Pahrump-area residents earn degrees from WGU Nevada

Four Pahrump-area residents have received their degree from WGU Nevada during a commencement ceremony in Las Vegas, the university announced.

The university said that the local graduates are:

■ Brandi Burrows, Master of Science, special education

■ David Boruchowitz, Bachelor of Science, business management

■ Shanda Roderick, Master of Education, learning and technology

■ Macy Yang, Bachelor of Science, business -health care management

The university held its second commencement ceremony since its 2015 inception at the Smith Center on May 20 and celebrated the graduation of nearly 400 graduates.

At the commencement, the online, nonprofit university recognized 227 undergraduates and 168 graduates who have completed their degrees in the high-demand career fields of business, information technology, K-12 teacher education, and health care, including nursing.

U.S. Rep. Ruben Kihuen, D-North Las Vegas, delivered the commencement address and joined Chancellor Spencer Stewart in honoring the new alumni in attendance and those who joined via live stream.

“WGU Nevada is helping build the next generation of future leaders in our state,” Kihuen said. “I am so proud of the graduates, staff, and faculty for working towards making Nevada a better place. Nevada needs leaders capable of moving our state forward and working to solve the emerging challenges of today’s world.

“The hard work of these students—some with full-time jobs and families—will not go unnoticed,” he said. “Because of WGU Nevada, these students are prepared for long-term success and will help diversify our workforce.”

Thirty-seven percent of this year’s graduates represent the first generation in their family to complete college. The average time to graduation for bachelor’s degrees was two years and one month. The average time to graduation for graduate programs was one year and seven months.

Including this year’s graduating class, WGU Nevada has more than 1,500 alumni to date, and more than 2,300 currently enrolled, the school said.

WGU Nevada’s parent institution is Western Governors University, which was founded by 19 U.S. governors in 1997, including the governor of Nevada.