The history of two-year colleges in West Virginia goes back more than a century to the creation of a two-year preparatory branch of West Virginia University in 1885. Over the years, most terminal two-year degree programs in West Virginia have been based at four-year campuses. In 1961, the legislature approved the establishment of two-year branch campuses at the state's universities that would provide transfer, occupational and continuing education programs. The legislature later passed legislation authorizing the Board of Regents to convert branch campuses of universities to community colleges as part of a move to establish a comprehensive community college system. The state now has a mix of 11 two-year institutions, with two stand-alone comprehensive community colleges, three regional campuses affiliated with West Virginia university, and six institutions that are divisions of other regional four-year state institutions. Public community colleges in West Virginia help students who are looking to learn a trade or who want to stay local for their first two years of college. A number of quality colleges offer credit transfer to West Virginia University. Many of these schools offer small class sizes, so you can get the attention you need to complete the requirements for an associate's degree.
There are 25 community colleges located throughout the state of West Virginia (15 public colleges and 10 private colleges), educating 29,823 college students.
Community colleges in West Virginia: one of the largest and well-liked college is Pierpont Community and Technical College with 2,318 full time students and an in-state tuition list price of $4,440. Pierpont Community and Technical College is one of the most costly community school in West Virginia with an in-state tuition of $4,440.
On average, how much does it costs to attend community college in West Virginia? For West Virginia community colleges, the state's average tuition is about $3,559 per year for in-state college students and $7,898 for out-of-state students. For private community colleges in the state, the typical yearly tuition is roughly $12,386 per year