and still complete my MBA ahead of schedule. At other universities, I would have had to withdraw from school. Thanks to WGU and the personalized support, I was able to push through a mental health crisis and still earn my MBA in 18 months.”
An Alert System for Supporting Individual Students
Just like each patient in a hospital is monitored, WGU carefully tracks individual student progress through a robust alert system. The Learner Care Dashboard automatically notifies faculty members when a student may need individualized support, such as if they failed an assessment or haven’t logged into their coursework for a while.
"WGU is committed to putting students at the center of their educational experience,” said Debbie Fowler WGU senior vice president, academic delivery. “The Learner Care Dashboard provides faculty with personalized insights and support for each student, ensuring that their unique needs and progress are addressed."
The system is proactive, not reactive. Instead of waiting for a student to reach out for help, WGU faculty members receive notifications when activity, or lack thereof, indicates a student may need extra support. This enables faculty members to quickly connect with struggling students to offer tailored and often degree-saving assistance.
Environmental Barriers Lead to a Community of Care
On the road to thriving, obstacles can arise. WGU recognizes that external factors can hinder educational success, so the university has teams that proactively connect with and support students facing hardships. The Environmental Barriers (EVB) team supports students impacted by natural disasters or other major events in their community (such as public safety events).
WGU support provided for a student's recovery from these disasters may include emergency hardship aid, internet access or computer replacement, and individual academic support along with crisis counseling and connection to local resources. The EVB Team is part of WGU Student Wellbeing Services, which also provides resources for students who may be facing individual crisis situations.
"We are fiercely dedicated to optimizing support for student wellbeing across the continuum of each student’s academic journey at WGU, knowing there is a direct connection between student wellbeing and academic success," said Michelle Jungbauer, senior manager of student wellbeing services. “We are inspired by the amazing resilience of our students who persist in achieving their academic dreams despite facing unexpected tragedies along their journey to graduation.”
Through the EVB team’s efforts, WGU has been able to maintain an average retention rate of 87% of students affected by disasters.
Beyond Graduation: A Thriving Alumni Organization
The WGU alumni association is a vibrant community that fosters connections, mentorship and opportunities for professional growth. WGU’s alumni base is not only one of the largest in higher education; it’s also one of the most loyal and mission-aligned, with alumni nearly twice as likely as traditional university peers to recommend their alma mater.
WGU graduates are eager to support current students and share WGU’s mission. The WGU Connect platform facilitates connections between students and alumni, creating clearer pathways to success and career growth.
In fiscal year 2025, alumni provided over 1,000 student mentorship responses.
Partnerships for Mutual Success
WGU partners with corporations, school districts, healthcare facilities, associations, and many other organizations to help them create new opportunities for their employees. Each WGU partnership is uniquely tailored to meet the needs of the partner organization. What sets WGU partnerships apart is the university’s flexibility, scalability, and commitment to workforce development.
WGU collaborates closely with institutions such as Walmart, Amazon, JetBlue, KFC Foundation, and HCA healthcare, to align educational opportunities with real-world workforce demands—whether through tuition assistance programs, tailored learning pathways, or upskilling initiatives for specific industries or employee populations.
A Call to Action: Better Outcomes for All
If WGU, once just a small institution founded on a big idea of individual student empowerment, can grow to be one of the largest conferrers of valuable degrees in the nation, other education institutions can have a similar positive impact on students and communities.
WGU invites all organizations that share its vision to create pathways to opportunity for every willing learner.
While WGU has been the best kept secret in higher education, it doesn’t need to be.
If you’re interested in discovering how a partnership with WGU can empower your workforce and drive long-term success, learn more here.
If you’re a state leader looking to bolster your workforce, learn about WGU and states.
If you’re a prospective student, find a degree to take your next step.
But most of all, if someone asks you about WGU, let them know about WGU or other institutions offering a learner-first experience.
