MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Jessica Lynch will begin on-campus classes this fall at West Virginia University, the school said Monday.

The former prisoner of war announced in March that she was beginning online courses at WVU and that she hoped to become an elementary school teacher.

"WVU is very pleased to be able to assist her in that pursuit," school spokeswoman Becky Lofstead said Monday, "and proud to call Jessica Lynch a Mountaineer."

Lynch, a native of Palestine, W.Va., is enrolled in the College of Human Resources and Education.

Former Gov. Bob Wise promised Lynch that the state would pay for her education at any West Virginia public college or university after her April 1, 2003, rescue from an Iraqi hospital.

Lynch's convoy took a wrong turn in the Iraqi town of Nasiriyah in March 2003 and was attacked. Eleven American soldiers were killed and six, including Lynch, were captured.

The former Army supply clerk suffered numerous injuries when her Humvee crashed during the firefight. She still walks with the help of crutches or a cane.