WVSU Gets Millions In Federal Funds To Advance Agricultural Science

West Virginia State University (WVSU) has received a $26.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Research Facilities Act Program.  

It is the largest competitive grant award in the university’s history which, as a land-grant institution, centers agricultural and technical education.  

WVSU President Ericke Cage said the award is an achievement not just for the university but for the state as a whole.  

“This is about bringing together two incredible organizations, West Virginia State being one, and the other being the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, bringing those two institutions together under one roof again to drive forward innovations in agriculture across West Virginia and our nation,” he said.  

The money will help construct the West Virginia State University Agriculture Complex that will house laboratory space for WVSU’s Purdy School of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources as well as the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.   

WVSU’s award amount ranks second nationally among 36 universities that received funding in a competitive program. Cage said it was a vote of confidence in the university. 

“When you look at that list, 36 other awardees, we’re talking about really major research institutions, R1, R2 research institutions. So to know that of that list of 36, West Virginia State was number two in terms of the total amount of funding received, it really makes us all at the institution feel good, but it also underscores what we’ve already known for a long, long time, and that is that West Virginia State University punches well above its weight,” he said.  “Our researchers, our faculty, our staff, our students are second to none, and that when we are called to task, we deliver, and we deliver at a high standard for our students, for the state of West Virginia, and for our nation.”  

The USDA award builds upon a previously announced, $50 million investment from the state of West Virginia. 

Last year WVSU celebrated 25 years since regaining its land-grant status in 2000.  

The system of land-grant schools was established by The Morrill Act of 1862 to provide federal support for agricultural and technical educational institutions in every state. The system was expanded by the Morrill Act of 1890 to ensure the education of black citizens in agriculture and the mechanical arts. The West Virginia Colored Institute was established one year later in 1891 as one of 19 land-grant institutions authorized by Congress.    

But in 1956, shortly after the university desegregated, the state Board of Education voted to surrender WVSU’s land-grant status, which “resulted in subsequent loss of millions of dollars which could have been used by the institution to serve the needs of a severely depressed region of Appalachia.” 

Cage recognizes that WVSU, like many other 1890 land grant institutions, has suffered historically from underfunding. 

“It’s a fact that is well documented. But despite this underfunding, we have persevered. We have not allowed the financial shortcomings to define who we are as institutions,” he said. “Who we are as institutions are a collection of men and women who are dedicated to transforming lives through excellence in education, dedicated to bringing forth incredible research to discover new innovations that are helping to change our world.” 

At approximately 40,000 gross square feet, the current Agriculture Complex will establish dedicated food science laboratories to run concurrent food safety, microbiology and shelf-life studies; create a commercial kitchen and sensory evaluation facility for value-added development and producer assistance; provide flexible agriculture and natural resources laboratories, agricultural AI computing and applied teaching space for WVSU’s new Purdy School of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources; and bring WVDA’s accredited laboratories to campus, strengthening the state’s capacity for food safety testing and emergency response.  

Construction is expected to begin in early 2027 with occupancy scheduled for Fall 2029.