Part of Western Governors University
WGU Advocate Meet WGU graduates.
We are honored to serve our students. They inspire us with their consistent ambition and courage. Read some of their stories below!
Andre Alfred.
“Everything I learned I was able to apply immediately. The day I graduated from WGU, I applied to the MIT Executive MBA Program. During the admissions process, there was an openness with regard to the WGU competency-model.”
“I am now running a large engineering organization, where I’m able to apply the MBA skills and the IT management skills that I picked up from WGU in my career, blending that into a terminal degree for the Doctorate to be able to continue to build these world-class systems for Oracle.”
Rashaan Green.
“Here I was, a graduate of WGU, sitting in a waiting area with other college graduates from NYU, Columbia, Georgetown, and many other Ivy League colleges from across the country.”
“I was eventually offered two different positions that I declined because, when I told my current employer that I was planning on leaving due to an offer with the NSA, they doubled my salary amount.”
Connie Washington.
“Running has taught me so many valuable lessons. I was a sprinter. So I like to move quickly. I like to get things done. That’s my mindset.”
“It’s interesting when I think about what running taught me and how I was able to carry that over into my schooling to get my degree (at WGU). I learned that it’s on you...it’s individual goals…it’s on me to get it done. And finish strong. That’s the same thing I did during my time at WGU.”
Dana Ralph.
Mayor of Kent, Washington. Three-time WGU graduate. Business owner. Former city councilor. Public servant. Cancer survivor. Wife. Mother. You name it, Dana Ralph can do it.
“It’s important to me to be able to make it the best place I can make it for the next generation,” she said. “The management and leadership degree taught me a lot about leadership styles, what’s important, how to be a servant leader, how to make sure that the folks that I work with are getting everything they need.”
Mary Fredette.
“Something so unique about WGU is the mentors. I feel like that’s the difference I needed at an online college. My mentor is there to call me every Monday, make sure I’m really reaching that next step, she’ll help me set deadlines that maybe will push me just a little bit, that little nudge I need to progress through it quickly.”
“Throughout the courses, I gained so much confidence that I decided I could actually do this and didn’t feel that before starting school at WGU. Your education at WGU is in your own hands.”
Jessica Etienne.
Graduate in business.
“I feel that my mentor and the course instructors genuinely care about me and are invested in my progress. It is an amazing feeling to know they are in my corner. As a mom, I'm just trying to be a great example for my daughter. I'm learning more and more about myself every day."
Lisa Turnbull.
Graduate in I.T.
“The WGU model allowed me to thrive. I needed a competency-based program that allowed me to use my experience. I needed the flexibility to allow me to be a mom, a wife, a daughter, and a friend, a girl scout leader. I needed affordability because I had a family and could not add another bill.”
Joel Bianchi.
Graduate in teaching.
“Half of what I learned from my master’s at WGU is a model for my classroom: tailoring curriculum for each student, checking in with them while giving them freedom, reducing structure and giving room for kids to learn how they learn best.”