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?
- 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.
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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.
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?

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?
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.
Can I Afford West Virginia University?
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

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.

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

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

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.
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.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Swimmerguy269 under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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