West Virginia University is grappling with an enrollment decline all too familiar for many higher education institutions — though it is somewhat unusual for a public flagship to be staring down such a significant budget hole.
E. Gordon Gee, WVU’s president, has said the falling enrollment is a primary cause for the budget deficit, which could reach $75 million in five to seven years.
Some pundits, however, have also pinned blame to middling state investment. The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, a local think tank, found the state’s public higher ed funding dropped more than $146 million between fiscal year 2013 and 2024 after adjusting for inflation.
