Western Governors University
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Pell and non-Pell students graduate at nearly identical rates — a notably small equity gap.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 70 Title IV programs, 27 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 43 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing27 · 38.6%
- No Data43 · 61.4%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Distance Education Accrediting Commission
Programmatic accreditations · 5
Action history · 7
- Feb 2025Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: LapseNational League for Nursing, Commission for Nurse Education Accreditation · Nursing - Master’s degree
- Feb 2025Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: LapseNational League for Nursing, Commission for Nurse Education Accreditation · Nursing - Bachelor’s degree
- Apr 2024Renewal of AccreditationCommission on Collegiate Nursing Education · Nursing (CNURED) - Nursing education programs at the baccalaureate degree levels
- Apr 2024Renewal of AccreditationCommission on Collegiate Nursing Education · Nursing (CNURED) - Nursing education programs at the graduate degree levels
- Mar 2024Renewal of AccreditationNorthwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 96,307 students received $456.3M in Pell grants, alongside $648.6M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 31,873 borrowers who entered repayment, 253 (0.7%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Western Governors
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Western Governors vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Western Governors selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectWestern Governors University | 46% | — | 210,208 | $10,442 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Colorado Christian University | 63% | 94.3% | 9,951 | $25,458 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Northwest Nazarene University | 71% | 64.7% | 1,635 | $25,537 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Southern New Hampshire University | 44% | 99.5% | 189,531 | $33,742 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
University of the People | 29% | — | 41,961 | — | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
National University | 50% | 54.5% | 22,115 | $31,058 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
| Peer group median | 48% | 79.5% | 32,038 | $25,537 |
Frequently asked questions about Western Governors University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Western Governors.
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