Western Governors University begins second year of Economic Turnaround Program

In May 2009, Western Governors University launched its Economic Turnaround Program, a scholarship program designed to help recently laid-off workers go back to school to complete a bachelors or post-baccalaureate degree.

The program is about to begin its second year and still has nearly $200,000 in available student funding.

The Economic Turnaround scholarships are need-based and are valued at up to $1,250 per six-month term for as many as four terms. The program is open to new WGU students who have become unemployed in the past 12 months. To be eligible, students must be able to complete a bachelors or post-baccalaureate degree in less than two years and be admitted to WGU.

All students enrolled in the College of Business, College of Information Technology and College of Health Professions are eligible. In addition, bachelors degree programs in the Teacher College, as well as post-baccalaureate and masters in teaching programs (leading to initial teacher licensure), are eligible.

In the year since the program's initiation, the non-profit university has awarded more than $565,000 in scholarships to more than 100 new WGU students. WGU is the only university in the country offering competency-based degree programs and the only non-profit, fully online university in the country. Degree programs are offered in business, education, information technology and various healthcare professions, including nursing.

The university has earned the support of more than 20 leading corporations and foundations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, AT&T and Dell.

By Mark Danson