WGU Washington awarded nearly 1,700 bachelor’s and master’s degrees – a record number for the four-year old university – to students from across the state today at its commencement ceremony. Students, family members, mentors and community supporters packed Xfinity Arena in Everett to celebrate the online university’s largest class of graduates yet and recognize WGU Washington’s increasing role in strengthening the state’s workforce with career-ready graduates.

The 2015 graduating class is 70 percent larger than last year’s class of 1,000 graduates. In the four years since state lawmakers endorsed WGU Washington as an affordable, higher education option for students, the university’s enrollment has grown rapidly and now exceeds 7,500 students – making it one of the largest universities in the state, comparable in size to Gonzaga or Seattle University.

“We are incredibly proud of the academic accomplishments of WGU Washington’s class of 2015,” said WGU Washington Chancellor Jean Floten. “The record number of graduates reaffirms our online, competency-based model is an effective and practical way for mid-career Washingtonians to achieve their educational goals.”

Today, more than 430 graduates from communities across the state walked in the Everett ceremony for the university. Other students personally celebrated their graduation accomplishment in their home communities. A live stream of the ceremony was available online at washington.wgu.edu/commencement. Graduates and their family members – as well as ceremony participants – celebrated commencement on social media with the hashtag #WGUWA15.

Group Health President and CEO Scott Armstrong delivered the keynote address at the ceremony.

The university offers career-focused degrees for a flat-rate of about $6,000 per year for most programs. Of the school’s 7,500 full-time students, nearly half are enrolled in science, technology, engineering or math related programs. STEM fields, as they’re known, are vital to our state’s economy. Similarly, nearly half of WGU Washington’s class of 2015 received degrees in STEM fields.