By Nadia Ramlagan
West Virginia’s innovative programs and a boost in state financial aid have made it possible for more people to earn a college degree or get a credential that shows they’ve achieved competency in a specific field.
The latest data from Lumina Foundation show more than 44% of adults in the Mountain State have attained some level of education after high school.
West Virginia Invest, the state’s free community college program, and Level Up, which offers dual enrollment for high schoolers, are driving the increase, said Sarah Tucker, chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. She said dual enrollment can help keep young students on the right track “by enrolling them in dual-enrollment courses in high school that are tailored to the major that they are interested in when they go on to college.”
According to the report, in 2023, nearly 10% of West Virginians held an associate degree and around 13% held a bachelor’s degree.
Tucker said the state has also worked to increase FAFSA participation – the form families fill out to get financial aid for college. She noted that last year, the commission staff completed more than 200 FAFSA workshops at high schools, even when the program temporarily shut down.
“We doubled our needs-based aid program,” she said, “so that our neediest students would be able to go to college and wouldn’t be left sitting home, which was my biggest fear.”
Affordability is another factor. In West Virginia, Tucker said, 60% of community college students graduate with no student debt to repay.
“What we have seen in the past several years, through keeping our tuition low and this investment by the state,” she said, “is that we have really increased the number of our students who don’t have any loans.”
Nationwide, nearly 55% of people have a postsecondary degree or credential, and around 47% hold a bachelor’s degree.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.
