Academics

As a university, WGU won't rest until everyone has access to education. This means continually innovating for the benefit of students and developing education pathways that provide opportunity and promote lifelong skill development. WGU's academic organization and faculty is built around student needs, placing the student at the center of everything we do. 

Access without attainment does not deliver on the promise of higher education. To measure whether we’re expanding access, we must measure growth in credentials earned. Graduation is the goal. And 2020 saw more students complete their WGU degrees than any previous year—in fact, of all graduates in WGU’s history, 22% graduated in 2020!

Providing equitable access to populations historically not well-served by higher education is the first step toward closing the opportunity gap and ensuring our collective resilience. These populations include students from communities of color, low-income families, rural locations, and/or families in which previous generations did not attend college. According to self-reporting at the time of enrollment, 69% of WGU’s students come from at least one of these populations.

WGU is recognized year after year as a leader in higher education. Our people take pride in making a difference by providing value to our students and offering high-quality programs and courses. Working with industry partners, developing a robust competency-based education program, and developing strategic innovations to bring educational access to more students are just some of the ways we are focused on making a difference.

Follow the links below to each of our four colleges to find out about the leadership for, the mission of, and the recognition earned by each college.

As a competency-based education institution, the core of our practice is to prove competency of subjects through assessments, not time spent in a class. WGU relies on the Assessment Council to provide direction for developing assessment processes for students.

Current Assessment Council members:

Randy Bennett
Norman O. Frederiksen Chair in Assessment Innovation
ETS
Ph.D., Columbia University

C. Victor Bunderson
Professor, Instructional Psychology & Technology
Brigham Young University
Ph.D., Princeton University

Peter Ewell
Vice President
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS)
Ph.D., Yale University

Ric Luecht
Professor of Education Research Methodology
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Lawrence Rudner
Vice President, R&D
Graduate Management Admission Council
Ph.D., The Catholic University of America

Donna L. Sundre
Professor of Psychology
Executive Director, Center for Assessment and Research Studies
James Madison University
Ed.D., University of North Carolina at Greensboro

The General Education Council is responsible for the curriculum that is foundational to WGU's bachelor's degree programs.

Milton Chen
Senior Fellow
The George Lucas Educational Foundation
Ph.D., Stanford University

Christine Johnson
Chancellor/CEO
Community Colleges of Spokane
Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder

Matt Newcomb
Associate Professor & Composition Coordinator, English Department
SUNY New Paltz
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University

Amelia Ross-Hammond
Professor of Music, Director, Service-Learning and Civic Engagement
Norfolk State University
Ph.D., University of Denver