BALTIMORE, May 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the nonprofit online, Western Governors University (WGU), have announced a new partnership agreement that offers $5,000 scholarships for financially-active Alpha Brothers who enroll in WGU. Tuition is around $3,750 per six-month term for most degree programs.
Designed for working adults, WGU offers an asynchronous, competency-based model that allows students to log in and access coursework at a time convenient for them, and to accelerate at their own pace. WGU offers more than 60 bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business, K-12 teacher education, information technology, and health professions, including nursing.
“Since our inception, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. has developed leaders and been a model for academic excellence,” said Dr. Willis L. Lonzer, III, General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. “This partnership with Western Governors University ensures that our Brothers can pursue an advance degree to expand their current career opportunities and strengthen their professional acumen while still working to support themselves and their families.”
The Fraternity, which is the nation’s first intercollegiate fraternity founded by African American men, is one the Divine 9’s historic Black Greek-Letter Organizations (BGLOs) that comprises the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC).
WGU’s NPHC Divine 9 Scholarship for Financial Alpha Phi Alpha Members will provide $3,000 in tuition credit for a student’s first six-month term, and $1,000 in tuition credit for up to two subsequent terms. All applicants must meet WGU’s admission standards and maintain satisfactory academic progress. The Fraternity will also provide a unique URL to its members to apply for the scholarships, and WGU will provide an application-fee-waiver code specifically for those members as well.
“We are extremely honored to be partnering with such a distinguished organization as Alpha Phi Alpha,” said Jason Thompson, WGU’s Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion. “Our vision to change lives for the better by creating pathways to opportunity aligns with Alpha Phi Alpha’s revered history of fostering academic excellence and developing community leaders. In addition to providing scholarships to Alpha Phi Alpha members who are interested in one of our degrees, we will be collaborating with them on professional development tools to help further their careers.”
For more information about WGU, visit www.wgu.edu. Learn more about Alpha Phi Alpha at www.apa1906.net.
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About Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., headquartered in Baltimore, MD, was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African American community’s fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, Adam Clayton Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Paul Robeson, The Honorable Andrew Young, Edward Brooke, and Dr. Cornel West. The fraternity, through its more than 720 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, Canada, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. For more information, visit: apa1906.net and follow Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. on Twitter and Instagram @apa1906network or on LinkedIn as “Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.”
About WGU
Established in 1997 by 19 U.S. governors with a mission to expand access to high-quality, affordable higher education, online, nonprofit WGU now serves more than 129,000 students nationwide and has more than 214,000 graduates in all 50 states. Driving innovation as the nation’s leading competency-based university, WGU has been recognized by the White House, state leaders, employers, and students as a model that works in postsecondary education. In just 24 years, the university has become a leading influence in changing the lives of individuals and families, and preparing the workforce needed in today’s rapidly evolving economy. WGU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, and has been featured on NPR, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in The New York Times. Learn more at www.wgu.edu.