Gates Foundation Awards $1.2 Million to Study Effectiveness of Online Degree Program for Low-Income Students

The results of this research will immediately drive instructional intervention strategies at WGU.

The WGU study will also track students into the workplace after they complete their degrees to determine how effective their education was in helping them obtain and hold a job.

With the goal of getting more young people to and through college, the Gates Foundation's Postsecondary Success initiative aims to double the number of low-income students who earn a postsecondary degree or credential with genuine value in the workplace by age 26. Since 2000, the foundation has invested nearly $4 billion in grants in scholarships to improve opportunity in the United States by improving schools, raising college-ready graduation rates, and increasing college completion rates.