Bob Collins joined Western Governors University in October 2012. He is committed to expanding access to affordable higher education, and in 2016 WGU received national recognition from AAUA and WCET for its Responsible Borrowing Initiatives programs which encourage students to borrow only what they need resulting in a student loan default rate of 4.1 percent, half the national average.

Before coming to WGU, Collins had more than 35 years of experience in student aid administration. He has been a member of several technical review panels for the National Center for Education Statistics, participated on numerous negotiated rulemaking committees, and actively engaged in the Distance Education Demonstration Program with the U.S. Department of Education. 

Collins is a member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Forward 50 committee as a national thought leader on higher education public policy. He has published several topical articles on LinkedIn and has been quoted by Yahoo, Education Dive, Good Call, Huffington Post and U.S. News and World Report, among other media outlets.