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Kyleigh Martin's career choice was easy - she wanted to be a nurse.
"I want to help people," she said. "I always had a big heart for caring for others."
But she wasn't sure she could afford the cost of a degree from a four-year university.
Martin, who lives near Lima, enrolled in Wright State University's Lake Campus in Celina after graduating from high school then transferred to Rhodes State College, where she received an associate's degree in nursing from the two-year college.
In August she received her bachelor's degree from what she initially considered an unlikely choice, but ultimately loved - Western Governors University of Ohio.
And as she reached her milestone so did WGU Ohio. Martin was awarded the 5,000th degree in the state from the online university.
Advanced education and career readiness have the power to significantly transform lives. The 5,000 bachelor's and master's degrees WGU Ohio has awarded to hard-working women and men across the state are not only impacting those graduates, but also their families, coworkers and entire communities," said K.L. Allen, who leads WGU Ohio. "I count that as many thousands of lives across Ohio, all transformed by the power of education.
In 2018, Ohio became the eighth state to partner with WGU, part of efforts by policymakers to close Ohio's skills gap with a new pathway for adults to seek careers in such in-demand careers as healthcare and nursing, business, teaching, and information technology.
While Martin, 22, is 15 years younger than the average WGU student, she appreciated the university's competency-based education, which allows students to take advantage of their knowledge and experience to move quickly through material they already know so they can focus on what they still need to learn. Students can enroll at any time. Six-month terms start on the first day of every month and tuition is a flat rate so students can take as many courses as they want.
Martin began working full-time in the emergency room at St. Rita's Medical Center in Lima and tried to determine where she could get a bachelor's degree in nursing at a good price and at her own fast pace.
"People at work were taking about it (WGU) and actually I didn't believe it at first," she said.
She enrolled at WGU in October 2019, two months after graduating from Rhodes State. She hoped to get her degree in the spring of 2020 but said a death in her family and the holidays delayed some of her progress.
"I knocked out as many classes as I could then started my second term," she said. "I loved that I could work at my own pace."
Martin, who hopes to continue her education to become a nurse practitioner, said she was shocked to learn she was the 5,000th graduate of WGU.
"I have recommended it to several of my friends because honestly it is the best way to get a bachelor's degree," she said. "I felt I got a solid education. They teach a lot about leadership. My faculty mentor and I talked every week and she was like one of my best friends for the last eight months. That is very important."
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