Tag: West Virginia Enrollment

Enrollment Down at West Virginia Colleges, Officials Say

Higher education officials say enrollment is down at West Virginia’s four-year and community colleges.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Chancellor Paul Hill told lawmakers Monday that has declined from its peak in 2011 as more people re-entered the work force. Officials said in their annual state of the Higher Education Report Card that full-time equivalent undergraduate enrollment fell from 64,427 in 2011 to 61,042 in 2014.

At the same time, officials say the number of students who are graduating is improving. Nearly 9,270 bachelor’s degrees were handed out in 2014, up to from 8,886 in 2011.

The number of students earning bachelor’s degrees in health related fields increased nearly 26 percent between 2010 and 2014. Degrees in science, technology, engineering and math majors increased by more than 12 percent.

Enrollment Declining in W.Va. Schools

The state superintendent said enrollment numbers in public schools statewide are down and the Department of Education is now left trying to figure out where those students have gone.

Superintendent Dr. James Phares reported to a Joint Committee on Education, student enrollment has decreased by more than 1,200 student since last year.

Harrison County led the enrollment decrease losing 283 in the last five years.

Phares said the state department is going to begin an internal study of all of the possible factors for declining numbers to present to the legislature in December.

“We know our dropout rate is decreasing so we don’t think that it’s because of an increased drop out rate,” he said.

“We don’t the affect that perhaps some of the surrounding online virtual schools (have had), but we’re going to check to see if there’s been a move to that or home school or if it’s because they moved out of state..”

Berkeley County, however, is on the opposite end of the spectrum. It leads the state in growth, adding 775 students to its system in the 2013-2014 school year.
 

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