University of Charleston is a private institution located across the Kanawha River from West Virginia’s state capitol. It offers associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees.

It started in 1888 as Barboursville Seminary, affiliated with the Methodist Church, and was later renamed Morris Harvey College after a large donation from the industrialist in 1901. The school struggled financially for many years and operated as a junior college for a time.

In 1935, it moved to Charleston, growing quickly and breaking away from the Methodist Church in 1941. The current campus was established in 1947, and new buildings and dorms were added through the 1950s and 1960s. The college gained full accreditation in 1958 and began health programs, like nursing, in 1964.

In the 1970s, the school faced declines and debt. In 1978, it changed its name to University of Charleston and restructured. By the 1990s, the university began to grow again, building new facilities and bringing back its football program in 2003.

In 2006, a pharmacy school opened, although the school announced in 2024 it would be ending this program. The university added a business graduate school in 2008 and expanded housing and parking.

In 2013, University of Charleston took over Mountain State University in Beckley. Its student numbers grew, reaching nearly 3,000 by 2024, the highest since 1974.