WGU Posts Top Ten Entries in its 'Smarter Way to Learn' Ad Contest - Voting is Open Through August 10

Voting begins for last round of video scholarship contest at www.wgu.edu/videocontest

SALT LAKE CITY, July 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The final phase of Western Governors University's "Make a Great Commercial" contest has begun—voting for the ten finalists is now open to the public at wgu.edu/videocontest. The online university enlisted students to create a new 30 or 60-second commercial showing why WGU is "A Smarter Way to Learn."  The top ten videos were selected based on recommendations from a panel of WGU judges as well as the number of votes they received by visitors to the site. These semi-finalist entries can be viewed on the official contest page, www.wgu.edu/videocontest, and viewers can vote for their favorite through August 10, 2010. Once the voting period is over, the five top entries will win one of three scholarships or other prizes totaling more than $12,000. Contest winners will be announced August 13, 2010.

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Scholarship awards can be used to pursue an online degree in any of WGU's colleges: Business, Education, Information Technology and Health Professions, including Nursing. The top five finalists will be determined by the number of public votes and a WGU panel of judges. Winners will be awarded one of five prizes:

Grand Prize: Scholarship valued up to $7,500 (payable at $1,500 every six-month term enrolled, for up to five terms) and a $500 cash prize.

Second Place: Scholarship valued up to $3,000 (payable at $1,000 every six-month term enrolled, for up to three terms) and $500.

Third Place: Scholarship valued up to $2,000 (payable at $1,000 every six-month term enrolled, for up to two terms) or $500.

Two runner-up prizes: $100 Amazon.com gift certificates.

To view the top ten videos and vote for your favorite, go to http://www.wgu.edu/videocontest.

About Western Governors University (WGU)

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

Recently featured on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, WGU is the only university in the U.S. offering competency-based degree programs and the only non-profit, fully online university in the country. WGU offers degree programs in Business, Education, Information Technology, and Healthcare Professions, including Nursing. Since its inception in 1997, WGU has grown into a national institution, serving more than 19,000 students in all 50 states.

As a non-profit with a mission to make higher education accessible, WGU strives to keep tuition affordable—tuition for most undergraduate and graduate programs is less than $6,000 per year and has increased less than $200 in the past four years. 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's Teachers College is the first and only exclusively online provider of teacher education to receive accreditation from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). WGU nursing programs have been accredited by the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

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

Enrollment information: 866-225-5948

SOURCE Western Governors University