BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education (WSJ/THE) Best College 2021 Rankings placed West Virginia Wesleyan College (WVWC) as the top private – and second highest-ranked overall – college or university in West Virginia. Read the full rankings here.

“The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education Best College Rankings are a testament to our students, faculty and staff, and alumni and donors who make West Virginia Wesleyan’s commitment to excellence a reality,” said Joel Thierstein, President of the college. “As the highest-ranked private college – and second highest-ranked college or university in West Virginia – we continue to pursue innovative ways to ensure Wesleyan is accessible to students seeking an educational launching pad to future success.”

Key indicators in the WSJ/THE rankings include 15 factors across four main categories:

• 40 percent of each school’s overall score comes from student outcomes, including graduates’ salaries and debt;
• 30 percent comes from academic resources, including how much the college spends on teaching;
• 20 percent from student engagement, including whether students feel prepared to use their education in the real world, and
• 10 percent from the learning environment, including the diversity of the student body and academic staff.

The WSJ/THE rankings come on the heels of top-tier rankings by U.S. News and World Report and The Princeton Review that placed West Virginia Wesleyan in the Best Value and Best Overall Rankings for colleges and universities in the Southeastern Region of the United States.