Sandoval endorses online university startup in Nevada

CARSON CITY — Gov. Brian Sandoval signed a proclamation Tuesday endorsing Western Governors University Nevada, a nonprofit online institution that offers undergraduate and advance college degrees in business, teaching, information technology and health professions.

“Affordable access to accredited education is the key to our future and essential to bringing more jobs to Nevada,” Sandoval said in a statement. “WGU Nevada will make it possible for more Nevadans to earn the degrees they need to advance their careers and provide better for their families.”

WGU Nevada is a competency-based university, meaning students study and learn on their own schedule and at their own pace. The method allows students to move quickly through concepts they know, allowing more time to focus on other subjects.

The program especially provides more higher learning options for adults, who might find it difficult to seek advance degrees in a traditional classroom setting while trying to juggle work and family obligations.

Established in 1997 by a group of governors, WGU bases course competency on skills and knowledge that employers in the state say workers should have. The online university offers both bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.

Though the university has been offering online learning in Nevada since it was formed, identifying it with Nevada will allow greater awareness and give it a local presence, said Joan Mitchell, vice president of public relations for the institution.

“It really is about establishing something that is Nevada focused and Nevada based,” she said. “We know that students and employers are more comfortable with a university that has a local presence.”

Spencer D. Stewart, vice president of college relations at Nevada State College in Henderson, will lead the online university in Nevada. The program will also have an advisory board made up of business, community and higher education leaders from around the state.

Nevada joins five other WGU state-based universities. Others are in Indiana, Washington, Texas, Missouri and Tennessee. The online university says it has more than 58,000 students and 43,000 graduates. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

WGU Nevada is being established through a $2 million grant from USA Funds, a nonprofit that promotes access to higher learning through its mission, “completion with a purpose.” It will then be funded with tuition, which is charged at a flat rate of about $3,000 per six-month term.

A student can begin a term on the first day of any month. WGU Nevada is already accepting enrollment applications online at http://nevada.wgu.edu.

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Find her on Twitter: @SandraChereb.