State cost ranking · DOE College Scorecard

Cheapest Colleges in West Virginia

In West Virginia, Ralph R Willis Career and Technical Center reports aid covering the full average cost among 60 Scorecard reporters, grant aid meets or exceeds the published net-price components for the average aided student.

Aid covers full cost
Cheapest net price
$9,988
West Virginia median
60
Schools ranked

Ralph R Willis Career and Technical Center has the lowest average net price in West Virginia among Scorecard reporters

According to the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, Ralph R Willis Career and Technical Center posts the lowest average net price in West Virginia at Aid covers full cost among 60 ranked schools, with the state median 42% below the $17,124 national median. Net price is what students paid after grant aid, not sticker tuition, and can reflect a narrow enrollment mix at specialty schools.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard

Cheapest net price
Aid covers full cost
West Virginia median
$9,988
Schools ranked
60
National median
$17,124

Data updated August 2026 · IPEDS 2022–23 vintage

The list in one line

Ralph R Willis Career and Technical Center has the lowest average net price in West Virginia at Aid covers full cost, and the state's median net price is 42% below the $17,124 national median across 4,965 schools.

Aid covers full cost
cheapest ranked net price
$9,988
West Virginia median net price
38 public / 22 private
schools in this ranking
$9,455
avg net price, <$30K income families

Average net price blends every income bracket; families under $30k average $9,455 here. Loans are excluded, open a school profile for the bracket table before treating one average as a personal cost.

Sticker tuition and real net price diverge most at Bethany College, where in-state published tuition of $36,765 falls to an average net price of $18,605 after aid, a $18,160 gap, the widest sticker-to-net gap among ranked West Virginia schools.

Across 60 ranked West Virginia schools, 38 are public and 22 are private. Sector sits beside every row because a low price at a specialty campus is not the same signal as a low price at a large public college.

The bar to make this top-25 list is $9,032. Here is where that cutoff sits among all 60 Scorecard-reporting West Virginia schools:

The bar to make West Virginia's top-25 cheapest list

Average net price after aid · 60 Scorecard-reporting schools

$9,032 more affordable than 58% of 60 West Virginia colleges

Show national distribution $0–$3,000: 7 West Virginia colleges (12%). Below this entry. $3,000–$6,000: 11 West Virginia colleges (18%). Below this entry. $6,000–$9,000: 6 West Virginia colleges (10%). Below this entry. $9,000–$12,000: 15 West Virginia colleges (25%). This entry sits in this band. $12,000–$15,000: 6 West Virginia colleges (10%). Above this entry. $15,000–$18,000: 5 West Virginia colleges (8%). Above this entry. $18,000–$21,000: 6 West Virginia colleges (10%). Above this entry. $21,000–$24,000: 1 West Virginia colleges (2%). Above this entry. $24,000–$27,000: 3 West Virginia colleges (5%). Above this entry. #25 cutoff $0 $27,000 every ranked West Virginia college, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $3K-wide band; taller bars hold more West Virginia colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · 2022–23

West Virginia's 25 cheapest colleges by real net price

4
Fred W Eberle Technical CenterBuckhannon, WV · Public
Avg net price
$2,129
Net price (<$30K income)
$1,959
Median debt
-
Median earnings, 6yr
$38,251
Enrollment
109
9
Ben Franklin Career CenterDunbar, WV · Public
Avg net price
$3,382
Net price (<$30K income)
$3,702
Median debt
-
Median earnings, 6yr
$28,611
Enrollment
78
10
United Technical CenterClarksburg, WV · Public
Avg net price
$3,461
Net price (<$30K income)
$2,787
Median debt
-
Median earnings, 6yr
$40,317
Enrollment
10
13
Fayette Institute of TechnologyOak Hill, WV · Public
Avg net price
$4,132
Net price (<$30K income)
$2,482
Median debt
-
Median earnings, 6yr
$37,056
Enrollment
32
18
Avg net price
$5,879
Net price (<$30K income)
$5,879
Median debt
-
Median earnings, 6yr
$31,335
Enrollment
28
19
Carver Career CenterCharleston, WV · Public
Avg net price
$6,941
Net price (<$30K income)
-
Median debt
-
Median earnings, 6yr
$28,840
Enrollment
169
20
Marshall UniversityHuntington, WV · Public
Avg net price
$7,502
Net price (<$30K income)
$4,648
Median debt
$23,250
Median earnings, 6yr
$39,561
Enrollment
11,958
25
Fairmont State UniversityFairmont, WV · Public
Avg net price
$9,032
Net price (<$30K income)
$8,434
Median debt
$21,000
Median earnings, 6yr
$41,197
Enrollment
3,305
#CollegeAvg net priceNet price (<$30K income)Median debtMedian earnings, 6yrEnrollment
1Ralph R Willis Career and Technical CenterStollings, WV · PublicAid covers full cost103% of the leader · rank #1Aid covers full cost--18
2West Virginia University at ParkersburgParkersburg, WV · Public$1,80793% of the leader · rank #2$723$12,570$31,0762,728
3Putnam Career and Technical CenterEleanor, WV · Public$1,97592% of the leader · rank #3$1,975-$31,19027
4Fred W Eberle Technical CenterBuckhannon, WV · Public$2,12992% of the leader · rank #4$1,959-$38,251109
5Mercer County Technical Education CenterPrinceton, WV · Public$2,22591% of the leader · rank #5$1,623-$36,860120
6Wood County Technical Center-Practical NursingParkersburg, WV · Public$2,24891% of the leader · rank #6$871-$32,64231
7Mineral County Vocational Technical CenterKeyser, WV · Public$2,91489% of the leader · rank #7$2,914--14
8Mingo Extended Learning CenterDelbarton, WV · Public$3,29087% of the leader · rank #8$3,290--9
9Ben Franklin Career CenterDunbar, WV · Public$3,38287% of the leader · rank #9$3,702-$28,61178
10United Technical CenterClarksburg, WV · Public$3,46187% of the leader · rank #10$2,787-$40,31710
11New River Community and Technical CollegeBeaver, WV · Public$3,59986% of the leader · rank #11$2,657$7,250$28,2781,571
12Cabell County Career Technology CenterHuntington, WV · Public$3,65786% of the leader · rank #12$3,657-$35,83451
13Fayette Institute of TechnologyOak Hill, WV · Public$4,13284% of the leader · rank #13$2,482-$37,05632
14BridgeValley Community & Technical CollegeSouth Charleston, WV · Public$4,56582% of the leader · rank #14$4,321$9,829$34,2091,927
15Blue Ridge Community and Technical CollegeMartinsburg, WV · Public$4,64182% of the leader · rank #15$4,201$13,000$35,2104,203
16Monongalia County Technical Education CenterMorgantown, WV · Public$5,13280% of the leader · rank #16$4,838-$37,33343
17West Virginia Northern Community CollegeWheeling, WV · Public$5,32979% of the leader · rank #17$3,911$10,245$31,2981,525
18Roane-Jackson Technical CenterLeroy, WV · Public$5,87977% of the leader · rank #18$5,879-$31,33528
19Carver Career CenterCharleston, WV · Public$6,94173% of the leader · rank #19--$28,840169
20Marshall UniversityHuntington, WV · Public$7,50271% of the leader · rank #20$4,648$23,250$39,56111,958
21Mountwest Community and Technical CollegeHuntington, WV · Public$8,08369% of the leader · rank #21$7,895$7,446$28,2451,520
22Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical CollegeMoorefield, WV · Public$8,09569% of the leader · rank #22$6,392$8,500$30,420465
23Pierpont Community and Technical CollegeFairmont, WV · Public$8,32568% of the leader · rank #23$7,780$12,110$31,6181,938
24James Rumsey Technical InstituteMartinsburg, WV · Public$8,47767% of the leader · rank #24$5,802-$42,57699
25Fairmont State UniversityFairmont, WV · Public$9,03265% of the leader · rank #25$8,434$21,000$41,1973,305

Showing the 25 cheapest of 60 Scorecard-reporting West Virginia schools. The remaining 35 are ranked in the same net-price order but omitted from this HTML table so the page stays crawlable.

Look up any institution's exact rank via My School Profile, or open its school page for income-bracket net price, debt, and earnings.

What this means for you

Use West Virginia's ranking as a starting point, real net price depends on your specific financial-aid package.

  • Ralph R Willis Career and Technical Center reports the lowest average net price in West Virginia, but "average" blends every income bracket, check your bracket's figure before assuming it applies to you. View Ralph R Willis
  • See your specific school's in-state cost rank and nearest-price peers. My School Profile
  • Compare campus safety alongside cost before deciding. West Virginia safety

Figures reflect the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard IPEDS 2022–23 release.

Average net price = the institution-reported average amount students actually paid after all grant and scholarship aid, excluding loans. Only schools with a reported average net price in the DOE College Scorecard dataset are ranked. This page lists the 25 cheapest; the title count is the full Scorecard-reporting cohort for West Virginia. Schools with fewer than 10 net-price-reporting institutions in a state or territory are not given a dedicated ranking page.

Some schools on this page show "Aid covers full cost" instead of a dollar figure. This reflects real federal data: at a small number of low-cost institutions, mostly community colleges with strong state or federal grant programs, average grant and scholarship aid meets or exceeds the cost-of-attendance components used in the net-price calculation, producing a reported net price of $0 or below for the average aided student. It is not a display error.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard IPEDS 2022–23

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every ranked figure on this page is queried directly from the DOE College Scorecard dataset at request time; no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.