WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Oct. 5, 2020 — West Liberty University was selected as a 2021 Hidden Gem in a recent announcement by College Raptor, a leading college planning platform that helps families discover college matches driven by AI algorithms to find the best colleges at the best price. 
WLU was selected as a Hidden Gems in the Southeast US. This selection recognizes WLU as one of the best colleges in the country, based on a combination of factors, including retention rates, graduation rates, student-to-faculty ratio, endowment per student, selectivity, and other key metrics as reported via the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for the most recently available enrollment year.
“Finding hidden gem schools for students is core to how we help families discover great college choices. We take pride in making it easy for students to make those connections through our Hidden Gems Rankings lists by highlighting excellent schools like WLU,” said Bill Staib, CEO of College Raptor.
The Southeast consists of the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. To qualify as a Hidden Gem school, the college must meet these criteria:
- Receive fewer than 5,000 applications
- Have fewer than 7,000 undergraduate students
- Have an acceptance rate higher than 10%
College Raptor’s full methodology is outlined here. College Raptor builds mobile-first products to help students, parents, counselors, and colleges resolve some of the most significant challenges in college planning. It is the only college search platform that enables students and families to discover quality, affordable college options based on personalized estimates of financial aid, scholarships, academic match, and acceptance chances at every four-year college in the country.
For more information on WLU admissions, please email Brenda King, Executive Director of Admissions and Recruitment kingbren@westliberty.edu or call 304.336.8076.