For Students Heading Back to School, Mounting College Debt Highlights Need to Keep College Affordable

WGU keeps costs low with student-centered competency-based approach to education

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Finding ways to pay for college without forcing students to accumulate excessive debt is an important national challenge if we are to meet the higher education needs of our citizens. Getting a college degree often costs too much, and an increasing number of students graduate with staggering debt that can burden them for many years to come. The nation will not meet its goals for increasing the percentage of college-educated citizens unless we find ways to make college more affordable and to keep college borrowing to a minimum.

Today, roughly 40% of America's college students are nontraditional students who are responsible for supporting themselves and usually have children and jobs.  Some may have tried college immediately after high school, but didn't finish. They've come back to get a bachelor's or master's degree that will help them get a job or promotion, change careers, or increase their earning potential. They need a credible degree, and they will probably have to borrow money to get it.

Student loans make it possible for these nontraditional students to go to college, but they can create a financial trap if used unwisely. They are relatively easy to qualify for under federal financial aid rules, and, in most cases, students can borrow an amount that exceeds the cost of tuition. These "excess funds" are used for living expenses, books, and in some cases, to pay off other debts. Given these factors, it is easy to see why adult students tend to borrow more than traditional students.  

As an institution that serves nontraditional students, nonprofit Western Governors University is keenly aware of this issue and is working to ensure more adult students complete their degrees with less debt. We're doing this in a few notable ways:

• Keeping tuition low—tuition for a full 12-month year at WGU (with no limit on the number of courses) is less than $6,000 per year for most programs, and it has only increased by $200 in the past five years.
• Allowing students to move through coursework as quickly as they can demonstrate mastery of course material—the average time to complete an accredited bachelor's degree is two and a half years, which represents a total cost of about $15,000.
• Counseling students to understand student loans and keep their borrowing to a minimum—the average debt for a WGU student graduating with a bachelor's degree is $18,400.
• Working with students to encourage responsible borrowing and loan repayment—the default rate for WGU students is now at 5% and has decreased steadily over the past two years.
• Focusing on the needs of adult learners to help more students succeed—one-on-one mentoring, flexible scheduling, and even assistance programs for life issues help increase the number who will graduate. Currently, 54% of WGU students are on track to graduate within four years, and 83% are on track to finish within six.

America's colleges and universities are on the right track. By continuing to keep tuition affordable and offering a variety of quality options to accommodate the needs of all of the state's students, we can help ensure that quality higher education is accessible to all Americans.

About Western Governors University

"[WGU is] the best relatively cheap university you've never heard of."– TIME magazine

Featured on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and in The New York Times, WGU is the only university in the U.S. offering competency-based degree programs and the only nonprofit, fully online university with students in all 50 states. WGU offers 50 degree programs in Business, Education, Information Technology, and Health Professions, including Nursing. Since its inception in 1997, WGU has grown into a national institution, serving more than 25,000 students. WGU is self-sustaining on tuition, and does not rely on state or national support to fund its operations.  

WGU is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and nationally accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). WGU nursing programs have been accredited by the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and its B.S. in Health Informatics is accredited by CAHIIM (Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education). WGU's Teachers College is the first and only exclusively online provider of teacher education to receive accreditation for its degree programs that lead to teacher licensure from NCATE, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

In 2011, WGU received its second 21st Century Award for Best Practices in Distance learning from the United States Distance Learning Association, (USDLA). In addition, WGU President Robert W. Mendenhall was recognized for his achievements in higher education when he received the 2010 McGraw Prize in Education.

On June 11, 2010, WGU Indiana, referred to by Governor Mitch Daniels as Indiana's eighth state university, was formed through a partnership with the state. WGU Washington was established by the Washington State Legislature on April 22, 2011.  On August 3, 2011, the state of Texas created WGU Texas. Subsidiaries of Western Governors University, WGU Indiana, WGU Washington, and WGU Texas are state-endorsed and offer degree programs that are accredited through Western Governors University.

The university has earned the support of more than 20 leading corporations and foundations. They include institutions such as AT&T, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dell, Lilly Endowment, HCA, Hewlett-Packard, Lumina Foundation, Microsoft, Oracle, Qwest, SunGard Higher Education, and Zions Bank. More information is available at www.wgu.edu or by calling 866.225.5948.

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Contact for media inquiries:
Joan Mitchell – Director of PR
801-428-5463
[email protected]

Contact for enrollment information:
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www.wgu.edu

SOURCE Western Governors University