Respected, convenient, and affordable education options are an important part of community and economic development.  From workforce technical training to universities that offer master’s and doctorate-level programs, The Woodlands is located in an area with diverse and prolific higher education options. That means the Woodlands has access to a well trained workforce and also to options for ongoing workforce education.

The Erma Byrd Higher Education Center is the most recent addition to the Woodlands’ post-secondary education opportunities. The Center is a cooperative effort between seven colleges and universities: Bluefield State College, Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, Concord University, Marshall University, West Virginia University Institute of Technology, New River Community and Technical College, and West Virginia University. These institutions have partnered together to offer a more diversified, affordable, and convenient education opportunity for the Beckley-Raleigh County Region.

Downtown Beckley has been the longtime home of Mountain State University (founded as Beckley College in 1933), a flexible, private university. MSU has a long-standing history of providing quality, affordable education to local and international students. MSU offers two- and four-year degrees in high-demand professional and technology-based areas, humanities, arts, and sciences, as well as master’s level programs.

Concord University, based in Athens, West Virginia, has been offering programs in the Beckley-Raleigh County area since the mid-1970s. Historically, the Beckley Concord University Campus has maintained concentrations in accounting, management, marketing, social work, teacher education, and a wide range of general studies courses which support Concord’s other degree programs. Most recently, the university joined six other community colleges and universities in the cooperative satellite campus of the Erma Byrd Center.

There are 29 primary and secondary schools within close proximity to the Woodlands. Of these, 11 are West Virginia Schools of Excellence, two are National Distinguished schools, and one has been identified as a NCLB Blue Ribbon School. Our schools also offer a wide selection of after-school, athletic, and extracurricular programs. Raleigh County Schools boast a 96.4% attendance rate with an impressive 87% graduation rate.