The U.S. Department of Education isn’t saying, yet, whether it will require Western Governors University to repay more than $700 million in federal financial aid.
But in response to that recommendation — made Thursday in an audit report by the department’s own Office of Inspector General — Education Department spokeswoman Liz Hill struck a positive tone toward the Utah-based online university.
“We are currently reviewing the OIG’s report,” Hill wrote in a written statement to The Salt Lake Tribune. “It is important to note that the innovative student-first model used by this school and others like it has garnered bipartisan support over the last decade.