When the governors of 19 western states joined forces 24 years ago to establish a new kind of college, no one could have anticipated how it would grow.
But grow it did, and now Western Governors University — a private nonprofit college that offers a low-cost, competency-based approach to higher education — is partnering with community colleges in the Pittsburgh region to offer a seamless degree completion option for those leaving community college with an associate’s degree.
Westmoreland County Community College recently signed an agreement calling for Western Governors, or WGU, to accept its associate degrees as credit toward a bachelor’s degree. With the new agreement, WCCC joins community colleges in Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties that have agreements with WGU.
The school, founded on the concept of extending higher education to those who don’t have access to college campuses, enrolls about 130,000 students in 50 states. It was established with nontraditional students in mind. All classes are online, and WGU charges a flat fee of about $6,000-$8,000 a year, depending upon course of study.
The average time to a bachelor’s degree for a community college graduate enrolling in WGU is about 1½ years — or three terms, said Alison Bell, WGU regional vice president. Because terms run for six months and students can enroll in and complete classes anytime during the semester, it’s a simple matter, officials say, for students to accelerate and reduce the time and cost needed to complete a degree.
Tuesday Stanley, president of WCCC, said WGU could be a good fit for many local community college graduates in part because it offers wraparound programs and advising designed to meet students where they live and help them move toward degree completion.
WGU enrolls about 2,500 students across Pennsylvania. Of those, about 1,900 transferred in with some college credit, a spokeswoman said.
The new agreement with WCCC includes a $2,500 scholarship for graduates who transfer into the online school, payable over four terms. It allows students to enroll in 95 pathways in four WGU colleges that offer courses leading to degrees in business, teaching, health professions and information technology.
The agreement is the most recent of more than 50 WCCC has with schools ranging from flagship public universities such as Pitt and West Virginia to private, for-profit online schools such as Strayer and Kaplan universities.
Bell said WGU, which offers accredited courses culminating in a master’s as well as undergraduate degrees, recently awarded its 250,000th diploma.
Stanley said she is grateful to WGU for working with the community college to offer graduates a new option for getting a degree that doesn’t require them to relocate.
“We want to keep our students in this region so they can live and work together here,” Stanley said.
