West Virginia State University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for West Virginia State University

West Virginia State University operates as a public institution located in Institute, West Virginia (suburb: midsize), with a total reported enrollment of 1,321 students of which 4,138 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. West Virginia State University is categorized as “20” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 96.0%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 955. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $11,139, with published in-state tuition of $9,570 and a Pell grant recipient share of 20.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $23,338, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 36.1%, and the first-year retention rate is 56.7%. Graduates earn a median of $40,492 ten years after enrolling, compared with $32,849 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 142500.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 47.9% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.