Graduates from 43 States to Participate in WGU Regional Commencement in Austin on Saturday
Saturday, August 18, 2018 - Frank Erwin Center
Master’s Ceremony 9:30 a.m. CDT
Bachelor’s Ceremony 1:45 p.m. CDT
Live Stream: www.wgu.edu/wgu/commencement_austin2018
AUSTIN — (August 17, 2018) More than 1,000 graduates from 43 states, the District of Columbia, military installations overseas, and Canada will participate in Western Governors University’s 67th commencement in Austin, Texas, on Saturday. Latrivia Guinn, a graduate from Richmond, Texas, will share her story of weathering Hurricane Harvey and the other “life hurricanes” on her journey to earning her degree and starting her new role as Program Director at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.
Commencement for master’s degree recipients will begin at 9:30 a.m. CDT, with the bachelor’s ceremony following at 1:45 p.m. CDT. Both ceremonies will be held at the Frank Erwin Center, but for those graduates, faculty, and staff who are unable attend the ceremony in person, the entire program will be streamed live at www.wgu.edu/wgu/commencement_austin2018
Decorated U.S. Army Black Hawk Pilot Elizabeth McCormick will give the commencement address and will be joined by graduate speakers Matthew Brimer, B.S. IT, Security from Moore, Oklahoma; Taylor Crow, B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies from Tomball, Texas; Joshua O’Nishea, M.S. Educational Leadership from Haughton, Louisiana; and Latrivia Guinn, M.S. Nursing – Education from Richmond, Texas.
During Saturday’s ceremonies, WGU will recognize 10,851 undergraduate and 8,219 graduate degree recipients, who have completed their degrees since January 1, 2018, including 1,518 graduates of WGU Texas. Their areas of study include business, K-12 education, information technology, and health professions, including nursing. The average time to graduation for those earning a bachelor’s degree was 2 years, 4 months, while the average time to degree for graduate programs was 1 year, 8 months. The average age for those graduating is 39 years old.
Designed to meet the needs of working adults, WGU pioneered competency-based education, which measures learning rather than time spent in class. This model allows students to study and learn on their own schedules with individualized, one-to-one faculty support. They complete courses as soon as they demonstrate that they have mastered the subject matter, enabling them to move quickly through material they already know and spend more time on what they still need to learn. As a result, many WGU students are able to accelerate their studies, saving both time and money.
