WGU Indiana and DEFENDER Direct announce partnership

INDIANAPOLIS -- WGU Indiana and Indianapolis-based DEFENDER Direct are more than two organizations that care about self-improvement. Now they are partners. The state's nonprofit, online university, WGU Indiana, has signed one of the nation's leading home services companies as its latest corporate partner. This is WGU Indiana's first corporate partner from the home services industry.

"Defender Direct is a leader when it comes to educating and investing in its workforce," WGU Indiana Chancellor Allison Barber said. "DEFENDER's leadership team is passionate about developing its staff both personally and professionally, just as WGU Indiana exists to help Hoosier adults earn a degree and achieve both their individual and career goals. Indiana is home to 740,000 adults who started college but never finished, plus thousands more who want to earn a master's degree but haven't found the right fit. Partnerships such as this with DEFENDER Direct help us reach more Hoosiers who want to go further."

As a benefit to this new partnership, DEFENDER Direct employees will receive a five percent tuition discount at WGU Indiana. Those DEFENDER Direct employees who live outside of Indiana are eligible for the same tuition discount through WGU Indiana's parent institution, Western Governors University. Eligible programs for DEFENDER Direct partner benefits include those in WGU Indiana's College of Information Technology and College of Business.

"We believe at DEFENDER that we exist to grow leaders," DEFENDER Direct President and CEO Marcia Barnes said. "One of our core passions is the self-managed, self-directed improvement of each of our team members, which includes education. WGU Indiana's affordable, flexible and accredited classes will allow many of our team members to finish what they started and attain their college degree or go further in their education and pursue a master's degree. In the process, our business grows as each person develops and grows. This is a great partnership."

WGU Indiana was created for adults with real-life work experience. The university's competency-based model measures learning, not credit hours or time spent in class. Students are able to move through coursework at their own pace and can take as many courses as they can handle in a given six-month term. They have the option to move more quickly through what they already know and focus on what they still need to learn, allowing them to accelerate and save time and money.

To learn more about WGU Indiana, call 877-214-7014 or visit indiana.wgu.edu.

About WGU Indiana

WGU Indiana has been established by the State of Indiana as a nonprofit, online, competency-based university to expand access to higher education for Indiana residents. Formed through a partnership with Western Governors University, WGU Indiana offers more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Business, Education, Information Technology and Healthcare Professions, including Nursing. In 2012, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education recognized WGU Indiana in its Reaching Higher, Achieving More agenda for the university's excellence in academic quality.

About DEFENDER Direct

Since its inception in 1998, DEFENDER Direct has emerged as a leading dealer for the home security brand ADT. As a result of its unprecedented growth, the company has expanded its residential services offering to include True Energy Smart Air, a heating and cooling company offering Carrier products, and Williams Comfort Air, specializing in the sales, installation and servicing of heating, cooling and plumbing systems throughout Central Indiana. DEFENDER Direct employs more than 2,000 individuals in 50 states with over 140 branch offices nationwide.