West Virginia

E-News | Enhancing the WVU access mission

Published

1 year ago

March 11, 2025

Press Room

E-News | Enhancing the WVU access mission

Vice Provost Mark Gavin sent the following letter to the University community Tuesday (March 12).

Dear West Virginia University Community,

At a time when change seems to be the only constant across every facet of society — at the federal, state and local levels to the higher education landscape and beyond — the steadfast commitment of West Virginia University to our students and our state remains tenacious and strong.

While our Board of Governors Chair Rick Pill recently penned a letter to the WVU community emphasizing many of our University’s strengths, there’s considerably more work underway. Many recruitment, retention and persistence efforts across Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management are ensuring that our flagship University remains a distinguished, relevant, affordable and accessible land-grant institution now and for decades to come.

New programs help expand our access mission

Thanks to the dedication of our deans, faculty and staff, our access mission continues to expand and evolve. With many of today’s fastest growing occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher, our University has the honor and the responsibility to offer more opportunities to pursue a degree in higher education.

Research shows that bachelor’s degree holders enjoy a lifetime of higher earnings, job security, more career options, greater prospects for upward mobility, as well as financial and personal growth. In fact, over a lifetime, medium earnings are $1.2 million higher for bachelor’s degree holders.

To help students reap these benefits, we are developing more access points to reach a broader population.

The transition from an associate’s degree to a bachelor’s degree at West Virginia University has never been easier through WVU Degree Up. Students who are currently enrolled at participating West Virginia community and technical colleges are now automatically admitted into the WVU System. As long as eligible students fulfill the program’s GPA criteria, curriculum prerequisites and admissions requirements, they can receive personalized one-on-one coaching, transfer support, assistance with course registration and academic advising.

The University also hopes to take price considerations out of the decision to attend and complete college. We continue to offer a wide range of scholarships and aid to remove barriers and ease students’ and families’ financial burdens, with 93% of Morgantown freshmen receiving financial assistance.

Our new WVU Guarantee is the latest financial investment we’re making to support our students. Open to incoming and current undergraduates across the WVU System who are West Virginia residents and have a family AGI of $65,000 or less, we will pay for tuition and University fees that aren’t covered by other financial aid or scholarships. Qualified students simply must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year.

Our systemwide career-ready focus heightens student success

Access and affordability coupled with the delivery of experiential learning and investments in career-ready programs offer the means to operationalize our land-grant mission.

Over the past few years, we appreciate the work of our colleges, schools and academic units for initiating new programs across our system that launch glide-paths to career success. Collectively, we remain focused on opening more doors for our students to not only attain a four-year degree in a field that interests them, but also to help fill high-quality, good-paying, in-demand jobs in West Virginia and around the world.

With more than 300 majors for students to complete an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, PhD or professional degree — plus a growing suite of microcredential opportunities for learners of all education levels — we are ensuring that our students gain the skillsets and knowledge to meet evolving workforce demands.

We are continuing to look around corners and invest in some of the fastest-growing sectors, including robotics, astrophysics, cybersecurity, data sciences, forensics and neuroscience – to name a few.

From our robotics students partnering with NASA to create state-of-the-art robotics labs and making history on the world stage by building the next generation of Mars rovers to students at the epicenter of neuroscience research through groundbreaking ultrasound treatments, we are leading the way in experiential learning at the highest levels.

Our Management Information Systems major, engineering degrees and Game Design and Interactive Media are educating students to become premier problem-solvers and critical thinkers of the future, today. Our forensic programs draw students from around the country and world as we house the largest crime scene training complex in the country and help place students in prominent jobs, including at the FBI, Department of Defense and other federal and state agencies. Our astrophysics students are truly gaining out-of-this-world research experience by working alongside internationally renowned faculty through discoveries in fast radio bursts, quantum computing, innovations in energy science and more. And our cybersecurity work is just heating up.

Our regional campuses are also known for their workforce-ready focus, with the WVU Institute of Technology in Beckley offering more than 30 programs, including in the high-demand, complex construction industry through their construction management program that boasts of a 100% job placement rate. Meanwhile, WVU Potomac State College in Keyser is one of the nation’s most affordable colleges that lean into more than 60 associate’s degrees and a host of bachelor’s degrees where students can excel in their jobs on day one. We are proud that our students are becoming experts in their field, oftentimes in just two years, such as in our surgical technology program, where students are trained to assist in surgeries, operating room preparation and patient safety.

These investments are paying off for our students. According to College Scorecard, WVU graduates earn $10,000 more than other college graduates 10 years after graduation — 32% more than other college graduates.

West Virginia University is a forward-looking, career-ready university that’s developing the next generation of West Virginia leaders, field experts, researchers and entrepreneurs. We will continue to guarantee extraordinary, challenging, life-changing experiences for our students. As times change, WVU remains the state’s constant.

Sincerely,

Mark Gavin
Vice Provost
West Virginia University

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West Virginia

Community Catalyst Grant applications are open through West Virginia First Foundation through June 30 – WV MetroNews

Published

10 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Press Room

Community Catalyst Grant applications are open through West Virginia First Foundation through June 30 – WV MetroNews

The West Virginia First Foundation, which was established to use drug lawsuit settlement money to try to alleviate problems related to addiction, reported having access to $378.5 million in financial resources and noted that more than $34 million in grants have been awarded since the organization’s start.

The West Virginia First Foundation met for a few minutes Thursday at Ascend West Virginia in Charleston. The meeting was also available for view through streaming.

Executive Director Jonathan Board highlighted the launch of the Community Catalyst Grant application and a statewide needs assessment intended to identify service gaps.

Designed as a three-year, outcomes-driven investment, the program will support projects focused on public safety response, day report centers and generational prevention efforts. The program opened for applications on June 1 and remains open through June 30.

“We’re very encouraged by the interest and engagement so far,” Board said.

The board also approved a $4 million funding request for the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. The project is focused on expanding access to innovative addiction treatment and recovery support tools while building the technology and infrastructure needed to support implementation across West Virginia.

Additional details about the project and funding agreement are to be released in the coming weeks following the completion of final documentation. West Virginia First Foundation and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute plan to issue a joint announcement once the agreement process is complete.

“They’ve gone through a very rigorous process for the correct funding,” Board said. “Their team has presented an opportunity to fund a project that will build technology, training and support systems of care needed to expand access to an innovative addiction treatment approach throughout the state of West Virginia, and really beyond.”

The West Virginia First Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 2023 to manage and distribute 72.5% of the state’s opioid settlement funds, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The organization is aimed at combatting the addiction crisis through grants and regional projects.

The next regular meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Directors is scheduled for Sept. 17 although it’s subject to change.

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West Virginia

What UNC Head Coach Scott Forbes Said About West Virginia

Published

20 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Press Room

What UNC Head Coach Scott Forbes Said About West Virginia

West Virginia may have come up empty-handed in two tries against North Carolina in the College World Series, but they earned the respect of their head coach, Scott Forbes, who was incredibly complimentary of the Mountaineers following Wednesday’s game.

“I want to congratulate West Virginia. A heck of a team, a heck of a run,” he opened his postgame press conference with. “They are very well coached. They just play the game the right way. It’s a credit to their coaching staff. They come at you a lot of ways. A lot of speed, deep pitching staff, so we really had to work in those two games to beat them. I’ve been in their shoes, and I know what that feels like, and it’s a stinker. But man, they got a lot to be proud of, and they should be extremely proud of how they represented their university.”

The culture at WVU is as strong as it gets

Jun 5, 2026; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Steve Sabins celebrates with Pat McAfee in the stands after defeating the Cal Poly Mustangs at Kendrick Family Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Multiple times this season, West Virginia looked like they were well on their way to a loss and were rewarded with a win because they never stopped playing hard. Everyone thinks of the two games against Kentucky in the Morgantown Regional, and rightfully so, but they also came back to win after trailing by eight against UCF and after trailing by five to BYU.

For a moment, there was a belief that the magical moment was going to come again during Wednesday’s game against Forbes’ Tar Heels. With two outs in the 7th and trailing 12-1, Armani Guzman busted his tail down the first base line to beat out a grounder to short. It ultimately led to a five-run inning for the Mountaineers, all of a sudden turning a laugher into a semi-interesting game. Gavin Kelly hit a solo home run in the 8th to make it a five-run deficit, and in the ninth, Ben Lumsden just missed a three-run shot that would have really put pressure on North Carolina, even with two outs.

To have your team still playing hard when trailing by 11 with their season likely about to come to an end, it says a lot about the character of this group, but also how deeply ingrained the culture is at WVU. There’s a reason this program has turned the corner over the last 14 or so years and is continuing to trend up. They’ve had the right people in place leading it.

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West Virginia

Proposed 107.5-mile transmission line could leave W.Va. ratepayers on hook for $440M-$900M

Published

1 day ago

June 17, 2026

Press Room

Proposed 107.5-mile transmission line could leave W.Va. ratepayers on hook for 0M-0M

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — A 107.5-mile transmission line project has been proposed, the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link, which would cut through parts of West Virginia to ultimately help power Virginia’s data center hub since there is not enough generation locally to serve them.

“Virginia gets the power and West Virginia gets the towers,” Del Chris Anders said. “What they did is they look west and said, hey, we’ll just use West Virginia but we’ll get this power and we’ll run this big extension cord. I’m all for exporting power from West Virginia. We are a power production state, but I’m not going to do so out of the wallets of West Virginians and allowing their property to be taken.”

During the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers put a bill on the table which was aimed at giving the state access to utilize these lines, but nothing made it to the finish line.

“We said, ‘Okay, if you’re going to run them through, you have to drop substations in West Virginia and by the way, West Virginia ratepayers will only pay for the amount of energy that stays within our state,’” Anders said.

A second line is also up for discussion. Valley Link Transmission hasn’t finalized any routes yet, but it would consist of 260 miles of transmission line and would add two substations between Frederick County, Maryland, and Putnam County.

With both of these lines, the main concern surrounding the proposals is who exactly is expected to foot the bill and whether or not it will ultimately fall back on West Virginia ratepayers.

“We’re going to be on the hook for anywhere between $440 million to over $900 million on both lines,” Anders said.

Lawmakers said those price tags continue to increase.

“At least for the MARL line, they went back to the grid operator, PJM, and said, ‘It’s going to cost significantly more money than it originally thought. Those estimates of the cost to West Virginia ratepayers are only going to go up,’” Del. Evan Hansen said.

These projects have gained bipartisan opposition. This is all beginning when representatives for these energy companies brought these proposals to lawmakers in January, noting that these lines would strengthen the entire grid.

But many lawmakers were not convinced, asking why they should support it if West Virginia has no direct benefit.

“It would increase our electric rates and private property owners might be faced with giving up their land or having their property values decline,” Hansen said.

It’s not only state officials voicing opposition. Public hearings have been held in the northern counties where community members shared their concerns with these projects that could go right through their backyards.

“We did hear from construction workers and electrical workers about the jobs, but otherwise it was uniformly against the construction of the project,” Hansen said.

An evidentiary hearing for MARL’s permit application will be held by the Public Service Commission on Oct. 26.

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