Western Governors University emphasizes mastery of essential skills and knowledge in your field, basing progress toward your online degree on passing rigorous assessments (such as tests, projects, assignments, etc.) instead of accumulating credit hours. We call it competency-based learning.

With bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in education, business, information technology, and health professions, WGU’s rigorous yet flexible approach to education gives the university a unique advantage over other online programs. Here’s what the WGU Advantage means to you:

• An online learning and assessment model that gives you flexibility and control over your education.
• A dedicated mentor committed to your success.
• A trusted quality education from a regionally, nationally, and NCATE-accredited institution.
• Affordable tuition with the possibility of accelerated learning that equals lower costs for your education.

Featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams in their "What Works" segment, WGU is the recipient of the USDLA 21st Century Award for Best Practices in Distance Learning for 2008, awarded in recognition of our success in expanding access to higher education. TIME Magazine also called WGU "the best relatively cheap university you've never heard of".

Western Governors University is the only university to have received simultaneous accreditation by four regional accrediting commissions. Currently, WGU's "home" accrediting commission is the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the same organization that accredits such leading institutions as the University of Washington, University of Oregon, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and other public and private colleges. WGU is also nationally accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). The WGU Teachers College is the only exclusively online university to receive NCATE accreditation for its degree programs that lead to teacher licensure from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).