Achievements and Rankings

Student Success

Prestigious Scholarships

WVU students have received prestigious scholarships, including:

• 25 Rhodes Scholars
• 142 Gilman Scholars
• 87 Fulbright Scholars
• 53 Goldwater Scholars
• 27 Truman Scholars
• 30 Boren Fellows and Scholars
• 41 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships

View complete lists of WVU scholars.

Experiential Learning

• The Reed School of Media and Communications is on the PRNEWS Education A-List and has won multiple Emmys for student newscasts.
• The WVU Robotics Team was the best in the world in 2022-23, surpassing teams from 10 countries in a competition to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers.
• In 2024, mining students from the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources earned first place for the 9th time since 2000 in the annual Carlson Software Senior Mine Design Competition.

Outcomes

• We’re the best 4-year college in West Virginia for future earnings (College Scorecard). The average cost of a WVU degree compared nationally to a 4-year school is 34% less (College Scorecard).
• According to College Scorecard, our graduates earn $10,000 more than other college graduates 10 years after graduation, which is 32% more than other college grads.

Academics

WVU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Many degree programs hold specialized accreditation.

Differentiators

• WVU is 1 of 12 U.S. schools classified as a land-grant, doctoral research university with a comprehensive health sciences center.
• We’re a space-grant university, part of a network formed for outer-space related research.
• We’re 1 only 2 institutions in the U.S. offering accredited forensic science degrees at the undergraduate, master’s, and PhD levels.
• We’re West Virginia’s only R1 institution and have the state’s only comprehensive academic health sciences center.

Faculty Excellence

• 19 faculty members have been named Carnegie Foundation Professors of the Year.
• 53 have received the National Science Foundation Career Award.
• Maura McLaughlin, Eberly Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, was selected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, 1 of the highest honors in the scientific world. (2024)
• Duncan Lorimer, professor of physics and astronomy, was selected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London for his contributions to pulsar astrophysics and his role in the discovery of fast radio bursts. (2024)

Rankings

• R1, the highest possible research ranking from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
• The Center for World University Rankings placed WVU in the top 2.4% of worldwide universities.
• J.W. Ruby Memorial is the #1 hospital in West Virginia according to U.S. News & World Report and has also received 5 Magnet designations from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
• U.S. News & World Report ranks several of our programs in the top 100, including the undergraduate nursing program and graduate programs in audiology, business, engineering, medicine, occupational therapy, pharmacy, clinical psychology, and rehabilitation counseling, to name a few.
  • Graduate program rankings
  • Online program rankings

Research

• WVU is an R1 institution, the highest research ranking possible. Only 187 of the nation’s colleges and universities attain this prestigious classification. (2025)
• In fiscal year 2025, we received $264 million in sponsored research funding, a 61% increase from 5 years ago. Our research funding comes from a variety of sources, including federal, state, industry, and private donors.
• The WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, the world’s 1st institute devoted to the study of human memory, is on our Morgantown campus. RNI’s breakthroughs in the treatment of addiction and Alzheimer’s disease have been featured on “60 Minutes” and in the Washington Post and the New York Times.
• We’re the FBI’s lead academic partner in biometrics research, a relationship dating back to 2008.
• The WVU Cancer Institute is working to attain National Cancer Institute Designation, a first for West Virginia.
• The West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute on our Morgantown campus is 1 of 3 hubs nationally that will launch the National Institutes of Health Communities Advancing Research Equity for Health™ (CARE for Health™) initiative.

Service

• WVU has held the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for Community Engagement designation since 2010.
• 35 service learning courses.
• WVU students recorded 130,000 hours of service in 2024-25, for a value of nearly $3.8 million.
• WVU Extension faculty and volunteers help thousands of West Virginians.
  • Nearly 77,000 youth take part 4-H camps, special interest clubs, in-school activities, and other WVU Extension programs each year.
  • More than 2,000 volunteer and professional firefighters train through the Fire Service Extension each year.
• Since 2022, the College of Applied Human Sciences has generated more than $34 million to support the educational, mental, emotional, and physical well-being of students, teachers, and community members.
• The Job Accommodation Network serves the nation by providing free consulting services designed to increase the employability of people with disabilities.

Innovation and Economic Prosperity

• WVU is 1 of 85 higher education institutions to receive the Innovation and Economic Prosperity University distinction from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
• The WVU Health System is investing nearly $1 billion to accelerate growth and expand care across our region.
• Combined, WVU and WVU Health System are the largest employer in the state with the greatest economic impact.
• For every $1 the State invests in WVU, more than $9 is returned in economic impact to the state.
• WVU’s economic activity contributes over $3.1 billion to the region’s economy and generates $20.5 million in state and local taxes.
• WVU research generates $400+ million in economic impact across the state to drive prosperity and strengthen the local tax base.
• Since the Office of Innovation and Commercialization’s launch in 2024, it has:
  • 38 new invention disclosures (CY2025)
  • 15 patents issued to WVU (10 U.S., 5 foreign, during CY2025)
  • $235,690.66 generated revenue (CY2025 to-date)
  • 60% expansion of WVU IP licensing portfolio in 18 months
• WVU is home to the Cyber-Resilience Resource Center, which has saved businesses over $215,000 since May 2025 and logged 7,000+ hours helping West Virginia non-profits and businesses become more cyber resilient.

International Connections

• WVU faculty conduct research and teach in 76 countries across 6 continents, contributing to advancements in fields like healthcare, engineering, agriculture, and sustainable development.
• 600 students studied abroad last year.
• We received a Senator Paul Simon Award for campus internationalization. (2019)
• Our alumni live in 135 nations.
• Our Global Health Program gives students in medicine, dentistry, and other health careers opportunities to provide care in countries where people have limited access to healthcare.

Athletics

• 96% graduation rate (2025).
• Perennial nationally ranked women’s and men’s soccer programs have advanced to the NCAA College Cup in the last 9 years.
• The WVU rifle team has won an NCAA record 20 national championships.
• The women’s cross country team has finished 2nd and 9th nationally in the last 2 NCAA National Championships.
• WVU baseball won its 2024 and 2025 NCAA regional tournaments and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals for 2 straight seasons.
• WVU women’s basketball won 50 games over the last 2 seasons, advancing to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.
• WVU men’s basketball has played in 2 Final Fours and 1 national championship game.
• WVU Athletics finished No. 42 nationally in the 2025 Learfield Director’s Cup Standings, which is its highest finish since 2011.
• WVU’s Mountaineer mascot won the “Best Live Human Mascot” award from the National Mascot Hall of Fame. (2022)