Scholarship program offers up to $2,000 for service members and their spouses earning a bachelor's or master's degree

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Online and accredited Western Governors University (www.wgu.edu) has launched the WGU Reservists and National Guard Scholarship program. Created to help Reserves and National Guard service members and their spouses earn a bachelor's or master's degree, each scholarship is valued at up to $2,000 and supports new students enrolling in any of WGU's more than 50 online degree programs in the fields of business, teacher education, information technology, or health professions, including nursing.

The Reservist and National Guard Scholarship program is competitive, and scholarship recipients will be awarded based on the candidate's academic record, financial need, and readiness for online study. Several scholarships will be awarded at the rate of $500 per six-month term, renewable for up to four terms. To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be officially admitted to WGU, show financial need, and be able to submit transcripts showing completion of appropriate college coursework.

A top military-friendly university for five years in a row, WGU's accredited online degree programs provide a flexible and affordable way to earn a degree and are ideal for military service members and their spouses. WGU uses competency-based learning, which means students can use knowledge gained from prior education and work experience to complete coursework more quickly. This allows them to accelerate through material they already know and focus on what they still need to learn, potentially saving both time and money. Students can study and access coursework from anywhere with an Internet connection and on their own schedule. Tuition for most programs is $2,890 per six-month term. In addition to accepting federal financial aid, WGU's programs are approved for education benefits under the GI Bill.

WGU currently serves more than 2,400 active-duty military personnel, military dependants and spouses, and veterans. To learn more about military-specific scholarships at WGU, please visit www.wgu.edu/scholarships.

About Western Governors University

Featured on NPR's "All Things Considered," The NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, CNN's "Schools of Thought," and in The New York Times, WGU is the only university in the U.S. offering accredited, competency-based bachelor's and master's degree programs. WGU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. WGU's Teachers College is the first and only exclusively online provider of teacher education to receive accreditation for its teacher licensure programs from NCATE, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. The WGU bachelor's and master's nursing degree programs have been accredited by the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and its B.S. in Health Informatics is accredited by CAHIIM (Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education).

On June 11, 2010, WGU Indiana was created by Governor Mitch Daniels as Indiana's eighth state university. WGU Washington was established by the Washington State Legislature on April 22, 2011.  On August 3, 2011, the state of Texas created WGU Texas. WGU Indiana, WGU Washington, and WGU Texas are state-endorsed and offer degree programs that are accredited through Western Governors University.

The university has earned the support of more than 20 leading corporations and foundations. They include institutions such as AT&T, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lilly Endowment, HCA, Hewlett-Packard, Lumina Foundation, Microsoft, Oracle, SunGard Higher Education, and Zions Bank. More information is available at www.wgu.edu or by calling 866.225.5948.

Follow WGU:
http://www.facebook.com/wgu.edu  
http://www.linkedin.com/companies/western-governors-university  
http://twitter.com/wgu  
http://www.youtube.com/WesternGovernorsUniv  
http://news.wgu.edu/news/news.xml

Contact for media inquiries: 
Joan Mitchell – Director of PR
801-428-5463  
jmitchell@wgu.edu            

Contact for enrollment information: 
866-225-5948
www.wgu.edu

SOURCE Western Governors University