WSU Global Campus: 100% online, 100% WSU
The WSU Global Campus is ranked among the top online programs in the nation in multiple categories by U.S. News & World Report.
As Washington State University adds more options for online learning to its popular Global Campus, it’s worth remembering where it all started.
Not during the pandemic that mainstreamed online education. No, WSU began offering “distance education” in 1992 when the Internet was almost unknown, most people didn’t have cellphones, and no one had Zoom.
“We would mail out study packs that had readings and assignments, VHS and cassette tapes,” said Dave Cillay, chancellor of the WSU Global Campus. “If it was a geology course, we’d mail out a box of rocks. Students would write assignments out by hand, typewriter, or computer if they had one, and mail it back. The faculty member would grade it and put it back in an envelope. That would happen 19 to 30 times during the course.”
The distance degree program became the WSU Global Campus in 2012. Today nearly 3,500 students are enrolled, with another 4,000 students on WSU campuses across the state taking Global Campus classes to supplement their schedules. Sixty percent of the master’s degrees conferred by WSU are earned through Global Campus, due in large part to the popular online MBA.
As a brand new student coming back 13 years after my last school, I thought, ‘Did I make the right choice here?’ But it’s turning out to be great, actually.
Rich Galtieri
Online education is changing the whole concept of higher education, Cillay said. Rather than a set menu, students have a smorgasbord of options. Younger students might want the traditional, on-campus college experience, while working adults can finish a degree or pursue advanced certifications online. Students can make up missing credits so they graduate on schedule.
Rich Galtieri, a fire marshal with the Spokane Fire Department, wanted an MBA to help him with a future business venture.
“As a brand new student coming back 13 years after my last school, I thought, ‘Did I make the right choice here?’ But it’s turning out to be great, actually,” he said. The structure of the program means he doesn’t have to worry about fitting in classes around his work schedule, he can work on them in the evenings.
He chose WSU rather than another online program because the university is a known quantity, especially in the Pacific Northwest. “I prefer to have something that everybody knows and has an affinity to, rather than something from back east,” he said.
Sara Vannoy, a single mom who works full-time, had an associate degree but wanted to finish her bachelor’s. She’d tried a purely online university a few years ago but “I wasn’t a fan,” she said.
She works for a program in Benton City, Washington, that’s administered by WSU and “it opened my eyes to what a great university this is,” she said. The program helps her juggle her job, her daughter and her classes. “When I decided to go back and get my degree, it was a no-brainer,” she said.
Offering that kind of opportunity helped the WSU Global Campus grow 30% in the past decade. Currently it’s ranked among the top online programs in the nation in multiple categories by U.S. News & World Report, including the 8th best undergraduate program for veterans and the 11th best bachelor’s program overall.
Cillay said he can see the Global Campus eventually enrolling 15,000 students, with the help of technology. STEM courses have been hindered in online education, for example, because they often require laboratory time or other hands-on experiences. But interactive virtual reality can stand in for those experiences and is already being used in higher education. Artificial intelligence could be harnessed to create and run new courses in an engaging way.
Also crucial in that equation is creating a connection between the university and online students, and WSU works hard at that. Galtieri said there’s a camaraderie in his classes despite never having met in person. They help each other, and faculty and staff help the students.
Said Cillay, “Students may have never set foot on a physical campus but man, they are Cougs. They bleed crimson and gray.”
U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 rankings included four WSU online programs among the top 20 in the nation in their categories:
8th
Undergrad programs for vets
11th
Bachelor’s program overall
12th
Undergrad psychology
12th
Undergrad psychology
15th
Undergrad business
33rd
MBA
Explore WSU News to learn more about how WSU’s impact goes beyond the numbers.
