by The Editorial Board

The nonprofit Western Governors University is either a great experiment in higher education that has hit a bump in the road, or a flawed institution that is not providing its 83,000 enrolled students — 2,455 of whom live in Missouri — with the education they deserve. The first viewpoint comes from educators and many university alumni; the second is from the inspector general’s office of the U.S. Department of Education.

Neither side disputes that the online university is innovative and has made higher education more affordable and accessible for low-income and nontraditional students.