WVSU visits Mount View, offers scholarships and college guidance

West Virginia State University brought its admissions pitch, academic representatives and President Ericke Cage to Mount View High School in Welch, giving McDowell County juniors and seniors a direct look at what college could cost and what it could offer.

Students from Mount View High School and River View High School filled Mount View’s auditorium for the assembly, where the university team talked through scholarships, financial aid, academic programs and the support services that can help students leave a small rural high school and step into a larger campus setting. Current WVSU students also spoke about their own transition, offering local teens a firsthand picture of what it takes to start college and what kind of help can make the move feel possible.

The visit carried immediate weight for families weighing tuition, transportation and the jump from Welch to a university campus. Several scholarships were awarded during the assembly to students who plan to attend WVSU in fall 2026, turning the outreach into more than a recruitment stop. WVSU is still accepting applications for the 2026 fall semester, keeping the door open for McDowell County students deciding on their next step now.

That matters in a county where the numbers help explain the stakes. McDowell County’s population was estimated at 17,147 in July 2024, down from 19,111 in the 2020 census. The county’s poverty rate was 36.2 percent, and only 5.7 percent of adults age 25 and older held a bachelor’s degree or higher in the 2019-2023 period. In a place where many families have to do the math carefully before college can even become a realistic option, an in-person visit from a university can make the path clearer.

Mount View High School’s district page says the school is focused on “Supporting each student’s quest for college and career success.” Tuesday’s assembly matched that mission by putting admissions staff, program representatives and university students in the same room with local seniors and juniors who are about to make a decision that will shape the next several years of their lives.

The outreach also fit a pattern. West Virginia State University previously visited McDowell County high schools in March 2018, when then-President Anthony L. Jenkins and university representatives made the same county a stop on the school’s recruiting route. For McDowell students, that kind of repeated attention can be the difference between college as an abstraction and college as a concrete next step.