MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU officials are very grateful for increased funding from the state legislature and are looking forward to the challenges it will help them address.
The state legislature reversed a two percent cut on higher education that was in Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s proposed budget and fully funded the incentive-based funding model. In addition to that, WVU received some supplemental appropriations to continue some high-profile projects.
“We are thankful our state leaders continue to support higher education, which opens doors to career paths for the Mountain State’s future workforce,” President Michael T. Benson said following the end of the regular session.
WVU Vice President of Government Affairs and Collaboration Travis Mollohan echoed those comments Thursday on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.”
“We’re thankful to the legislators, the finance chairmen, and two presiding officers who supported us and all the other institutions of higher education.”
Mollohan said funding from the state legislature since 2023 has helped WVU address very important issues to keep the university operating smoothly and help earn the Cancer Institute designation. The recent support reverses a trend of lower contributions from the state due to funding issues from 2013 to 2018.
“That includes $50 million for the Cancer Institute designation, $15 million to help us deal with some of the FAFSA issues in 2024, and $50 million in deferred maintenance,” Mollohan said.
The university received a supplemental appropriation of $32 million for the WVU School of Medicine. The advancements help them facilitate the 134-week accelerated medical doctor program and more than 2,300 West Virginians studying in WVU health programs.
“Construct a new education building that will house some new classrooms, new lab space, and new student centers that we think will take those programs to the next level,” Mollohan said.
The appropriations include $5 million in matching money to support the rehabilitation of the WVU School of Dentistry, which has not been improved since the 1950s. The investments will modernize academic and clinical programs that will also help with attracting students and retaining students.
“This investment really gives us an opportunity to expand and grow those programs and bring some new state-of-the-art facilities to the Health Sciences campus here in Morgantown,” Mollohan said.
With academic transformation in the past, the institution appears to be prepared for the future. Since the reorganization that cut more than 20 majors and 140 faculty positions, the university has set records in freshman and first-generation retention rates. Freshman retention rates from fall to spring from 2024 to 2025 reached a record-setting 93.8 percent. This is in addition to robust expectations for enrollment for the upcoming year based on FAFSA applications and applications received.
“The metrics for retention and graduation rates are all up, and we saw our largest freshman class last year compared to 2022,” Mollohan said. “I think things are really looking up at the university, and the best is yet to come.”