Colleges in West Virginia

This page aggregates every Title IV–eligible college and university with a primary campus in West Virginia, drawing from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, IPEDS institutional reports, and de-identified IRS earnings linkage for federal-aid recipients. Coverage includes public flagships, regional comprehensives, community and technical colleges, private nonprofit institutions, and for-profit schools.

The state-aggregate statistics below include all reporting institutions in West Virginia as a single denominator — community colleges, public universities, private nonprofits, and for-profit institutions are pooled. State averages are therefore useful for high-level framing (in-state tuition is X, average admission rate is Y, average earnings are Z) but should not be read as representative of any specific sector or institution. Drill into individual school profiles for the full picture: admissions, costs (sticker and net), federal-aid usage, completion, retention, demographics, and earnings outcomes 6 and 10 years after enrollment.

The most-recent Scorecard release is from September 2024. Tuition figures reflect institutional reports for the 2022–23 academic year and may differ from current-year prices. Earnings data has an inherent lag — the 10-year earnings horizon reflects students who enrolled approximately a decade prior to the data publication, as the IRS-matching process requires time to accumulate post-enrollment income.

Largest Colleges in West Virginia by Enrollment

American Public University System40074West Virginia University17385Marshall University7266Fairmont State University2590Shepherd University2344University of Charleston2259West Virginia University at Parkersburg1868BridgeValley Community & Technical College1854Blue Ridge Community and Technical College1661West Liberty University1511Concord University1504West Virginia State University1321

Source:

Highest Earnings 10-Year Median — West Virginia

American Public University System44409West Virginia University55939Marshall University46354Fairmont State University46857Shepherd University49358University of Charleston55774West Virginia University at Parkersburg35171BridgeValley Community & Technical College36432Blue Ridge Community and Technical College39293West Liberty University43296Concord University42703West Virginia State University40492

Source:

67
Total Schools
$12,343
Avg In-State Tuition
81.3%
Avg Acceptance Rate
$38,019
Avg Median Earnings
40 Public 0 Private NP 0 For-Profit
Ownership Breakdown

What the IPEDS Data Shows for Colleges in West Virginia

West Virginia has 67 Title IV-participating postsecondary institutions in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the federal directory that captures every college eligible to award federal student aid. The ownership mix is 40 public institutions, 0 private nonprofits, and 0 private for-profit schools — a structural split that drives most of the tuition variation visible in the table below. Public institutions typically report substantially lower in-state tuition because state appropriations subsidize the published price, while private nonprofits often show higher sticker prices that are partially offset by institutional aid.

Cost and selectivity signals vary widely even within a single state. The average in-state tuition across West Virginia institutions is $12,343, and the average admission rate (weighted by institutions that report one) sits at 81.3%. Admission rates from IPEDS exclude open-enrollment institutions, which is why community colleges and many for-profits show as unreported rather than at 100 percent. Looking at the table, the acceptance-rate column is blank for schools that don’t screen applicants, a meaningful distinction when evaluating selectivity alongside earnings.

Post-graduation outcomes tie cost to return. Graduates of West Virginia colleges earn a mean of $38,019 ten years after enrollment, based on U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal aid applicants through the College Scorecard data file. Because earnings depend heavily on field of study and local labor markets, state-level averages should be read alongside each school’s program mix. The table sorts every institution with reported IPEDS enrollment so prospective students can compare acceptance rates, enrollment scale, and median earnings side by side rather than relying on third-party rankings.

All Schools in West Virginia

School Name City Type Enrollment Acceptance Rate 10yr Earnings
American Public University System Charles Town Private For-Profit 40,074 $44,409
West Virginia University Morgantown Public 17,385 89.0% $55,939
Marshall University Huntington Public 7,266 95.7% $46,354
Fairmont State University Fairmont Public 2,590 98.6% $46,857
Shepherd University Shepherdstown Public 2,344 96.8% $49,358
University of Charleston Charleston Private Nonprofit 2,259 61.5% $55,774
West Virginia University at Parkersburg Parkersburg Public 1,868 $35,171
BridgeValley Community & Technical College South Charleston Public 1,854 $36,432
Blue Ridge Community and Technical College Martinsburg Public 1,661 $39,293
West Liberty University West Liberty Public 1,511 97.3% $43,296
Concord University Athens Public 1,504 92.6% $42,703
West Virginia State University Institute Public 1,321 96.0% $40,492
Mountwest Community and Technical College Huntington Public 1,160 $28,951
Glenville State University Glenville Public 1,096 $39,315
Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College Logan Public 1,064 $32,153
Bluefield State University Bluefield Public 1,042 97.2% $38,217
West Virginia Northern Community College Wheeling Public 1,014 $30,162
West Virginia University Institute of Technology Beckley Public 981 36.7% $55,939
Pierpont Community and Technical College Fairmont Public 959 $35,132
West Virginia Wesleyan College Buckhannon Private Nonprofit 954 93.3% $51,593
Salem University Salem Private For-Profit 892 $34,642
Potomac State College of West Virginia University Keyser Public 853 $55,939
New River Community and Technical College Beaver Public 770 $29,073
Valley College-Martinsburg Martinsburg Private For-Profit 765 $24,900
West Virginia Junior College-Morgantown Morgantown Private For-Profit 673 $31,912
Davis & Elkins College Elkins Private Nonprofit 661 94.3% $43,411
Bethany College Bethany Private Nonprofit 614 58.8% $44,512
Wheeling University Wheeling Private Nonprofit 589 63.2% $57,949
West Virginia Junior College-Charleston Cross Lanes Private For-Profit 394 $27,472
Strayer University-West Virginia Scott Depot Private For-Profit 234 $40,092
Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College Moorefield Public 225 $31,636
Appalachian Bible College Mount Hope Private Nonprofit 193 77.8% $37,467
Huntington Junior College Huntington Private Nonprofit 181 $21,783
Carver Career Center Charleston Public 169 $33,739
Academy of Careers and Technology Beckley Public 168 $32,756
Valley College-Beckley Beckley Private For-Profit 165 $24,070
West Virginia Junior College-Bridgeport Bridgeport Private For-Profit 146 $27,472
Mercer County Technical Education Center Princeton Public 120 $33,511
Catholic International University Charles Town Private Nonprofit 116
Huntington School of Beauty Culture Huntington Private For-Profit 111 $24,794
Fred W Eberle Technical Center Buckhannon Public 109 $43,364
James Rumsey Technical Institute Martinsburg Public 99 $45,133
International Beauty School 4 Martinsburg Private For-Profit 86 $18,906
Ben Franklin Career Center Dunbar Public 78 $37,962
Morgantown Beauty College Inc Morgantown Private For-Profit 68 $22,230
Ross Medical Education Center-Charleston Charleston Private For-Profit 65 $30,072
West Virginia University Hospital Departments of Rad Tech and Nutrition Morgantown Private Nonprofit 62 $69,666
Boone Career and Technical Center Foster Public 59
Cabell County Career Technology Center Huntington Public 51 $33,975
Clarksburg Beauty Academy and School of Massage Therapy Clarksburg Private For-Profit 47 $16,306
Charleston School of Beauty Culture Charleston Private For-Profit 46 $17,827
Monongalia County Technical Education Center Morgantown Public 43 58.3% $40,499
Fayette Institute of Technology Oak Hill Public 32 $41,880
Mountain State School of Massage Charleston Private For-Profit 32 $27,545
Wood County Technical Center-Practical Nursing Parkersburg Public 31 75.0% $40,547
Ross College-Morgantown Morgantown Private For-Profit 30 $30,481
Roane-Jackson Technical Center Leroy Public 28 $33,982
Putnam Career and Technical Center Eleanor Public 27 $36,203
John D Rockefeller IV Career Center New Cumberland Public 20 $43,264
Ralph R Willis Career and Technical Center Stollings Public 18 $51,465
B M Spurr School of Practical Nursing Glen Dale Private Nonprofit 17
Randolph Technical Center Elkins Public 15
Mineral County Vocational Technical Center Keyser Public 14 $46,022
United Technical Center Clarksburg Public 10 $49,130
Mingo Extended Learning Center Delbarton Public 9
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine Lewisburg Public
Future Generations University Franklin Private Nonprofit

About This Data

School data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS institutional characteristics files. Enrollment, admissions, and earnings figures are the most recently available. Earnings represent median income 10 years after enrollment for students who received federal financial aid, drawn from U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal student aid applicants.