Western Governors University Selects AI Writing Assistance Partner

Online university Western Governors University recently announced a partnership with AI writing assistance provider Grammarly, according to a news release. The university will provide access to Grammarly’s real-time writing support services—and new Writing Score API—to all faculty and students. The goal of the collaboration is to empower the university’s working adult and remote students to build critical communication skills.

The Writing Score API provides real-time quality checks on documents to provide feedback and suggestions that ensure correct, clear, and engaging writing, the news release reports. The service will be deployed to WGU students over the summer and to the education market at large later in 2024.

“Even in the generative AI–connected workforce, writing is as essential as ever, with knowledge workers spending 19 hours per week on written communication,” said Jenny Maxwell, Head of Grammarly for Education. “To ensure students are prepared to succeed in today’s workplace, they must learn effective writing and editing skills. Grammarly’s partnership with WGU will empower students to improve their writing skills, increase the likelihood of earning a degree, and ultimately maximize their career opportunities.”

The service will allow students to submit written assignments with a minimum of 30 words and receive a writing score on a 1–100 scale. The score reflects potential improvements to grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence clarity, word choice variety, and tone, according to the news release. The Writing Score API expands existing writing score technology to a wider variety of its applications.

“WGU is thrilled to partner with Grammarly and pilot the Writing Score API at scale,” said WGU Senior Vice President of Academic Delivery Debbie Fowler. “WGU makes higher education and professional career advancement attainable for everyone by identifying system-wide barriers and investing in solutions to eliminate them. We are excited to embed this in-the-moment feedback into how we teach while our instructors remain student-centric. By incorporating this AI technology, we can provide truly personalized learning and meet students where they are.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Spaces4Learning Trends & Predictions for Educational Facilities in 2026: Part I

    We asked, you answered, and the results are in! Last year, we put out a call for submissions to collect our readership’s opinion on trends and predictions for K–12 and higher education facilities in 2026.

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.