Best Colleges In West Virginia

College keeps getting more and more expensive. This has been well documented.

In fact, some people wonder whether getting a college degree is even worth it anymore. It's a fair question, since you could be earning money for four or more years, rather than racking up student debt. For some people, that might be the right path. But you should also consider the fact that getting a degree significantly improves your employment prospects. According to a study conducted by Georgetown University, of the 11.6 million jobs the economy has gained since the Great Recession, 11.5 million have gone to people with at least some collegiate education—that's more than 99 percent. And of those, 3.8 million went to people with graduate degrees, and 4.6 million jobs went to people with bachelor's degrees.

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So if you weren't before, perhaps now you're convinced that you should give college a shot. If you're in West Virginia, or would like to go, then this is the page for you. (In fact, even if you're not, you may be able to attend through one of the Top Online Schools in West Virginia. Originally part of the state of Virginia, West Virginians split off in 1861 in order to fight slavery alongside the rest of the Union. Since then, they've nurtured and created a vibrant culture, in evidence especially in their state's musical traditions, although not only there. And even if you haven't had the chance to explore West Virginia's natural beauty, you've probably heard John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads," which describes his experience driving through the state. The hills, forests, and caves make for a stunning landscape.

What are the best colleges in West Virginia?

For such a small state, West Virginia has a surprising number of colleges. In order to compile this list, we combed through the data on every college and university that offers four-year degrees in order to find the best and arrange them in this list. In doing so, we considered three central factors: academic quality, student body diversity, and return on investment—a measurement of total cost against expected early career income. All data comes from IPEDS, courtesy of the National Center for Education Statistics.