Commentary: WGU accepts financial aid without aid of a faculty

By Johann H. Neem

In 2011, after much controversy, the Washington’s Legislature recognized online Western Governors University, a Utah-based nonprofit with no professors, as a state public college. Soon after, WGU became eligible to receive State Need Grant funds, which provide support to Washington’s neediest students.

At the time, I wrote in the Seattle Times that WGU does not offer a “real college education,” because education “requires students to struggle with difficult material under the consistent guidance of good teachers. WGU denies students these opportunities.” Earlier this fall, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General agreed. It is time for the Legislature to do the same.