I feel like I’m becoming the online university review clearing house here, but what can I say? The schools are out there, and distance learning is tied pretty closely to the higher ed affinity work I do, so I almost feel obligated.

I just learned about Western Governors University. It is online-only, nonprofit and fully accredited. Three big checks on the plus side as far as I’m concerned. Online only means the expenses of non-academics programs, campus buildings, etc. are kept to a minimum, so your tuition pays for your education and not the other stuff. Non profit means there are no shareholders to benefit from inflated tuition rates, and fully accredited means it is a real degree, not one of those faux-lambskins from Greedy-Televangelist-of-the-Moment U.

And WGU delivers in terms of tuition value. Their tuition per semester is flat fee, not by credit hour, so you can be paying as little as half what some other online institutions are charging. And the degrees available? You can get an online mba through their Master’s programs in business administration, healthcare management, or IT management. There are also several other available degree programs. Not too shabby.

Why Western Governors, I mean, as a name? Apparently the school was founded to serve students of the modern age. It is the vision of the governors from 19 different states and is supported by at least 20 major corporations. To date they have serviced more than 14,000 students across the country. Not too bad, in my humble opinion.