WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 750
graduates from 45 states, the District of
Columbia, Canada, and
military instillations overseas will gather on Saturday in
Washington, D.C. to celebrate at
Western Governors University's (WGU)
68th commencement. The master's ceremony will begin at
9:30 a.m., and the bachelor's
ceremony will follow at 1:15 p.m.
Both ceremonies will be held at DAR Constitution Hall, but for
those graduates, families, and faculty who are unable to attend,
the entire program will be streamed live at
https://www.wgu.edu/wgu/commencement_washington2018
Karla Ortiz Flores from
Chicago, Illinois, is one of four
graduates who will speak at the commencement. Flores will share her
journey of earning her master's degree while coordinating aid
efforts, including shipping water and distributing emergency
funding to her family who was dealing with the devastation of
Hurricane Maria in Puerto
Rico.
Dr. Ted Mitchell, President of
the American Council on Education, will give the commencement
address. Joining him will be graduate speakers Danielle Smith, B.S. Information Technology
Management from Yonkers, NY;
Nicole Ibarra-Vogel, B.A. Special
Education from Ashburn, VA;
Jacqueline Becerra, M.S. Nursing -
Leadership and Management from San
Antonio, TX; and Karla Ortiz
Flores, M.S. Management and Leadership from Chicago, IL.
During Saturday's ceremonies, WGU will recognize 11,879
undergraduate and 9,062 graduate degree recipients, who have
completed their degrees since January 1,
2018. Their areas of study include business, K-12 education,
information technology, and health professions, including nursing.
The average time to graduation for those earning a bachelor's
degree was 2 years, 4 months, while the average time for graduate
programs was 1 year, 10 months. The average age for those
graduating is 39 years old.
Designed to meet the needs of working adults, WGU pioneered
competency-based education, which measures learning rather than
time spent in class. This model allows students to study and learn
on their own schedules with individualized, one-to-one faculty
support. They complete courses as soon as they demonstrate that
they have mastered the subject matter, enabling them to move
quickly through material they already know and spend more time on
what they still need to learn. As a result, many WGU students are
able to accelerate their studies, saving both time and money.
About WGU
Established in 1997 by 19 U.S. governors
with a mission to expand access to high-quality, affordable higher
education, online, nonprofit WGU now serves more than 102,000
students nationwide and has 119,000 graduates in all 50 states.
Driving innovation as the nation's leading competency-based
university, WGU has been recognized by the White House, state
leaders, employers, and students as a model that works in
postsecondary education. In just 21 years, the university has
become a leading influence in changing the lives of individuals and
families, and preparing the workforce needed in today's rapidly
evolving economy. WGU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on
Colleges and Universities, has been named one of Fast
Company's Most Innovative Companies, and was featured on NPR,
NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in The New York Times. Learn more at www.wgu.edu.
Follow WGU:
http://www.facebook.com/wgu.edu
http://www.linkedin.com/companies/western-governors-university
http://twitter.com/wgu
http://www.youtube.com/WesternGovernorsUniv
http://google.com/+wgu
http://news.wgu.edu/news/news.xml
Contact for media
inquiries:
|
Contact for
enrollment information:
|
Joan Mitchell – VP of
Public Relations
|
866-225-5948
|
801-428-5463
|
wgu.edu
|
jmitchell@wgu.edu
|
|
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SOURCE Western Governors
University