West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a historically black public university in Institute, West Virginia, United States. In the Charleston-metro area, the school is usually referred to simply as "State" or "West Virginia State". It was one of the original group of African American land-grant colleges established by the second Morrill Act of 1890 and is the smallest land-grant institution in the country. The University is a member-school of Thurgood Marshall College Fund.