Glenville State College on the Budget Chopping Block

Countless Webster County residents have attended and are presently attending Glenville State College. The College has in the past few years made significant expenditures in upgrades at its campus, particularly with the new multi-use WACO center.

That, however, is not stopping a group of West Virginia state Republican legislators from suggesting that both Glenville and Bluefield Colleges be closed as part of cost cutting measures to balance the state's budget. According to a Cardinal Institute report, the two colleges each serve fewer than 2,000 students but combine to cost state taxpayers $11.8 million annually. The report ranks Glenville and Bluefield as the two least efficient colleges in West Virginia.

Cardinal's report, entitled "Wild and Wasteful West Virginia: Exposing Waste, Fraud and Abuse of Your State Tax Dollars," states:  Today, thanks to virtual education options, there is little justification for throwing good money after bad in an attempt to keep failing colleges afloat. If West Virginia is wise enough to combine, privatize or shutter a few of its least successful schools, students at those institutions would be able to transfer to another state university, if they so choose. If moving or commuting is prohibitive, the impacted students could continue their studies online using the robust virtual opportunities offered by many of the state’s top schools.

With no end in sight to West Virginia's ongoing budget deficits, any cost cutting measures are fair game.

The full Cardinal report can be downloaded at this link: Waste Report