Western Governors University’s purpose is to make higher education more accessible, affordable, and valuable by connecting talented individuals to the opportunities they seek and providing them with a verified, skills-based credential that leads to success in the workforce and in life.
But we know that every individual starts their journey from a different point. Some have never attended college. Some have taken classes but never earned a degree. Some are balancing family responsibilities with the need to gain knowledge and advance in a career. Some are looking for a chance to explore a new profession.
No matter their backgrounds, all students deserve the opportunity to achieve their dreams, and this can’t be accomplished through a one-size-fits-all approach. It requires a personalized education journey with tailored support and the freedom to make choices that are best for each person.
As WGU President Scott Pulsipher has said, “When we lift an individual, we help lift a community.” So, in 2023, we continued our quest to remove barriers to progress through innovation with the individual in mind.
From personalized enrollment pathways to improved student support frameworks and school milestones, we are excited to share how we worked to improve higher education over the past year.
Students We Serve
WGU continues to see year-over-year increases in enrollment, with a particular focus on students who traditionally have found it difficult to access high-quality education programs. In fact, as of December 2023, 74% of students identified as having come from one or more underserved populations.
As enrollment grows, we continue to find ways to support every student on their education pathway, providing high-value credentials at scale to a growing community of WGU students and grads.
2023 Enrollment Demographics
Enrollment Over Time
Underserved Populations
2023 Graduate Demographics
Total 2023 Graduates
Total Degrees Awarded Over Time
Data as of Dec. 31, 2023.
Outcomes
At WGU, we’re clear about our purpose and we work to ensure that everything we do enhances our students’ success. Our Key Results measure progress toward our mission of improving lives by creating pathways to opportunity.
We also round out our definition of success by benchmarking against nationally comparative data, tracking experiential data that includes our graduates’ satisfaction and overall well-being, gathering input from employers to understand our graduates’ preparedness for the working world, and tracking how our programs are meeting critical workforce needs. Together, this information provides a more holistic picture of the value we deliver to students.
It’s important to note that while our Key Results enable greater precision for tracking student outcomes, an inherent challenge is benchmarking our progress against other institutions. Tools that report on operational data provide an incomplete picture of how our outcomes stack up to those from other colleges and universities, given the key differences that influence our performance according to these metrics. For example, traditional graduation rates, including those reported through the College Scorecard, include only first-time, full-time students. Given that 92% of our undergraduate students have some college experience, this metric isn’t directly comparable to the performance of most of our students. Still, these differences provide an important lens for appreciating areas where WGU is excelling, and where we have opportunity for improvement.
Key Results
We recognize that for education to fulfill its promise, pathways must be accessible and traversable by all and learners must attain the credentials they seek. To that end, our Key Results measure completion rates, return for graduates, and equity in access and attainment. Our commitment to improving these outcomes provides direction for the university and shapes the decisions we make on behalf of our students. The Key Results are customized to align with our unique student profile, enabling greater precision and validity.
Graduation Rates
At WGU we’re constantly innovating across the learner journey to eliminate barriers and increase the odds that every student reaches graduation. To measure our progress, we track the percentage of undergraduates who complete their credentials within four and six years, as well as the percentage of graduate students who complete their credentials within two and three years.
While our progress on increasing undergraduate completion rates has slowed as we welcome more “rising talent”—students without prior successful college experience—we hope to change that pace as we continue to implement college readiness and student support offerings. We also recognize that students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds—who make up more than 70% of our student body—often face additional challenges that we feel obligated to help solve. We’re working towards a future in which every WGU student may accomplish their educational goals, no matter their circumstances.
Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students
Note: These rates reflect a rolling percentage of the students who graduated within a particular timeframe. This is distinct from graduation rates reported through the U.S. Department of Education, which often include only first-time students who have no previous college experience (less than 10% of WGU’s student population).
Personalized On-Time Completion Rate
In addition to tracking graduation rates, WGU holds itself to an even higher standard by measuring the percentage of students who complete their credential at their personalized pace, in recognition of the fact that students’ starting points, circumstances, and goals are unique to them. Eighty-eight percent of WGU undergraduates, for instance, enroll with transfer credits, the median of which bring approximately 20% of what is needed to graduate. By factoring in transfer credits and WGU course load to estimate students’ personalized pace of completion, this rate sets a target that is often shorter than the typical 4- or 6-year graduation rate for undergraduate programs, and 2- or 3-year graduation rate for graduate programs.
On-Time Completion
Factored Graduate Return (FGR)
WGU endeavors to ensure that every student experiences a high return on their investment so that their credentials translate into economic mobility. We measure a student’s return on their investment by estimating how many times over a WGU degree pays for itself throughout the span of a career.
WGU uses three inputs to calculate FGR:
- The average change in income between graduation and two years post-graduation.
- The average number of working years between graduation and retirement (estimated to be age 65).
- The average total cost of a WGU degree.
Therefore, FGR = ( (two-year post-graduation income - graduation income) x (65 - graduation age) ) / total tuition cost.
Equity in Access
WGU provides a range of educational offerings that meet students where they are, so every student—no matter their background—can see a future here. As we work to increase equity in access, we measure the percentage of WGU students who belong to historically underrepresented groups and low-income households* as indicators of our progress. This metric continues to trend upward, and we are on track to reach national population representation by 2025.
Equity in Attainment
Educational pathways are valuable only when they lead to opportunity, and that means they must be traversable and completable by all. As we work to close gaps in attainment so that all students are equally likely to succeed, we measure the percentage of students from historically underrepresented groups and low-income households* who attain their degree within four years and compare it against all WGU students.
*Historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups include students who identify as Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous, or being from two or more races. Low-income households earn less than $35,000 annually.
What Students and Alumni Say
For a more holistic understanding of how our students and alumni are faring, WGU participates in several surveys that shed light on students' academic experiences, career readiness, employment outcomes, and well-being.
NSSE
The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) asks undergraduates about the quality and characteristics of their college experience. The survey shows that WGU is meeting the needs of students, who overwhelmingly say they would choose WGU again if given the opportunity.
Survey conducted in 2023 with responses from 354,067 students from 541 institutions in the US and six other countries.
Gallup Alumni Survey
WGU participates in the annual Gallup Alumni Survey to gather feedback on students’ academic experiences, career readiness, and well-being. The results show that alumni believe WGU focused on their skill growth and well-being and provided strong support frameworks that helped them achieve their degrees.
Survey conducted Nov. 16—Dec. 8, 2023, with responses from 2,798 alumni.
Harris Poll Graduates Study
The WGU-Harris Poll Graduates Study tracks how students rate their experiences with WGU’s academic programs, their career readiness, and their employment outcomes after graduation. The study reveals that WGU alumni report higher levels of overall satisfaction than graduates from other institutions.
Survey conducted Oct. 5—Nov. 3, 2023, with responses from 1,655 WGU graduates and 1,443 national, non-WGU graduates.
What Employers Say
To connect students with opportunity, WGU is committed to aligning programs with employer needs and preparing students with the skills they need to thrive in the workplace. One of the ways we measure graduates' career readiness is to survey the employers of WGU alumni each year to gauge how well WGU’s programs are preparing students.
Survey conducted Oct. 6—27, 2023, among 300 employers of WGU graduates.
Quality and Relevance
As a university that champions innovation, WGU has made incredible efforts this past year to continue improving the quality of programs we offer to our students, as well as their relevance to workforce needs.
Expanded Pathway Options with WGU Academy
WGU has always served students by meeting them where they are. We understand that the right first step may not always be a full degree. A prospective student may need to hone one or two skills or they may only be missing a few classes. Some are just curious lifelong learners searching for a little something extra.
This year, our Academy team went to work on launching certificate programs in various web development and business leadership areas, with more to come in 2024. Also available are single course offerings and course bundles. All offerings are stackable into a formal WGU bachelor’s degree program if that path is desired.
Skills and the Workforce
Hard credentials like degrees and certificates are handy on a résumé, but they don’t always show the whole picture when it comes to demonstrating skills needed for employment. WGU has continually worked on expanding graduates’ opportunities with the Learning and Employment Record (LER) that captures a learner's achievements in real-time, enabling a continuous record that grows and evolves with the learner.
One hundred and fifty new skills collections were added to the skills library in 2023, along with 127 Skills Intelligence Dashboards, allowing students and graduates more opportunities to align their experience with desired job qualifications. WGU also co-published six skills collections with the United States Air Force.
We also increased the alignment of our product offerings to high value workforce skills by 52%, ensuring that our credentials are serving our graduates in the most effective ways possible post-completion.
With nursing shortages on the rise, the Leavitt School of Health has stepped up in big ways. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing—Prelicensure program has expanded its reach to 17 states and counting. Part of this growth has included the building of state-of-the-art nursing simulation labs across the country, the first of which opened in Houston, Texas, in 2019. The newest lab opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, in October 2023.
LSH also received prestigious reaccreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) for its Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management program. The school's Bachelor of Science in Health and Human Services was featured among Forbes' list of the "Best Online Health Science Degrees of 2023." LSH also pioneered a health equity conference, Accelerator2023, in Rio Grande Valley, Texas, bringing together stakeholders to address equity concerns in rural healthcare, workforce, and higher education systems in the region, with calls to action that can be replicated nationwide.
Also experiencing rapid growth, WGU’s School of Business celebrated 100,000 graduates in October. Since launching the Business Leadership certificate in 2023, the school is gearing up for several new program launches in 2024 that will allow it to continue expanding access to education in the form of degrees and other offerings that are relevant to employers and desired by students.
The School of Education began a significant partnership with Show Up Utah and Utah’s First Lady, Abby Cox. A highlight of this partnership includes the Educator Well-Being Podcast, which focuses on supporting teachers nationwide by providing strategies and resources to help educators thrive. It can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and the video of each episode is available on WGU's YouTube channel.
The School of Technology is constantly redesigning its programs to stay up to date on industry standards and certifications. The school launched the Web Application Development and Support certificate that adds relevant skills to learner résumés with stackable credentials that roll into WGU degree programs. The school also teamed up with the Reboot Representation Tech Coalition to launch Building Bridges and Breaking Barriers for Women in Technology. This program helps put an accredited and affordable IT degree within reach of Black, Latina, and Native American women wanting to build or grow tech-focused careers. The partnership is committed to doubling the number of BLNA women graduating with IT degrees by 2025, with 1,354 BLNA women members of the program right now.
WGU’s 2023 Distinguished Graduates
Each year, we honor a group of graduates who are making a significant contribution in their communities and their career fields.
Student Experience
We know from both experience and research that students who encounter support mechanisms at each step of their journey—from enrollment to commencement and beyond—are more likely to persist in their programs and graduate with a credential that empowers them. But building and maintaining those support mechanisms at scale, especially as the number of enrolled students grows, is a task that requires imagination, collaboration, and ingenuity. We are constantly striving to find new ways to meet students where they are and keep up with their changing needs.
Helping Students Define Their Path
For example, students enroll at WGU with anywhere from zero college experience to many credits that can transfer into their chosen degree program. Still others are exploring the option of higher education but may not know the exact program or career path they want to pursue.
So, in 2023, we launched a Find Your Future tool on wgu.edu. It takes into account interests, career options, previous college experience, and potential roadblocks to success, then suggests programs and pathways that fit each individual’s situation.
Based on data gathered through Find Your Future, 45% of people who started the quiz were undecided on a career path based on WGU’s program offerings. But after completing the Find Your Future experience, individuals were twice as likely to have the confidence to take the next step and pursue enrollment in a program that aligns with their goals.
Embracing a Learner-Centered Framework
Each person who pursues a degree at WGU is assigned an Enrollment Counselor to help them begin. Then, once they start coursework, they are supported by an assigned Program Mentor and Course Instructors who reach out regularly to make sure students are completing program requirements on time. This is all built into WGU’s Learner-Centered Framework (LCF), a group of student-centered initiatives designed to help students persist and complete their programs.
In the April 2023 edition of the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, a group of WGU leaders and researchers published a research article focusing on one aspect of the LCF: the Learner Care Dashboard (LCD). The LCD is a tool that notifies faculty of students’ progress—or delays—on course assignments and assessments and prompts them to reach out to students within a certain amount of time to assist with any needed interventions. The research found that timely outreach from faculty, facilitated by the LCD, resulted in a 20% higher course completion rate than students who did not receive a comparable level of faculty outreach. Drop rates were also 16% lower for students who received timely faculty outreach.
In other words, tech-based, data-driven tools like the LCD can play a significant role in whether or not students get the help they need to complete their programs, which is why WGU was honored with a 2023 Eduventures Innovation Award for Faculty-Led Interventions for Student Persistence.
Also in 2023, we combined the writing, math, and student success centers into one consolidated Academic Coaching Center, which provides a comprehensive resource for foundational skill support. Students can access one-on-one coaching in areas such as test prep, time management, writing and math skills, technology skills, and multilingual learner support. Student surveys report a 98% satisfaction rate with the new coaching center, a nearly 4% increase in satisfaction since the coaching center consolidation. It is just one of many support services offered to all WGU students.
Affordability
WGU has proven that disrupting the standard higher education paradigm is not only possible, but it also leads to better success rates for students. However, our work isn't done. Too many individuals can’t take advantage of the life-changing benefits of education because high cost can be an insurmountable barrier.
To keep costs low, WGU focuses spending on systems and strategies that contribute directly towards student outcomes and pairs an online, competency-based learning model with a financial model that charges students a flat rate per six-month term, regardless of how many courses they take. This unique approach enables students—40% of whom are Pell grant eligible and 56% of whom use federal aid—to potentially save time and money and is just one example of how we innovate to deliver an affordable learning experience.
In 2023, WGU:
- Committed more funding to our emergency aid initiative after witnessing the impact of WGU Labs' research on Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) disbursement. WGU increased the program budget and the standard award amount to further support students in an emergency on the journey toward persistence and completion. We awarded over $850,000 in emergency aid assistance to more than 900 students.
- Received more than 116,400 scholarship applications and awarded over $28 million to 10,992 students.
- Continued to support current students with hardship funds through donor-funded scholarships and emergency aid grants for basic needs outside of tuition. Current student hardship funding was up 300% year over year in dollars awarded to students in need.
- Awarded a laptop, hotspot with internet access, or a webcam to 1,245 new students through the Online Access Scholarship program.
- Saw a 100% increase in the number of donor-funded scholarship awards made to students year over year.
- Conducted research, through WGU labs, on the impact of student loans on personal and financial milestones, mental health, and careers.
WGU Students Spend Less Time and Money
On average, WGU students earn their bachelor's degree in two and a half years.
WGU students typically spend $8,010 on tuition and fees annually compared with a national average of $12,660 at similar institutions.*
The average total cost to earn a bachelor's degree at WGU is $20,025.
*National average based on IPEDS data from comparable peer institutions.
Percentage of Graduating Undergrads Who Borrowed for School*
Average Debt for WGU Grads Over Time
Average Debt at Graduation Per Undergrad Who Borrowed*
*Comparisons based on College Board Trend data and WGU internal data.
Donors are Essential
WGU also works with philanthropic partners to find solutions to the higher ed affordability crisis. Through endowments, donor-funded scholarships, and fundraising efforts, WGU Advancement is making it possible for more students than ever to pursue their education and career goals. The results are delivering national impact in WGU’s pursuit of equity and innovation.
In 2023, WGU Advancement facilitated:
More than 50 donor-funded scholarships, at an average of $2,800 per scholarship.
Donor-funded scholarships for more than 1,500 students.
The establishment of 16 endowments, for a total of 30 endowments overall.
The distribution of $46,486 in endowed scholarships to 39 students.
For more stories of impact, please visit the WGU Advancement 2023 Impact Report.
2023 Scholarship Highlights
- Julie Aiken Hansen Nursing Scholarships: WGU awarded more than 350 Julie Aiken Hansen Scholarships to students pursuing their dreams of becoming nurses across the country and later working in their hometown rural and urban communities.
- Sentara Health Scholarships: Thanks to our partnership with Sentara Health, WGU awarded more than 20 scholarships this year to WGU students residing in rural Virginia to complete their nursing degrees.
- The DaVita Giving Foundation awarded WGU's Michael O. Leavitt School of Health a $1 million grant over the next three years to support the Start Early program, co-created by DaVita Inc. and WGU to help increase nursing degree completion in rural areas in the Midwest and South.
- Belva Hansen Demonstration Teaching Scholarship: More than 290 students have received the Belva Hansen Demonstration Teaching Scholarship to help them complete their demonstration teaching requirement and be placed as a full-time teacher in a classroom.
- Science of Reading and Lilly Endowment: WGU’s School of Education received a planning grant and an implementation grant ($1.75M + total) in 2023 to expand Science of Reading teacher preparation programs and lift K—12 literacy rates across Indiana.
- The $4.8M grant for WGU California High Road Training Partnership with the California Workforce Development Board will help WGU educate 200 new teachers in California.
- Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges (B4) for Women in Tech: The goal of WGU's partnership with Reboot Representation is to double the total number of Black, Latina, and Native American (BLNA) females earning bachelor's degrees from the WGU School of Technology (WST) by the end of 2025. This year, WST doubled enrollment of BLNA females and saw a 36% increase in BLNA female graduates.
- Maui Relief Fund: There was collective effort in August 2023 to provide essential resources to our most vulnerable Night Owls after the Maui wildfires. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff came together to provide critical assistance for non-tuition expenses that threatened to derail WGU students’ academic journeys.
- The MindEdge Scholarship provides much-needed emergency funds to current WGU students to help them cover non-tuition expenses.
"I am very, very grateful for the MindEdge Scholarship. It gave me peace of mind, allowed me to pay my bills, feed my kids, and focus on my schoolwork.”
— Laura Z., Texas | School of Business
Reach & Activation
WGU is a national university, but we also know that meeting students where they are is key to their success. There are hundreds of thousands of talented individuals who feel stranded in their current educational and career prospects because of cost and time constraints.
So, while WGU’s national scale is impressive, our effort to advocate on behalf of students at the local level through policies and partnerships is what makes that scale possible. It allows more individuals to access affordable, high-quality degrees and skills while living, learning, and progressing in their own communities.
Building State Relationships
The External Affairs team nurtures relationships with state policymakers and partners to make tuition more affordable and further the university's mission to improve lives by creating pathways to opportunity.
"We are continuing to invest in Colorado's strong workforce, making sure Coloradans have the skills and resources they need to thrive, and WGU is an important part of that work."
— Colorado Governor Jared Polis, February 2023
State Aid for WGU Students
WGU Grassroots Advocacy
WGU’s grassroots program allows students and alumni to advocate on behalf of higher education by telling the WGU story to elected officials. The collective voices of our Night Owls influence public policy and inform government leaders about the power of WGU. Currently, this program has:
- More than 6,200 advocates for WGU.
- Sent more than 1,700 messages to elected officials.
- Advocates across 40 states.
Consider supporting grassroots advocacy through WGU In Your State.
Grassroots Advocacy by Type
How WGU is a Workforce Solution for States
State Policy Playbook
This playbook offers recommendations for policymakers and provides examples of existing policies that help working adult learners succeed.
Partnerships
WGU serves the needs of both education-seekers and employers through strategic partnerships with corporate entities, the military, transfer partner institutions such as community colleges, and K-12 school districts. We are also constantly striving to improve the partnership pathway from education to careers.
In 2023, nearly 55,000 new WGU students enrolled through partnerships and 17,108 students who came to WGU from partner entities were able to attain their degrees.
The strategic partnerships team was also able to support students through:
- Partnerships with 90 national and local organizations, including KFC Foundation, the City of New Orleans, McLeod Health, Premier Health Care Systems, MercyOne, Maine Health, Deaconess Health, Richmond Promise, and Lehigh Valley Health Network.
- Articulation agreements with 52% of all community colleges in the country, including 18 statewide partnerships. WGU continues to lead the country in transfer by enrolling over 25,000 students from community colleges in 2023.
- Expansion of WGU Flex, a program that assists employees as they navigate their employers’ education benefit and tuition assistance programs. Major WGU Flex partners include Apple, Bank of America, T-Mobile, Estee Lauder, OhioHealth, Capital One, and Papa John's.
- Designation as a Military Friendly School for the fourteenth consecutive year and a “Top 10 Military Spouse School” for the first time in the 2023-2024 Military Friendly® Schools survey.
National Scale, Local Impact
WGU was founded by states, for states. Our national scale is made possible by our ability to be relevant at the local and regional levels. Maintaining this relevance is a key reason we continue to pursue partnerships with states, local organizations, and community college associations—we understand that opportunities must ultimately be relevant to where individuals live.
About WGU
Established in 1997 by 19 U.S. governors, WGU endeavors to be the world's most student-centric university. As of December 2023, the nonprofit served nearly 170,000 students nationwide and had awarded almost 350,000 degrees to over 300,000 graduates in all 50 states.
What We Believe
We believe in human potential.
We believe in the inherent worth and ability of every individual. Talent is equally distributed; opportunity is not. We were founded to fix that.
We believe in the promise of education.
We believe education is the surest path to opportunity. We want to reinvent education so that every learner can have success.
We believe in our students.
If we provide them a student-centered, radically affordable, high-quality, workforce-relevant education, they will succeed.
We believe that outcomes matter.
Enrollment isn’t enough. We want to drive value for students: in their career progression, engagement, and life satisfaction.
We believe that learners are workers.
Our students don’t just want a diploma—they want a pathway to opportunity. We design our programs to maximize student success in the workplace.
We believe we can’t get there without innovation.
Sustained success depends upon doing things differently, not just better. We are compelled to innovate and change the way people engage with learning and access opportunity.
We believe that big problems demand big solutions.
The number of learners who are being left behind is massive. The only way to solve the problem is to solve it at scale.
