By Charles Owens
For The Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield — State Treasurer Larry Pack is encouraging more students from across Southern West Virginia to take advantage of the Hope Scholarship program now that it is available for all West Virginia students, including those who attend private schools and others who are home schooled.
Pack, who made stops Wednesday in both the cities of Bluefield and Princeton, used the opportunity to promote the opening of “universal eligibility” for the Hope Scholarship program. He said more than 3,000 students had already applied for the Hope Scholarship program for the 2026-2027 school year since the opening of universal eligibility on Monday.
“So it’s really been a big week for the Hope Scholarship,” Pack said. “I was in the House of Delegates in 2021 when we passed Hope Scholarship and the way we did it when we passed that bill five years ago is we phased it in over time. So this is the time where all K through 12 students are eligible for Hope Scholarship through the state and sign ups started on Monday. So we’ve got over 3,000 students signed up since Monday on the scholarship as far as universal eligibility. So we’re trying to get to word out.”
Pack said parents have until June 15 to sign their children up for the Hope Scholarship.
“The children take advantage of Hope Scholarship,” Pack said. “Some of them go to private school. Some of them do micro schools. Some of them do home school. Some do online school. So there’s lots of different options.”
While universal eligibility opens the door for students who are home schooled or attending private school, Pack said there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of public schools, adding that support for public schools is still critical.
This is the first year of universal eligibility for the Hope Scholarship program. Pack said existing private school and traditional home school students who have not previously been eligible for the program can now to apply to participate in the state’s education savings account program, which provides funding to students exercising school choice in lieu of attending public school full-time.
Pack was asked how students who are home schooled could benefit from the Hope Scholarship.
“It gives the parents the resources. You get about $5,500,” Pack said. “So home school parents will be able to use it for curriculum, but you will be able to use that for computers and you know pencils and paper. Just all the things you need. So it works really well. If it’s a private school like Mercer Christian or Summit, then basically it goes to tuition into the cause of that particular school.”
With Bluefield being a border community, Pack also acknowledged that it is possible for a West Virginia student to receive a Hope Scholarship while attending a private school in another state like Virginia. However, the percentage of West Virginia based students who would attend school in another state after receiving a Hope Scholarship is very low, Pack said.
“You know we’re a border state,” Pack said. “I’ve got a friend of mine who lives in Point Pleasant. The school that he takes his children too, it’s a Christian school, which is one mile across the river. So it’s a 10 minute drive for him. So we are a border state, and so some people do choose to go across the line. As you say, Bluefield, Va. and Bluefield, W.Va. We haven’t closed that off yet. We are trying to give parents as much choice as we can.”
While in Bluefield, Pack received an update from city officials on multiple ongoing projects. Bluefield City Manager Cecil Marson said he was planning to talk about a number of projects with Pack, and would be joined by Bluefield State University President Dr. Darren Martin, Chamber of Commerce of the Two Virginias Director Jeff Dissibio and other officials in the discussion. In Princeton, Pack met with City Manager Mike Webb, development authority director Samuel Lusk and other officials. He also toured WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital and met with its administrator Karen Bowling.
Pack said the goal was to look for ways that the state treasurer’s office could help city officials in Bluefield and Princeton with their individual projects.
“We’re going to sit down with city leaders and talk about a lot of the projects here in Bluefield, that they’re working on where they have some log jams and need a bit of help see if we can help and break loose some of the projects they have in Bluefield,” Pack said. “The city of Bluefield has a lot of projects. I mean there’s a lot of momentum, a lot of energy, for the city of Bluefield, and anything we do to help push some of this stuff along we’re definitely going to do.”
Pack said he was also excited to tour Princeton Community Hospital, and to learn about projects such as the new cancer center in Princeton and the new emergency room planned for Bluefield.
“Karen (Bowling) is going to share a lot of the projects they’ve worked on,” Pack said. “WVU Medicine has spent millions of dollars in Mercer County since they came to Mercer County a few years. And so we’ll see all the progress. Before I was state treasurer I was in the health care business. So I have a fair amount of knowledge about the health care system in West Virginia.”
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