Welcome back to the PNPI Explorer blog series, where we examine higher education data in different states. This week’s spotlight is on West Virginia. 

In 2022 in West Virginia, there were 36 institutions serving 66,219 full-time equivalent (FTE) students. Using the Comparison Tool, we can examine the percentage of students at West Virginia institutions who are enrolled in distance education. 37.55% of students at West Virginia institutions are enrolled in at least some distance education. West Virginia enrolls a higher percentage of students in some distance education than any other state, with a rate nearly 7.5 percentage points higher than the national average of 29.98%.

Using the Trend Explorer, we can see that much of the growth in distance education, both in West Virginia and nationally, was driven by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. We can also see that West Virginia consistently enrolled a higher percentage of students in distance education before the pandemic, and the gap between the state and national averages increased in 2021 and 2022.

Find something interesting about West Virginia that you would like to share with us? Drop us a note via our feedback page or discuss your findings on LinkedIn! Check back next week when we explore data insights about Wisconsin.

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