Funding Application Errors Costly for Two West Virginia Schools

Application mistakes have cost two universities federal funding for programs that benefit low-income college students in West Virginia.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the U.S. Department of Education rejected the applications of West Virginia University and West Virginia State University. The funding assists students who are the first in their families to attend college.

WVU spokesman John Bolt says schools were told to only request the same amount they had previously received. Instead of asking for the $219,998 that it got in 2012 to fund the McNair Scholars program over five years, WVU rounded up the figure by $2.

Last week, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito that West Virginia State’s application wouldn’t be reconsidered. Capito says a $104 clerical mistake cost the Institute school funding for an Upward Bound program.