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West Virginia University

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West Virginia University Overview

West Virginia University is a public institution situated in Morgantown, West Virginia. The location of WVU is great for students who prefer living in an urban area.

What Is West Virginia University Known For?

4,596 Undergraduate Awards
$31,445 Avg Cost After Aid
84% Acceptance Rate
  • Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at WVU.
  • For the 2017-2018 academic year, 76% of the faculty were full-time.
  • A student who earns a bachelor's degree from WVU makes roughly $45,800 a year. This is 12% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.

Best Schools

West Virginia University Rankings

WVU holds the #4 spot on the Best Colleges in West Virginia ranking.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at WVU.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#3 Most Popular Public Relations & Advertising Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#4 Most Popular Interdisciplinary Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#8 Most Popular Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#17 Most Popular Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#17 Most Popular Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#36 Most Popular Natural Resources & Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#36 Most Popular Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#47 Most Popular Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#72 Most Popular Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#74 Most Popular Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards WVU has earned from around the web.

Rank Ranking Name Source
#1 Best Applied Linguistics Schools College Factual
#1 Best Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication Master’s Degree Schools College Factual
#1 Best Environmental/Natural Resource Economics Doctor’s Degree Schools College Factual
#53 Best General Studies Schools College Factual
#160 Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools College Factual
#160 Best Liberal Arts General Studies Schools College Factual

Where Is West Virginia University?

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Contact details for WVU are given below.

Contact Details
Address: Po Box 6201, Morgantown, WV 26506
Phone: 304-293-0111

How Do I Get Into WVU?

You can apply to WVU online at: https://admissions.wvu.edu/how-to-apply

Admission Requirements for WVU

Submission Required?
High School GPA required
High School Rank recommended
High School Transcript required
College Prep Program required
Recommendations neither required nor recommended
SAT or ACT Scores considered but not required
TOEFL considered but not required

How Hard Is It To Get Into WVU?

84% Acceptance Rate
55% Of Accepted Are Women
87% Submit SAT Scores
With an acceptance rate of 84%, WVU may not be as selective as some schools, but you should not take admittance for granted. Be sure to submit the best application you can.

Approximately 45% of accepted students are men and 55% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 83%, and the acceptance rate for women is 85%.

Average Test Scores

About 87% of students accepted to WVU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 520 and 620. Math scores were between 510 and 610.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for West Virginia University  ( 520 to 620 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for West Virginia University  ( 510 to 610 )
200
800
WVU received ACT scores from 51% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 20 and 27. Math scores were between 19 and 26. Composite scores were between 21 and 27.

ACT English Scores for West Virginia University  ( 20 to 27 )
1
36
ACT Math Scores for West Virginia University  ( 19 to 26 )
1
36
ACT Composite Scores for West Virginia University  ( 21 to 27 )
1
36

Can I Afford West Virginia University?

$31,445 Net Price
58% Take Out Loans
8.3% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of WVU is $31,445. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At WVU, approximately 58% of students took out student loans averaging $9,175 a year. That adds up to $36,700 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at WVU is 8.3%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.

West Virginia University Undergraduate Student Diversity

18,726 Full-Time Undergraduates
51% Women
14% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 20,495 undergraduate students at WVU, with 18,726 being full-time and 1,769 being part-time.

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There are also 5,774 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 18,726 full-time undergraduates at WVU, 49% are male and 51% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of West Virginia University students is as follows.

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 335
Black or African American 675
Hispanic or Latino 764
White 15,311
International Students 722
Other Races/Ethnicities 919

Geographic Diversity

West Virginia students aren't the only ones who study at West Virginia University. At this time, 42 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 112 countries are represented at WVU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and China.

Online Learning at West Virginia University

9,668 Took All Classes Online
24,793 Took At Least One Class Online
62.2% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
In 2019-2020, 24,793 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at WVU has changed over the last few years.

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This school is the 2nd most popular in West Virginia for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of WVU

The following table shows how WVU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major Tuition for In-State Students Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Legal Professions (Other) #1 #7
Communication & Journalism (Other) #1 #6
Legal Professions #1 #13
Arts & Media Management #4 #7
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods #4 #13
Public Relations & Advertising #7 #13
Computer Engineering #19 #28
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions #22 #49
Visual & Performing Arts #25 #61
Human Development & Family Studies #27 #66
Special Education #28 #55
Communication & Journalism #33 #51
Engineering #40 #69
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences #40 #82
Public Health #49 #85
General Education #60 #131
General Business/Commerce #60 #122
Teacher Education Grade Specific #61 #151

Online Growth Rankings of WVU

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at West Virginia University was 62.2%. This is the #579 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at WVU regardless of major.

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

West Virginia University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Bachelor’s Master’s Doctor’s TOTAL
Liberal Arts General Studies 331 0 0 331
Interdisciplinary Studies 301 0 0 301
Nursing 208 56 5 269
General Business/Commerce 72 124 0 196
General Psychology 167 15 14 196
Teacher Education Subject Specific 58 131 1 190
Journalism 180 9 0 189
Mechanical Engineering 170 11 0 181
Health & Physical Education 172 0 6 178
Business Administration & Management 126 38 7 171
General Biology 153 5 9 167
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 139 11 6 156
Public Relations & Advertising 0 145 0 145
Finance & Financial Management 132 11 0 143
Accounting 116 24 0 140
Criminology 138 0 0 138
Marketing 121 0 0 121
Animal Science 106 8 2 116
Communication & Media Studies 65 39 5 109
Law 0 0 107 107
Industrial Engineering 101 4 0 105
Medicine 0 0 101 101
Civil Engineering 88 11 0 99
Social Work 57 41 0 98
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 0 55 42 97
Petroleum Engineering 87 5 0 92
Political Science & Government 83 4 3 90
Public Health 72 16 1 89
General Education 0 79 9 88
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 0 0 76 76
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 69 5 0 74
Communication Sciences 37 28 7 72
Music 45 11 16 72
Electrical Engineering 64 6 0 70
Geological & Earth Sciences 56 5 6 67
Chemical Engineering 60 5 0 65
Design & Applied Arts 65 0 0 65
Agricultural Economics & Business 64 0 0 64
Wildlife Management 58 6 0 64
Computer Science 49 11 1 61
History 44 10 7 61
General English Literature 47 6 3 56
Management Information Systems 50 0 0 50
Computer Engineering 35 14 0 49
Fine & Studio Arts 45 3 0 48
Dentistry 0 0 47 47
Special Education 0 46 0 46
Human Development & Family Studies 46 0 0 46
Linguistics & Comparative Literature 16 28 0 44
Natural Resource Management 32 1 9 42
General Engineering 0 1 38 39
Forestry 28 6 5 39
Mathematics 16 12 8 36
Plant Sciences 26 3 3 32
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 30 0 2 32
Teacher Education Grade Specific 31 0 0 31
Biomedical Engineering 31 0 0 31
Health Sciences & Services 0 31 0 31
Business/Managerial Economics 21 3 5 29
Physics 12 8 9 29
Human Resource Management 0 27 0 27
Chemistry 23 0 4 27
Geography & Cartography 11 9 7 27
Drama & Theater Arts 25 1 0 26
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 25 0 0 25
Student Counseling 0 24 0 24
Sustainability Science 22 0 0 22
Dental Support Services 21 0 0 21
Hospitality Management 20 0 0 20
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 0 19 0 19
Educational Administration 0 16 3 19
Mining Engineering 16 1 0 17
Health & Medical Administrative Services 17 0 0 17
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology 15 0 1 16
Entrepreneurial Studies 16 0 0 16
Public Administration 0 16 0 16
Philosophy 15 0 0 15
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 10 4 0 14
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 0 14 0 14
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 0 12 0 12
Writing Studies 0 11 0 11
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 0 6 5 11
Recreation Administration 10 0 0 10
Anthropology 10 0 0 10
Sociology 10 0 0 10
Information Technology 0 9 0 9
Instructional Media Design 0 9 0 9
General Agriculture 0 8 0 8
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 0 8 0 8
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 0 4 3 7
Natural Resources Conservation 0 7 0 7
Economics 7 0 0 7
Environmental Engineering 0 4 0 4
Medical Science 0 4 0 4
Genetics 0 2 1 3
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 0 0 3 3
Arts & Media Management 0 3 0 3
General Visual & Performing Arts 0 3 0 3
Landscape Architecture 0 1 0 1
Materials Engineering 0 1 0 1
Systems Engineering 0 1 0 1
Textile & Apparel Studies 0 1 0 1
East Asian Languages 1 0 0 1
Germanic Languages 1 0 0 1
Romance Languages 1 0 0 1
Statistics 0 1 0 1
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences 0 0 0 0
Communication & Journalism (Other) 0 0 0 0
Computer Information Systems 0 0 0 0
Computer Systems Analysis 0 0 0 0
Other Education 0 0 0 0
Other Health Professions 0 0 0 0
Legal Professions (Other) 0 0 0 0
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 4,596 1,317 587 6,500

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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