West Virginia University's Institute of Technology has one of the nation's top engineering programs, says a new college ranking released Wednesday.
According to U.S. News and World Report, the Montgomery-based college has the country's 58th best undergraduate engineering program, an improvement of more than 25 spots over last year's placement.
School officials say the improved ranking is due to students receiving hands-on learning that helps them secure higher-paying jobs when they enter the workforce.
On average, WVU Tech students earn $55,700 early in their careers, says a college salary report by Payscale. By mid-career, students are earning more than $95,000, the report says. The compensation data organization also lists WVU Tech in its top-100 salary potential and best value schools.
While WVU Tech will soon be relocated to Beckley after being based in Montgomery for more than 100 years, a university spokeswoman said the school intends to continue the program's legacy.
"Our goal is to move everything - our programs and classes - to the Beckley campus," said Tech spokeswoman Jennifer Wood Cunningham.
While many of the engineering resources and facilities have been established in Montgomery, the school will be moved to Beckley over the next two years. Starting next fall, first-year students will be admitted to the new campus, while sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as sports programs, will remain in Montgomery until 2017.
While the move has been heralded as one that will strengthen the school - WVU President Gordon Gee hopes enrollment to increase to 5,000 by 2020 - Cunningham said Tech's intimate classrooms where students get hands-on experience will hopefully be retained.
"That's why we're ranked high," she said. "Kids get a lot of experience before they head out into the field."
Other West Virginia colleges were recognized by U.S. News and World Report in its comprehensive ranking.
West Virginia University was the only school to receive a spot on the main university ranking. It tied for 175th place with four other schools.
Three West Virginia schools cracked the Southern Region's top 25 colleges, while another made it into the top 50.
Wheeling Jesuit University, West Virginia Wesleyan and the University of Charleston were the southern region's 11th, 14th and 24th best regional colleges, respectively. Marshall University was named the 45th best regional university for the same region.
In addition to West Virginia, the Southern Region includes Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.
The new college ranking includes data on nearly 1,800 schools, 1,376 of which received some sort of placement.
Rankings are based on a school's score in several academic measures.
The full listing can be found at www.usnews.com.
Reach Samuel Speciale at sam.speciale@dailymailwv.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @samueljspeciale on Twitter.