Top colleges in West Virginia by 10-year ROI
Executive Summary
Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in West Virginia with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. West Virginia University Institute of Technology leads this list at $210,107 (10 Yr. ROI).
Leaders: top 3
West Virginia University Institute of Technology
10 Yr. ROI
$210,107
West Virginia University
10 Yr. ROI
$178,622
Marshall University
10 Yr. ROI
$178,260
Top 17 Top colleges in West Virginia by 10-year ROI
| Rank | Institution | State | Control | Enrollment | 10 Yr. ROI | Also see |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Virginia University Institute of Technology | WV | Public | 981 | $210,107 | Grad 33.0% · Net $9,337 |
| 2 | West Virginia University | WV | Public | 17,385 | $178,622 | Grad 64.7% · Net $15,634 |
| 3 | Marshall University | WV | Public | 7,266 | $178,260 | Grad 51.2% · Net $7,502 |
| 4 | Shepherd University | WV | Public | 2,344 | $177,151 | Grad 51.0% · Net $11,363 |
| 5 | Fairmont State University | WV | Public | 2,590 | $172,707 | Grad 44.2% · Net $9,032 |
| 6 | Wheeling University | WV | Private nonprofit | 589 | $165,420 | Grad 23.3% · Net $20,503 |
| 7 | West Virginia Wesleyan College | WV | Private nonprofit | 954 | $144,530 | Grad 57.1% · Net $18,083 |
| 8 | Concord University | WV | Public | 1,504 | $141,290 | Grad 39.0% · Net $9,966 |
| 9 | University of Charleston | WV | Private nonprofit | 2,259 | $136,595 | Grad 45.6% · Net $22,107 |
| 10 | American Public University System | WV | Private for-profit | 40,074 | $135,394 | Grad 57.2% · Net $9,597 |
| 11 | West Virginia State University | WV | Public | 1,321 | $132,050 | Grad 39.2% · Net $11,139 |
| 12 | West Liberty University | WV | Public | 1,511 | $126,095 | Grad 59.5% · Net $15,366 |
| 13 | Bluefield State University | WV | Public | 1,042 | $122,658 | Grad 37.0% · Net $13,684 |
| 14 | Glenville State University | WV | Public | 1,096 | $118,838 | Grad 33.9% · Net $14,006 |
| 15 | Salem University | WV | Private for-profit | 892 | $110,190 | Grad 19.9% · Net $12,303 |
| 16 | Bethany College | WV | Private nonprofit | 614 | $108,675 | Grad 46.8% · Net $18,605 |
| 17 | Davis & Elkins College | WV | Private nonprofit | 661 | $103,688 | Grad 39.3% · Net $18,273 |
Method notes
- Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to the IPEDS 2024 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
- Cohort applied on this page: enrollment floor of 200 undergraduates; sorted highest first on 10 Yr. ROI; all 17 qualifying campuses are shown.
- Ties on the ranked metric are broken by enrollment, then institution name, so ranks stay stable between rebuilds.
- ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
- How the 10-year ROI figure is built: median earnings reported 6, 8, and 10 years after entry (years 7 and 9 linearly interpolated) are summed across years 6–10, then average annual net price × typical years enrolled (five for bachelor’s-predominant campuses) is subtracted. It is a nominal-dollar gap—not discounted to present value, and it does not subtract earnings foregone while enrolled or compare against a no-college baseline. Campuses reporting only one of the three earnings years are excluded from these tables.
- School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.