Western Governors University

WGU was born at a meeting of the Western Governors' Association as a solution to a growing need for a college-educated workforce—a need that was not being fully met by traditional higher education. These governors, along with early and enthusiastic leadership from academic and industry innovators, built the foundation that allowed WGU to become what it is today.

WGU is a nonprofit, online university that was founded by 19 U.S. governors. However, WGU is a private university, not a state university. WGU developed out of a vision for the future of higher education that emerged among the governors of the Western Governors Association (hence our name), but WGU operates independently with its own governance structure. This allows us to keep our focus on students, following the vision that got us started.

Inequity remains one of higher education’s most pressing and persistent student success challenges. With this grant funding, WGU Labs—the university’s research and development hub and an accelerator for scalable EdTech solutions—will create a plan for research and improvement of student equity at WGU.