http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003022601t.htm
Western Governors University, a virtual institution, was granted regional accreditation on Tuesday by a group of four accrediting agencies. Officials at the university believe the news will legitimize distance education and competency-based education in the eyes of other institutions.
WGU, based in Salt Lake City, received accreditation at the associate-, baccalaureate-, and master's-degree levels. The decision came five years after Western Governors opened to much hype and with the anticipation of revolutionizing higher education with degrees based on student competency in subjects instead of course credits.
Because of WGU's special circumstance as a virtual institution that crosses traditional accreditation regions, four regional accrediting bodies formed a group called the Inter-Regional Accrediting Committee to evaluate the university's program.
Earning regional accreditation is important for colleges because it allows students to receive federal financial aid and helps students transfer credits to other institutions. But in WGU's case, it has already been offering student aid as part of an experimental Department of Education program. And the university does not offer course credits, so students may still run into problems with transferring, said Robert W. Mendenhall, the university's president.
However, regional accreditation gives Western Governors legitimacy and credibility among other colleges and universities, he said. "It's essentially a validation of our model," Mr. Mendenhall said.
WGU was born from the imaginations of the governors of 19 Western states who decided to create a virtual institution that would graduate students through distance education. The governors recruited a host of companies, including AT&T and Sun Microsystems, to give millions of dollars in exchange for seats on the university's board.
The university has no campus or courses. Instead it administers competency examinations to test whether students have obtained the knowledge necessary to earn a degree.
Students can prepare for the exams either by relying on their life experiences or by taking online courses offered by colleges and universities around the country that have formed partnerships with WGU.
Creating an institution that did not require students to take any courses before earning a degree prompted some critics to liken WGU to a diploma mill. But others were impressed that a university was making graduates demonstrate competency in subjects before receiving a degree and suggested other institutions follow suit.
When Western Governors opened, in 1998, the governors predicted enrolling thousands of students through distance education. But enrollment numbers grew slowly, giving some observers ammunition to criticize the university as a flop. By this year, however, WGU had enrolled 750 degree-seeking students and 450 students in nondegree programs. It has graduated 36 students.
WGU has already received specialized accreditation by the Distance Education and Training Council, a national accreditation body that evaluates distance-learning programs. But regional accreditation is key to gaining acceptance from traditional colleges and universities, Mr. Mendenhall said.
The Inter-Regional Accrediting Committee was made up of members of the Commission on Colleges and Universities of the Northwest Association of Schools and of Colleges and Universities, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Western Governors is the first higher-education institution to receive accreditation from more than one regional accrediting body, said Sandra Elman, director of the Commission on Colleges and Universities of the Northwest Association. Ms. Elman also served as executive director of the four-agency accreditation team that evaluated WGU. Now that the university has earned accreditation, the Northwest Association will be in charge of re-evaluations.
Ms. Elman said evaluating WGU proved to be challenging because the accrediting bodies chose to work in collaboration and had to assess an institution with no traditional infrastructure. But she said WGU had proved its worth. "Assessing students' knowledge and approaching it from a competency-based perspective can be very effective," she said.
The accreditation of WGU shows that distance education can be just as good as traditional education, Ms. Elman said. "Competency-based virtual universities can offer quality programs that meet the standards for regional accreditation," she said.
Western Governors is not the first distance-education university to earn regional accreditation. Several other institutions that grant degrees solely through online education have been accredited. On February 20, Northcentral University, in Arizona, received accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The university allows students to earn bachelor's and master's degrees as well as doctorates online.
Copyright © 2003 by The Chronicle of Higher Education