Online degrees multiply

Bryant Mills thought his dream of finishing a college degree was long past. He even kept it a secret that he had dropped out of college, worried the men working beneath him would realize they were more educated than their boss.

But now a business degree hangs in the office of the 54-year-old North Salt Lake resident, who finished an online degree from Western Governor's University last month.

"I just needed something that could work around my schedule because I work full time," said Mills, an account manager for a technology distribution firm. "I wanted to do something that was accredited because there's a lot of online opportunities, but when you start looking at them, they just don't amount to a hill of beans."

Mills found the school he was looking for — Western Governor's University, a Salt Lake-based school that has grown to 5,000 students from only 450 in 2002 when it gained accreditation. Three years ago, the school was enrolling only about 30 new students a month but now accepts up to 400 students a month.

Along with that surging enrollment, WGU awarded 243 degrees last month.

Pat Partridge, vice president of marketing for WGU, attributes much of that growth to the spread of online learning throughout the nation. Online classes are common now at traditional universities, he said, and acquiring full degrees through online schools like WGU is quickly moving into the mainstream of education.

Add to that the growing number of adults going back to school for degrees and online universities are set to continue expanding, he said.

"While we tend to think of college as being the 18-22 year olds, the adult education market has been growing at a much faster clip," Partridge said. "Online education is flexible, it fits into carrying a regular job and possibly a family."

Of WGU's 5,000 students, about 70 percent work full time, with the average age about 38. The competency-based approach at the school allows students to move through bachelor's and master's degrees at their own pace, setting their own coursework and only taking classes they need to supplement their life experience.

Mills, for example, had already worked for years as an account manager and was able to complete his degree in a year.

"It just made more sense that I had already learned a lot of that," said Mills, who graduated in January. "But a lot of places won't let you do that. You have to sit in a classroom semester after semester."