Western Governors University
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| Motto | "A New Kind of U." |
|---|---|
| Type | Private, Non-profit |
| Established | 1997 |
| President | Scott D. Pulsipher |
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Academic staff
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2,000 |
| Students | 78,709 (January 31, 2017) |
| Location |
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
| Campus | Online |
| Mascot | Sage the Night Owl |
| Website | wgu.edu |
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Western Governors University (WGU) is a private, nonprofit, online American university based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university was founded by 19 U.S. governors in 1997 after the idea was formulated at a 1995 meeting of the Western Governors Association. The university uses a competency-based learning model, with students working online. Scott D. Pulsipher is the current university president, having joined WGU on April 11, 2016; WGU's first president, Robert Mendenhall, is president emeritus and remains a member of WGU's Board of Trustees. WGU's accreditation is through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
A federal investigation conducted on WGU concluded in September 2017 that it did not comply with the institutional eligibility requirement that limits the percentage of regular students who may enroll in correspondence courses. According to the audit, many courses do not offer regular and substantive interaction with an instructor and, therefore, do not meet the regulatory definition of distance education.
WGU was officially founded in 1997 in the United States by the governors of 19 U.S. states. It was first proposed by then-governor of Utah Mike Leavitt at the annual meeting of the Western Governors Association in June 1995. It was formally proposed the following November, and in June 1996 each signing state governor committed $100,000 toward the launch of the new competency-based university. While the seed money was provided from government sources, the school was to be established as a self-supporting private, nonprofit institution. In January 1997, 13 governors were on hand to sign the articles of incorporation formally beginning the new university.
In 2001, the United States Department of Education awarded $10 million to found the Teachers College, and the first programs were offered in Information Technology. In 2003, the university became the first school to be accredited in four different regions by the Interregional Accrediting Committee. In 2006, the fourth college, the College of Health Professions, was founded, and the school's Teachers College became the first online teacher-preparation program to receive NCATE accreditation. In 2010, the first state-established offshoot WGU Indiana, was founded by Mitch Daniels, governor of Indiana, and the school reached 20,000 students for the first time. In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided $4.5 million for WGU Indiana and the creation of WGU Texas and WGU Washington.
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