The Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP) allows master’s, graduate certificate, and doctoral students who are residents of the 15 WICHE states to enroll in 275 high-quality programs at 51 participating institutions on a resident tuition basis. In fall 2011 more than 850 students enrolled through WRGP and saved an estimated $11.5 million in tuition. Enrollments continue to increase, and a growing number of programs are now offered fully or partially online. WICHE is now accepting nominations for new WRGP programs. Graduate deans and provosts at all public institutions in the WICHE region have been notified of the deadline and submission process. WICHE is particularly interested adding programs (including professional science master’s and graduate certificate programs) in healthcare (for fields not available through WICHE’s Professional Student Exchange Program); health information technology; microtechnology and nanotechnology; green building and building energy conservation; emerging media and communications; biotechnology and bioinformatics; computer and cyber security; alternative energy technology; and homeland security. To be eligible for WRGP, programs that aren’t related to health must be “distinctive,” meaning they must be offered at no more than four institutions in the WICHE region (exclusive of California). Given the tremendous needs in the healthcare workforce, healthcare-related programs are not subject to the distinctiveness criteria but must be of high quality. WRGP is a tremendous opportunity for WICHE states to share distinctive programs (and the faculty who teach them) and build their workforce in a variety of disciplines, particularly healthcare. WRGP now includes some 80 healthcare-related programs, including those in graduate nursing, public health, mental health and psychology, audiology and speech pathology, biomedical informatics, and doctoral studies in occupational therapy. Participating programs have found WRGP to be an invaluable recruitment tool and an effective resource in diversifying their student pool. Programs can choose to limit the number of WRGP awards each academic year to ensure that their participation is feasible over the long term. Application forms and nomination information are available on the WRGP website. For more information, contact Margo Colalancia, Student Exchange Program director, at mcolalancia@wiche.edu.

September 2012  | Share this on Twitter | Post this on Facebook