As part of its membership in Community Colleges of Appalachia (CCA), West Georgia Technical College has announced that its graduates and employees can now more easily further their education through accredited online Western Governors University (WGU). Representatives from CCA and WGU signed a transfer institution agreement at CCA’s recent conference in Asheville, North Carolina.
WGU is an accredited, nonprofit online university offering more than 80 bachelor’s and master’s degrees and certificate programs in business, technology, health care and K-12 education. WGU’s asynchronous competency-based programs are designed to fit into busy work and home schedules and create pathways to opportunity.
The common goal of the agreement is to provide CCA member-institution graduates and employees with flexible, personalized learning pathways to higher education and professional development through WGU’s competency-based online programs. The agreement will also formalize the transfer of applicable credits between CCA members and WGU, so graduates of member schools will likely not need to repeat coursework as they pursue bachelor’s degrees through WGU.
Graduates, staff and faculty of CCA member schools will also be able to apply for specially designated Learn Where You Live Scholarships valued up to $3,000 each. Tuition is around $4,000 per six-month term for most WGU bachelor’s degree programs, and students can take as many classes as they wish within a term with the consent of their assigned program mentor.
“This partnership is especially meaningful for our small and rural colleges, where access to affordable, flexible bachelor’s degree programs is often out of reach,” said Dr. Kevin Boys, executive director of CCA. “WGU’s model helps eliminate those barriers and opens doors for both students and employees to continue their education without leaving their communities.”
The CCA boasts 85 member institutions spanning from Mississippi to New York. In Georgia, its members include West Georgia Technical College, Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Chattahoochee Technical College, Lanier Technical College, and Athens Technical College.
“This agreement with WGU gives our graduates and employees even more opportunity to advance their education,” said Dr. Julie Post, president of West Georgia Technical College. “We are always looking for ways to expand access and remove barriers, and this partnership ensures that the hard work our students put in at WGTC will carry forward as they pursue their bachelor’s degrees.”
To learn more about the partnership visit www.wgu.edu/cca. For information about CCA, visit www.ccofapp.org.
