Western Governors University Overview
Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, Western Governors University is a private not-for-profit institution. The suburban atmosphere of Salt Lake City makes it a great place for students who want the amenities of city life without actually living in the middle of a constant hustle and bustle.
What Is Western Governors University Known For?
- The 4% student loan default rate at WGU is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The master's degree is the highest award offered at WGU.
- In 2017-2018, 76% of the faculty were full-time.
- Students who graduate from WGU with a bachelor's degree make about $41,900 a year. That's 3% more than those who graduate from other schools.
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Western Governors University Rankings
WGU is ranked #422 out of 2,587 schools in the nation for overall quality on our 2022 Best Colleges list. It is also ranked #1 out of 19 schools in Utah.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
WGU has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
| Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
|---|---|---|
| #227 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at WGU.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards WGU has earned from around the web.
| Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
|---|---|---|
| #11 | Best Computer Programming Schools | College Factual |
| #19 | Best Information Technology Schools | College Factual |
| #78 | Best Nursing Schools | College Factual |
| #95 | Best Computer & Information Sciences Schools | College Factual |
| #105 | Best Nursing Schools | Nursing Degree Search |
| #179 | Best Health Professions Schools | College Factual |
Where Is Western Governors University?
Contact details for WGU are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 4001 South 700 East Suite 700, Salt Lake City, UT 84107 |
| Phone: | 801-274-3280 |
| Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/wgu.edu |
| Twitter: | http://twitter.com/wgu |
How Do I Get Into WGU?
You can apply to WGU online at: wwwforms.wgu.edu/wgu/app/app_step0
Can I Afford Western Governors University?
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At WGU, approximately 68% of students took out student loans averaging $5,590 a year. That adds up to $22,360 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at WGU is 4.1%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Western Governors University Undergraduate Student Diversity
Gender Diversity
Of the 104,919 full-time undergraduates at WGU, 37% are male and 63% are female.
Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Western Governors University students is as follows.
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
|---|---|
| Asian | 3,562 |
| Black or African American | 9,971 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 11,484 |
| White | 63,686 |
| International Students | 89 |
| Other Races/Ethnicities | 16,127 |
Online Learning at Western Governors University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at WGU has changed over the last few years.
This school is the most popular in Utah for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of WGU Rankings
The following table shows how WGU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are mostly online.
| Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Systems Networking | #1 | #1 |
| Medical Illustration & Informatics | #1 | #1 |
| Teaching English or French | #1 | #1 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | #1 | #1 |
| Educational Assessment | #1 | #1 |
| General Sales & Marketing | #1 | #1 |
| Curriculum & Instruction | #1 | #1 |
| Computer Programming | #1 | #1 |
| Computer Science | #1 | #1 |
| Accounting | #1 | #1 |
| Computer Software & Applications | #4 | #4 |
| Computer Information Systems | #4 | #4 |
| Health Professions | #4 | #1 |
| Management Information Systems | #4 | #4 |
| Instructional Media Design | #4 | #1 |
| Special Education | #4 | #1 |
| Information Technology | #5 | #5 |
| Nursing | #7 | #4 |
| Human Resource Management | #7 | #7 |
| Educational Administration | #7 | #4 |
| Health Sciences & Services | #7 | #4 |
| Health & Medical Administrative Services | #10 | #10 |
| Marketing | #10 | #7 |
| Business Administration & Management | #22 | #13 |
Online Growth Rankings of WGU
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Western Governors University was 15.2%. This is the #722 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at WGU regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of WGU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
| Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
|---|---|
| Accounting | 29% |
| Business Administration & Management | 15% |
| Business, Management & Marketing | 16% |
| Computer & Information Sciences | 33% |
| Computer Information Systems | 28% |
| Computer Programming | 5% |
| Computer Science | 88% |
| Computer Software & Applications | 44% |
| Curriculum & Instruction | 37% |
| Education | 19% |
| Educational Administration | 11% |
| Educational Assessment | 25% |
| Health & Medical Administrative Services | 40% |
| Health Professions | 20% |
| Human Resource Management | 12% |
| Information Technology | 34% |
| Instructional Media Design | 25% |
| Management Information Systems | 21% |
| Marketing | 5% |
| Nursing | 11% |
| Special Education | 9% |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 18% |
| Teaching English or French | 20% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at WGU ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major.
| Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| Educational Assessment | #16 | |
| Medical Illustration & Informatics | #23 | |
| General Sales & Marketing | #43 | |
| Computer Systems Networking | #45 | |
| Teaching English or French | #47 | |
| Computer Science | #50 | |
| Health Sciences & Services | #58 | |
| Curriculum & Instruction | #73 | |
| Management Information Systems | #89 | |
| Computer Software & Applications | #90 | |
| Computer Programming | #95 | |
| Instructional Media Design | #104 | |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | #150 | |
| Marketing | #150 | |
| Special Education | #155 | |
| Educational Administration | #178 | |
| Human Resource Management | #182 | |
| Information Technology | #211 | |
| Nursing | #226 | |
| Computer Information Systems | #236 | |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | #251 | |
| Health & Medical Administrative Services | #347 | |
| Accounting | #377 | |
| Computer & Information Sciences | #473 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Western Governors University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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