Three years ago this month, Ohio made a significant step toward closing its skills gap – the damaging lack of well-educated workers needed to meet the economy’s increasing need for advanced skills. In June 2018 Ohio became the latest state to partner with Western Governors University, an accredited, nonprofit online university with an innovative learning approach and affordable tuition structure that are designed to help close that gap.
Now, as the Ohio’s newest accredited university, WGU Ohio is helping address the growing need for highly skilled, credentialed workers required for today’s in-demand jobs. Already we’ve seen nearly 6,300 Ohioans graduate from WGU Ohio with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in health and nursing, business, teaching and information technology. Currently 4,400 students are enrolled in our programs, developing career skills and earning their degrees.
As the chancellor of WGU Ohio, I am especially proud of the role our success has played in helping Ohioans continue their college dreams when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted so much in American life and forced a near-universal shift to online work and learning. In the months after the pandemic changed our lives so abruptly in 2020, WGU Ohio saw a remarkable 13 percent surge in enrollment
Why this bright spot in an otherwise gloomy year of shutdowns and strained finances? As it turns out, those same pandemic challenges motivated many Ohioans to seek a degree or certificate in order to advance their careers or to open new opportunities when better times return. Among these were Ohioans facing financial pressures that placed many higher-education options out of reach. Others had job and family obligations that made traditional campus-based studies impossible. As a result, WGU’s enrollment surged because our unique approach to online higher education, low flat-rate tuition costs and broad range of financial aid are designed to meet the particular needs of today’s adult learners.
Western Governors University, a collaborative started more than 20 years ago by 19 state governors who had the foresight to understand the transformative power of competency- based education as a key to closing the skills gap and help busy working adults pursue in-demand jobs in healthcare, nursing, business, teaching and information technology. When Ohio joined the WGU collaborative three years ago, it became the 27th state in this innovative partnership.
Using an online model, WGU applies a competency-based education approach that allows students to take advantage of their knowledge and real-world experience to move quickly through material they already know so they can focus on what they still need to learn.
A particular focus is adult learners: professionals with work and family obligations and a wealth of experience who, with upgraded skills and credentials, can make huge new contributions where they work and, in their communities, and make a better future for their families at the same time.
If Ohio’s economy is going to bridge its skills gap and recover competitively from the disruptions of 2020, employers must be able to recruit more career-minded workers with the high-level skills and education that today’s in-demand careers require. And they’ll need those workers quickly.
For WGU Ohio it’s been rewarding three years and we’re proud of the positive impact our efforts – and our workforce-ready graduates – are having on our state, its employers and our fellow Ohioans.
K. L. Allen is chancellor of WGU Ohio, the state affiliate of online, nonprofit Western Governors University.