page_title: West Virginia University
section_title: Areas of study
hierarchical_section_title: West Virginia University / Academics / Areas of study
caption_attribution_description: English: West Virginia University Health Sciences Campus and Ruby Memorial Hospital
context_page_description: West Virginia University is a public, land-grant, research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser, and a second clinical campus for the university's medical and dental schools at Charleston Area Medical Center in Charleston. WVU Extension Service provides outreach with offices in all of West Virginia's 55 counties.
  Enrollment for the Fall 2018 semester was 26,839 for the main campus, while enrollment across all three non-clinical campuses was 29,933. The Morgantown campus offers 350+ bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degree programs throughout 14 colleges and schools.
  Twenty-five Rhodes Scholars are WVU alumni, including former WVU president David C. Hardesty, Jr. The university has also produced 45 Goldwater Scholars, 24 Truman Scholars, and five members of USA Today's "All‑USA College Academic First Team." Additionally, WVU has had three George C. Marshall Scholars, five Morris K.
context_section_description: Forensics and Investigative Science is a nationally recognized program at WVU, originally created through a partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The program is accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and is the official library holdings repository for the International Association for Identification. The program includes three main areas of emphasis, including the examiner track, which specializes in crime scene investigation and comparison sciences, the biology track, which specializes in body fluids and DNA analysis, and the chemistry track, when specializes in the chemical identification of seized drugs, fire debris, trace evidence and explosives. Facilities include four "crime-scene" houses, a vehicle processing garage, a ballistics laboratory and numerous traditional laboratories and classrooms in Ming Hsieh Hall and Oglebay Hall. A separate Criminology & Investigative Sciences major was later added to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. The College of Business and Economics also provides a certificate in forensic accounting and fraud examination.
  WVU robotics teams have won several international competitions such as the NASA Robotic Mining Competition and the NASA/NIA RASC-AL Exploration Robot-OPS Challenge. In 2016, a WVU team led by Dr. Yu Gu won the final NASA Sample Return Robot Centennial Challenge with a $750,000 prize.
  Biometrics is an engineering-centric field of study offered at WVU, the first institution in the world to establish a bachelor of science degree in Biometric Systems. In 2003 the University also founded the initial chapter of the Student Society for the Advancement of Biometrics (SSAB). The program, in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (LCSEE), provides a firm understanding of the underlying electrical engineering and computer engineering disciplines that support biometric applications. On February 6, 2008, WVU became the national academic leader for the FBI's biometric research. WVU is also the founding site for the Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR), focusing on biometrics and identification technology. CITeR maintains and develops collaborative relationships with other academic institutions to meet research needs.
  The Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center is on West Virginia University's Evansdale Campus and houses the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. These schools grant doctoral and professional degrees in 16 different fields, as well as a variety of other Master's and Bachelor's degrees. For 2012 U.S. News and World Report ranked WVU's Medical School ninth in the United States for rural medicine.
  Also on the Health Sciences Campus is WVU's local teaching hospital, Ruby Memorial Hospital, which is one of only two designated Trauma I hospitals in the state and has also been designated a magnet hospital for its ability to attract and retain high quality nursing staff.
caption: Health Sciences Campus
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