[2] Mountain State University's former president since 1990, Charles H. Polk, was widely credited for much of the school's previous success.

[3] However, many blamed Polk along with his senior administration and MSU's board of trustees when the university began facing issues over its continued accreditation.

[4] Polk and MSU's board of trustees were named as defendants in over 300 lawsuits arising out of the loss of the university's accreditation.

As a means of recouping the funds for MSU, the board also purchased a $2 million insurance policy on Polk that will be paid back to the institution upon his death.

[8] Richard E. Sours was chosen to replace Polk as interim president until the university's closing.

[10] The date was subsequently extended until December 31, 2012, to allow the university to "teach out" those students close to graduation.

All degrees conferred by MSU on or before this date are valid and are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

[12] In 2017, the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia granted the Higher Learning Commission's motion for summary judgment, effectively ending MSU's lawsuit in favor of the Higher Learning Commission.

The University of Charleston established campuses on MSU's former Beckley and Martinsburg, West Virginia locations on January 1, 2013.

[21] On December 31, 2014, West Virginia University announced that it would purchase MSU’s former Beckley campus for $8 million.

Most of the university's programs focused on the professions in business, technology, and health and human services.

During the 2005–2006 academic year, the academy became a full-fledged high school, adding a twelfth grade to accommodate advancing juniors.

MSA students were required to attend the academy for at least three years in order to be considered for the titles of valedictorian, salutatorian, or honorarian.

The university was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC; now currently known as the River States Conference (RSC) since the 2016–17 school year) from 2007–08 to 2011–12 (all sports excluding men's basketball, which only competed as an NAIA Independent during that tenure until a few seasons after [2009–10]).