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by OLIVIA ZINN
The Hope Scholarship budget in West Virginia is set to be reduced by $70 million for the 2026-2027 school year, officials announced Monday.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Hope Scholarship budget in West Virginia is set to be reduced by $70 million for the 2026-2027 school year, officials announced Monday.
Initially, the West Virginia State Treasury had projected over $315 million in funding, but that figure has now decreased to just under $250 million. The reduction is attributed to a decrease of about 10,000 newly eligible private school students for the upcoming school year.
"But homeschool and online school is a little different. Those numbers jump around a little bit," West Virginia State Treasurer Larry Pack said. "And we think that we probably overestimated the numbers 6-7 months ago, so we think this is a better number."
He added that 2026 marks the first year all students can apply for the scholarship, not just those in kindergarten, first, or second grades.
“But what you kind of see in other states is it's around 10% of the total school population that takes advantage of these programs," he said.
With the extra $70 million, Pack expressed hope that some funds will be reserved, while the remainder could potentially be used to increase salaries for educators statewide.
"It's a good policy to be pro-education, pro-Hope Scholarship, but we all need to be pro-public schools, as well. That's where the bulk of our children are going to school. We need to make sure they get the best education they can," Pack said.
Ohio County Schools officials noted that the projected changes have already impacted them over the past several years, but they won't know the full effect until next year's enrollment numbers are released.
In a related update, Pack mentioned that the state economy is showing improvement, with numbers looking better than ever as of Tuesday
