Western Governors University (WGU) is a private, nonprofit, American online university with more than 24,000 students across all 50 states. WGU is a competency-based university, and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Business, Teacher Education, Information Technology, and Health Professions, including Nursing. The University was founded in 1997 by a bi-partisan group of 19 governors of states in the western United States. Its mission was to improve quality and expand access to post-secondary educational opportunities. WGU enrolled its first student in 1999. WGU offers a competency-based learning model in which students earn their degrees by demonstrating competence in subject matter rather than by accumulating credit hours by spending time attending classes. Students can use their work, academic, and life experience (combined with learning new skills) to earn a college degree. Learning resources, including standard textbooks, simulations, and webinars, are made available to help students develop the new skills and competencies they need to advance in their degree programs. In many cases students are able to accelerate their time to degree completion.