Healthcare. A profession where we are all taught how to and expected to respond appropriately in emergency situations, help people in need, and save lives… right? A hefty expectation for any individual, but an honorable one I suppose. When handed the appropriate resources for following out such expectations (hospital setting, nearby code cart, ample hands with comparable “life-saving” experience) although the result is not always favorable, it is easy to look back and say we did everything we could.

So how about when we are thrown into unfavorable situations where those same vital resources are not at our fingertips? When you don’t have an attending running the code or a respiratory therapist there to intubate in seconds. When you don’t have code drugs to push when you lose a pulse and the only faces you see around you are those staring in horror because they’ve never seen a person down in their lives. We are all comfortable with our CPR skills on dummies because we’ve practiced countless times. And many of us may be comfortable with our CPR skills on actual humans because we’ve been in countless codes in the hospital. But how many of us, aside from EMS and transport team folks, are comfortable with the idea of resuscitating an individual in a public setting, in a house, in a park, on a plane, in a restaurant, or on the street?

West Virginia is home to a number of design firsts. Did you know that one of the first suspension bridges in the world was erected in 1849 in Wheeling, WV? The first electric railroad in the world was built in here and the first brick street on the world was laid in Charleston, WV. And talk about art and design — West Virginia is home to the world’s only residence made entirely of coal. Occupied on June 1, 1961, Coal House is located in White Sulphur Springs, WV. With an abundance of unique and innovate design within the borders, it’s no wonder the state is also home to some of the nation’s top design schools.

The Department of Design at West Virginia University and Concord University- Department of Design are the state’s pride and joy when it comes to design programs. Established in 1867 (WVU) and 1872 (Concord), these popular institutions enroll roughly 200 hand-picked design students each year. Overall, the state has a total undergraduate student population of nearly more than 100,000. These students attend the 23 public and 21 private institutions. Across the nation, undergraduate art and design school enrollment is 110,273.

WVU, Concord and other West Virginia design schools offer degree programs ranging from architecture to sculpture. Design students may earn a degree in graphic design, interior design, web design, drawing, illustration, multimedia and film, ceramics, jewelry making, photography, printmaking, metalsmithing, and painting. The costs for these programs vary by school, but on average, design students can expect to shell out around $4,377 per academic year at a public school $15,296 per academic year at a private school.

Fortunately, tuition rates are lower than the national average. The average tuition for public four-year schools across the nation is $5,950. For private schools, students pay $21,588 on average. West Virginia students may pay even less by completing all or part of the degree program online. Online students save a significant amount of money each year by eliminating room and board costs as well as transportation. Room and board costs average around $7,049 per academic year.