West Virginia University crisis looms as GOP leaders focus on economic development, jobs

abcnews.go.com:

West Virginia University is recommending slashing its language department and dozens of other programs amid a $45 million budget shortfall

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — On the same day that dejected students pleaded with the board of West Virginia's flagship university not to eliminate its entire foreign languages department and dozens of other programs, Gov. Jim Justice said he was feeling hopeful about the future of education in the state.

“We’ve had tough times — there will be more tough times — but absolutely we are rising from the ashes,” Justice said Aug. 22, while signing a bill allocating $45 million for another state school, Marshall University, to open a new cybersecurity center 200 miles from West Virginia University.

Lawmakers approved the Marshall project, heralded as the nation’s “new East Coast hub” for cybersecurity, in a hastily called special session last month but rejected calls to send WVU funds to address its budget deficit, currently about $45 million.

The Legislature's lack of interest in bailing out the state’s largest university comes as WVU struggles with the financial toll of dwindling enrollment, revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic and an increasing debt load for new building projects. Administrators have pushed to take drastic action that raises questions about the responsibilities of states to offer diverse academic offerings — particularly at land-grant institutions in rural areas that traditionally lack access — and could be an early indicator of shifting priorities nationwide.

With a budget shortfall projected to grow as high as $75 million in five years, West Virginia University is proposing cutting 32 programs — 9% of the majors offered on its Morgantown campus — including its entire