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Western Governors University

Gallup and Western Governors University have partnered since 2014 to quantify the life and learning outcomes of WGU students and compare those outcomes to national benchmarks.

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Western Governors University 2023 Alumni Survey

Access to higher education in the U.S. is a major concern, especially given rising college costs and continued disparities in enrollment based on student race and ethnicity. As a result, it's not surprising that just 36% of Americans have confidence in the higher education sector.

Western Governors University (WGU) is one institution committed to changing the narrative about higher education, striving to offer a college education that is widely accessible, supportive and affordable.

To measure the extent to which WGU is succeeding in this mission, Gallup surveyed nearly 2,800 WGU alumni who completed their undergraduate degree between 2018 and 2022 and compared the results to the responses of more than 900 national bachelor's degree holders who completed their degree during the same period.

Western Governors University 2023 Alumni Survey report cover

Download the report to see how WGU alumni rate their educational experience, how they feel about their lives after graduation and the factors driving high satisfaction among WGU graduates.

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Survey Methods

Results from this study are based on 2,798 web survey responses from WGU alumni who received their undergraduate degree between 2018 and 2022. Gallup conducted the survey from Nov. 16 to Dec. 8, 2023. WGU provided the sample of alumni email addresses. Alumni were included in the study if the institution had an email address on file.

Results from the national study used for comparison purposes -- the Gallup Alumni Survey -- are based on 927 web surveys from respondents who received a bachelor's degree between 2018 and 2022, are aged 18 or older, have internet access, and live in one of the 50 U.S. states or the District of Columbia. Of these, 571 graduated from public universities, and 281 graduated from private, not-for-profit universities. There were 279 graduates from the national sample aged 25 or older at graduation. Results were collected over multiple fielding periods, including Oct. 21 to Nov. 4, 2019; Nov. 18 to Dec. 1, 2021; Nov. 21 to Nov. 30, 2022; and Nov. 21 to Nov. 29, 2023.

All reported margins of sampling error for the Gallup Alumni Survey include the computed design effects for weighting.

For results based on the total sample of 2,798 respondents with a bachelor's degree from WGU, the margin of sampling error is ±1.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the 927 respondents from the Gallup Alumni Survey with a bachelor's degree conferred between 2018 and 2022, the margin of sampling error is ±3.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the 571 respondents from the Gallup Alumni Survey with a bachelor's degree from a public university conferred between 2018 and 2022, the margin of sampling error is ±4.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the 281 respondents from the Gallup Alumni Survey with a bachelor's degree from a private, not-for-profit university conferred between 2018 and 2022, the margin of sampling error is ±6.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the 279 respondents from the Gallup Alumni Survey with a bachelor's degree conferred between 2018 and 2022 when aged 25 or older, the margin of sampling error is ±6.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

76% of WGU alumni are extremely likely to recommend their university, compared with 41% of bachelor's degree holders nationally

76% of WGU graduates trust their university makes decisions with students' best interests in mind, compared with 39% of graduates nationally

73% of WGU alumni strongly agree their degree was worth the cost -- more than double the percentage of national bachelor's degree holders who say the same (34%)