LevelUp your education before you graduate high school with our dual enrollment program!
LevelUp, West Virginia! High School Dual Enrollment Program
In 2023, the West Virginia Legislature established West Virginia’s first state-funded dual enrollment program for high school students. As a result, the Higher Education Policy Commission has launched the LevelUpWV pilot program that covers the costs of dual enrollment courses offered by the state’s colleges and universities that are tied to some of West Virginia’s most in-demand careers. The focus of the LevelUpWV pilot program is to place West Virginia’s high school students on an educational track to long-term, successful careers in the state.
The four-year pilot program, supporting up to an estimated 12,000 students per year, began during the fall 2023 semester. West Virginia’s public community and technical colleges and four-year institutions are offering courses in certain designated career pathways, such as the following, along with others that meet a workforce demand in the state:
- health care
- information technology
- advanced manufacturing
- construction
- engineering
- education
- agriculture
Through MOUs, colleges and universities may offer these courses at not cost to the students enrolled in the approved pathway.
Frequently Asked Questions
Students taking dual enrollment may still qualify for state financial aid programs. As with all students, grades and number of college credits taken can impact usage of programs.
For the Promise Scholarship, once a student qualifies, they can receive up to four semesters toward an associate degree and eight semesters toward a bachelor’s degree. Dual credits may help a student graduate early but may prevent them from utilizing the full eight semesters of potential eligibility. There is not a limit on the number of dual credits a student can take to qualify for Promise, but the grades received in dual enrollment courses will be included in the grade point average (GPA) calculations toward initial eligibility as well as the overall GPA calculation required for renewing the scholarship.
For West Virginia Invests, any applicant who has attempted 90 or more accumulated college credits or has achieved an associate degree or higher is not eligible. All attempted college credits, including dual courses earned in high school, will be reviewed when determining eligibility.
Teaching, nursing, social services, business, information technology, engineering, advanced manufacturing, welding, criminal justice, natural resources and aviation maintenance are approved to be offered. More will be added in the future.
When a student signs up for a pathway, their high school should work with the partner institution to provide them with a list of courses that are tied to that pathway.
Students should work with their high school counselor to sign up for a preferred pathway.
Students must be enrolled in an approved pathway to qualify. The higher education institutions work with the high school administrations to determine student eligibility.
Sixteen institutions – seven four-year and nine two-year institutions – are currently participating:
Four-year Institutions
- Bluefield State University
- Fairmont State University
- Glenville State University
- Marshall University
- Shepherd University
- West Liberty University
- West Virginia State University
Two-year Institutions
- Blue Ridge Community & Technical College
- BridgeValley Community & Technical College
- Eastern West Virginia Community & Technical College
- Mountwest Community & Technical College
- New River Community & Technical College
- Pierpont Community & Technical College
- Southern West Virginia Community & Technical College
- West Virginia Northern Community College
- West Virginia University at Parkersburg
Additional institutions will be added.
Approximately 6,500 students are enrolled in the current (pilot) semester of the program.
First Semester Data
- Each participating institutions received 475 registrations
- Ten (10) participating institutions with more anticipated to join this semester
- 34 participating counties
- Ten (10) approved pathways with more expected to be submitted this semester
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Business
- Education
- Science
- Health Science
- Information Technology
- Natural Resources Management
- Social Services
- STEM
- Welding
- 6500 students registered
- 19,500 credit hours