LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Two students from Lake County have earned their degrees from the online, nonprofit Western Governors University.

The university held its 64th (Orlando), 65th (Seattle); and 66th (Las Vegas) commencement ceremonies earlier this year to celebrate the recent graduation of more than 15,000 students from across the country.

Among those graduating were Ryan Clair of Lakeport received his Master of Science in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance degree.

Laura McAndrews Sammel of Lakeport received her MBA in Healthcare Management degree.

WGU has recognized 8,938 undergraduate and 6,734 graduate degree recipients, who have completed their degrees since Jan. 1, 2018.

Their areas of study include business, K-12 education, information technology, and health professions, including nursing.

The average time to graduation for those earning a bachelor’s degree was two years, four months, while the average time to degree for graduate programs was one year, seven months. The average age for those who graduated is 38 years old.

WGU pioneered competency-based education, which measures learning rather than time spent in class. Designed to meet the needs of working adults, students study and learn on their own schedules with individualized, one-to-one faculty support.

They complete courses as soon as they demonstrate that they have mastered the subject matter, enabling them to move quickly through material they already know and spend more time on what they still need to learn.

As a result, many WGU students are able to accelerate their studies, saving both time and money.