Admissions & selectivity
West Virginia University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at West Virginia University?
West Virginia University’s reported acceptance rate is 89.0%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 89.0%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
West Virginia University admitted a broad share of its reported applicant pool, at 89.0%. That rate is above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
Applicants should place West Virginia University on an application list after reviewing its score and grade profile alongside their own record.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled West Virginia University students report?
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, West Virginia University reported the test scores and GPA of enrolled first-year students, giving applicants a picture of who starts here. 56% of those students submitted SAT scores, and the middle half of submitters scored from 1010 to 1210.
Among the 23% who submitted ACT scores, the middle half fell between 20 and 26. An applicant whose SAT scores fall between 1010 and 1210, or whose ACT scores fall between 20 and 26, would sit in the middle half of recent enrolled submitters.
The university also reported an average high-school GPA of 3.70 among enrolled first-year students, based on the 99.9% who reported one. That figure is an average among reporters rather than a minimum threshold for admission.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at West Virginia University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
56% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1010
- Median
- 1110
- 75th percentile
- 1210
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
23% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 20
- Median
- 23
- 75th percentile
- 26
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: West Virginia University Common Data Set 2024-25, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at West Virginia University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 21.6%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 14.0%
- First-year retention
- 83.4%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
West Virginia University draws undergraduates through both direct entry and transfer routes, with federal grant aid present in the undergraduate population. Of 17,385 undergraduates, 21.6% receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 14.0% entered as transfers or part-time students.
This points to an undergraduate body that includes students using Pell support alongside people continuing coursework begun elsewhere. In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 1,769 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 988 admitted, and 662 enrolled.
At West Virginia University, first-year persistence is slightly stronger than the peer reference, but six-year completion is slightly lower. For the full-time bachelor's-seeking first-year cohort, 83.4% return for a second year, above the 83.1% peer median.
The six-year graduation rate is 64.7%, below the comparable-institution median of 65.0%. Pell recipients in that cohort complete within six years at 46.1%, below the overall rate by 18.6 percentage points.
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported that 63.9% of the first-time, full-time fall 2018 entering class completed within six years. The Pell recipient rate of 52.2% was below the overall rate.
Enrolled students can expect the retention and completion figures to describe the experiences of entering cohorts rather than an individual timetable.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.