West Virginia University

West Virginia University, founded in 1867 as one of the original public land-grant universities, is one of only 115 institutions to receive the highest research designation out of over 4,500 schools in the nation. WVU is ranked among the top 1.5 percent of universities in the world by the Center for World University Rankings, the largest academic ranking of its kind; it is one of only about a dozen land-grant, doctoral research universities in the country with a comprehensive medical school. WVU offers more than 360 majors at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels in 14 academic schools and colleges, including dentistry, law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Top areas of research range from STEM education to rural healthcare, natural resources utilization to radio astronomy. WVU partnered with the FBI to found one of the first accredited forensic science programs in the nation. The WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute is the only research center in the world dedicated to studying human memory. WVU established one of the first personalized STEM tutoring programs for student-veterans, hosts one of only three puppetry degree programs in the country and is one of only three institutions with a joint petroleum and natural gas engineering ABET-accredited major. In Morgantown students participate in more than 400 student organizations and give more than 50,000 annual hours of service, helping earn the Carnegie Foundation's Community Engagement Classification - joining only 6 percent of all universities. WVU is more than just a place - or a set of stats. It's a spirit.