Leading business-media publication notes online university's affordable, high-quality, competency-based approach to education

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Online, nonprofit university Western Governors University, www.wgu.edu, was honored this week in Fast Company's annual Most Innovative Companies issue, ranking among leading businesses including Apple, Amazon, Google, and Target along with such rising newcomers as Square, Fab, and Tumblr.

The Most Innovative Companies is Fast Company's most significant, high-profile editorial effort of the year. The editorial team spends months gathering and sifting data to identify those enterprises that exemplify the best in business from across the economy and around the world. The end result is a package that dares to be different, emphasizing not just revenue growth and profit margins but also progressive business models and an ethos of creativity. 

In ranking WGU, Fast Company notes that WGU leads the nation in master's degrees in math education and offers high-quality, accredited, affordable bachelor's and master's programs in teaching, healthcare (including nursing), IT, and business. It highlights the fact that WGU's programs are developed with input from leading employers throughout the industry. And it emphasizes the ways WGU uses innovative technologies to improve learning while keeping tuition low.

"And while public university tuition was rising by about 5% a year, WGU's has held steady at $6,000 since 2008," the Fast Company article reads.

Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies issue (March 2013) is on newsstands beginning February 19 and available online at www.fastcompany.com/MIC as well as in app form via iTunes.  

WGU was founded by 19 U.S. governors in 1997 to provide a new, technology-driven way for working adults to have access to a quality higher education. Today, its currently enrolled student body has grown to nearly 40,000, and in January 2013 the university awarded its 20,000^th degree. WGU is especially designed for busy working adults who need a bachelor's or master's degree to advance their careers. The average age of WGU's students is 37, and 68% of the student body works full time.  

About Fast Company
Fast Company is the world's leading progressive business-media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. In print and through digital and social channels, as well as live events, Fast Company reports on and addresses the most progressive business leaders. Editor Robert Safian was named AdWeek's Editor of the Year in 2009. Under the leadership of publisher Christine Osekoski, Fast Company made AdWeek's Hot List for three consecutive years, and FastCompany.com executive editor Noah Robischon has tripled traffic and revenue. Fast Company is owned by Joe Mansueto, founder, chairman, and CEO of Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment research.

Fast Company Media Contact: 
Cole Wilson, Director of Editorial Relations 
cwilson@fastcompany.com

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