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Indianapolis, IN – (November 2, 2018) On Saturday, more than 800 graduates from 36 states and Canada will receive their diplomas at Western Governors University’s (ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ) 69^th commencement in Indianapolis, Indiana. The commencement ceremony, which will include both master’s and bachelor’s graduates, begins at 9:30 a.m. EDT at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. For those graduates, faculty, and staff who are unable to attend the ceremony in person, the entire program will be streamed live at: /about/students-graduates/commencement.html.

Dion Brown, one of two graduates speaking at the commencement, will share his story of obtaining his degree while serving as an active duty member of the United States Air Force. A second-generation graduate from Las Vegas, Nevada, Brown was referred to ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ by his father who earned multiple degrees from the school. Following in his father’s footsteps, Brown, who earned his B.S. in Business – Information Technology Management, plans to continue his education at ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ and pursue a master’s degree in IT.

Pete Yonkman, president of Cook Group and Cook Medical in Bloomington, Indiana, will give the commencement address. Yonkman is actively involved in community issues, including adult education, workforce development, fostering start-ups, and creating a business culture that supports entrepreneurs. In addition to Brown, Yonkman will also be joined by Michelle Shaffer, from Carmel, Indiana, who will receive her M.S. in Nursing – Education.

At the ceremony, ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ will recognize the 14,116 undergraduate and 10,687 graduate degree recipients who completed their degrees since January of this year, including 1,307 from the state of Indiana. Areas of study included business, K-12 education, information technology, and health professions, including nursing. The average time to graduation for those earning a bachelor’s degree was 2 years, 4 months, while the average time for graduate programs was 1 year, 8 months. The average age for those graduating is 39 years old.

ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ pioneered competency-based education, which measures learning rather than time spent in class. Designed to meet the needs of working adults, students study and learn on their own schedules with individualized, one-to-one faculty support. They complete courses as soon as they demonstrate that they have mastered the subject matter; allowing them to move quickly through material they already know so they can allocate time for what they still need to learn. As a result, many ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ students are able to accelerate their studies, saving both time and money.