West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Telling West Virginia's Story
The University of Charleston has reported record enrollment this fall.
University President Ed Welch says 2,327 full-time students are enrolled. That’s up 10 percent from a year ago.
The university says in a news release that online leadership programs make up part of the increase.
Those programs more than doubled to 636 students this year, including members of active-duty military members taking courses from other areas of the world.
Fall enrollment is down at most of West Virginia’s public four-year colleges and universities.
The Charleston Gazette says state figures show about 65,400 students are enrolled in public four-year schools. That’s down 1.6 percent from the fall of 2013.
The largest drop occurred at Bluefield State College, where enrollment declined by nearly 11 percent.
West Virginia University’s enrollment fell by 1 percent.
Enrollment also declined at Concord, Shepherd, Fairmont State and West Liberty universities; Glenville State and Potomac State colleges; and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
Marshall University gained 20 students, an increase of less than 1 percent. Enrollment also increased at West Virginia State University and West Virginia University Institute of Technology.
West Virginia University officials say the number of students on its Morgantown campuses is expected to look similar to last year’s total.
While the school will do its official count in October, this year’s freshman class should be between 4,900 and 5,000 first-time students.
The Dominion Post reports there were nearly 30 thousand students on WVU’s main campus last year. That was a slight dip from the previous year and included freshman enrollment of 4,900 students.
Officials say the school is still seeing students from its traditional eastern feeder states. There’s a slight uptick in students from Pennsylvania and Ohio but the university has seen a drop in students from New Jersey and Maryland.
There’s also been an increase in students from the Big 12 footprint, mainly from Texas.