WGU Recognized as Opportunity University by Carnegie
The new Carnegie Student Access and Earnings Classification recognizes institutions that foster both education access and degrees with long-term economic value.
WGU’s dedication to improving access for all students and creating pathways to economic opportunity has earned it recognition as an with “higher access and higher earnings” for students in an update to the Carnegie Classifications.
The Opportunity Colleges and Universities designation is part of a newly developed Student Access and Earnings Classification developed by the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education (ACE). The new classification creates a student success metric by recognizing institutions that afford all students the opportunity to access an education and puts them on track to earn competitive wages compared to peers in their geographical area. In 2025, 479 institutions have been identified as Opportunity Colleges and Universities, which is about 16% of all U.S. colleges and universities that are in the Student Access and Earnings Classification.
“The new Carnegie Classification affirms WGU’s work to expand the role of higher education as a driver of economic mobility and personal growth. At a time when students and employers alike are demanding greater relevance and value, WGU is delivering,” said WGU president Scott Pulsipher. “Our competency-based, tech-enabled model empowers students to gain in-demand skills, earn credentials and advance their careers—without putting their lives on hold or leaving their communities. This recognition reinforces what we strive for every day: transforming lives at scale, strengthening communities, and powering the workforce of tomorrow.”
The new classification is based on data reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System(IPEDS), data collected by the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It evaluates student access and earnings between similar colleges and universities and considers location data for each institution.
“The majority of students apply to college with the hope it is a path to opportunity, and the job they’ve dreamt about,” said Timothy F.C. Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation. “This work is about ensuring that institutions are recognized when they empower students to reach their goals and succeed.”
WGU, a nonprofit university, currently has 195,000 full-time students nationwide who are pursuing credentials through its schools of business, education, health and technology. Approximately 35% of WGU students are Pell Grant recipients. As of March, 42% of WGU’s students were first-generation degree seekers and 72% were from an underserved population based on income, ethnicity or geographical location.
A 2023 Harris Poll found the average income increase for WGU graduates within two years of completing their degrees was $22,000; the income increase was $30,300 at four years.
As in previous years, WGU’S listing in the updated and renamed Institutional Classification is Professions-Focused, Undergraduate and Graduate-Master’s degrees, Large/Medium, which includes 129 or 3% of U.S. colleges and universities in the Institutional Classification. Earlier this year, ACE and the Carnegie Foundation announced the separation of the Institutional Classification from Research Activity Designations and also simplified the research categories.
Since 1973, the Carnegie Classification has served as the gold standard for organizing the landscape of U.S. higher education. The 2025 Institutional Classification updates the historic approach to grouping similar colleges and universities, now organizing institutions by multiple characteristics, including their size, the types of degrees they award, and the fields of study in which students receive their degrees. This update addresses the limitations of the historic Basic Classification, which organized most institutions primarily by academic program concentration or the highest degree awarded and fell short of adequately describing the full scope of activity on campuses across the country.
