CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state higher education chancellor had plenty of good news to report at August’s West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education meeting.
Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker outlined some of the developments at CTC’s meeting last week. She reported that more recent high school graduates are choosing to enroll in the West Virginia Invests Program. That program is a tuition-free, state-funded last-dollar-in program that pays for the remaining amount of tuition for eligible students after their other financial aid is subtracted.
“Our West Virginia Invests grant program had record enrollment during the 2025-2026 school year,” Tucker said. “We had more than 1500 students.”
While community college students are typically older, Tucker said, the Invests program has attracted younger students.
“Of our Invests students, 82 percent were under the age of 24,” Tucker said. “I think that’s a very interesting statistic and shows how that program is having an uptick in enrollment with a different population of students for our community colleges.”
Tucker noted that the leading fields among those students are aviation maintenance technology, nursing, and health sciences.
There’s positive news with Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) applications this year as well. Tucker said that as of July 31, well over 50 percent of recent graduates have filled out the form.
“61.4 percent of our high school class of 2026 completed the FAFSA,” Tucker said. “That is a 7.8-percent increase from last year. We are back to pre-pandemic levels, and we are seeing that across the board with our students.”
Tucker said that both two-year and four-year institutions across the state are making progress.
“This past year, collectively, across both systems, institutions produced more than 1,100 more degrees than they did the year prior,” Tucker said. “With more than 800 additional graduates than they had the year prior.”
Tucker also highlighted some upcoming events to watch out for:
– A STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) speaker series event features a West Virginia State University professor talking about artificial intelligence. That event is scheduled for September 16 at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.
– A governance leadership institute event at Stonewall Resort in Lewis County on October 13-14.
– A groundbreaking on the $23 million Pierpont Community and Technical College aviation training expansion at the North Central West Virginia Airport is scheduled for October 1 but is subject to change.