Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech, is a public land-grant research university with a main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, educational facilities in six regions statewide and a study-abroad site in Switzerland. 

Virginia Tech takes a hands-on engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally and across Virginia.

As a research university Virginia Tech recognizes its responsibility to nurture human nature’s proclivity to seek for answers and solutions. Students at all levels are challenged to pursue the discovery of new knowledge. The university values innovation and entrepreneurial activity throughout the enterprise. The faculty community is encouraged to declare intellectual property and the university actively seeks licensees to push campus discoveries into the marketplace. 

In research field Virginia Cooperative Extension is a dynamic organization that stimulates positive personal and societal change leading to more productive lives, families, farms and forests, as well as a better environment. Extension responds to the needs of individuals, families, groups and organizations with educational programs in three broad areas: agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences.

As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in some fields of study: agriculture and life sciences, architecture and urban studies, business, engineering, liberal arts and human sciences, natural resources and environment, science, veterinary medicine, and the graduate school. 

In the U.S. News & World Report's 2016 Best Colleges, Virginia Tech ranked tied for the 70th among national universities and tied for the 26th among public. Virginia Tech is among three public universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia to rank among the top 30, with the University of Virginia at No. 3 and the College of William & Mary at No. 6. Other than California, Virginia is the only state with three or more schools in the Top 30 Public Universities.

Virginia Tech received the following rankings by The Princeton Review in its 2017 Best 380 Colleges Rankings:

• Happiest students - the 7th overall
• Best campus food - the 4th overall
• Best quality of life - the 1st overall
• Their students love these colleges - the 1st overall
• Town-gown relations are great - the 7th overall
• Best alumni network - the 10th overall
• Lots of race/class interaction - the 7th overall

The most popular majors in Virginia by enrollment are Engineering (34%), Liberal Arts & Human Sciences and Business.

U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools 2016" ranked the College of Engineering tied for the 21st among the nation's best engineering schools for graduate studies. The ranking is a move up three places from the 24th, where the college stood for three consecutive years. Ranked among public universities, the College of Engineering's graduate program – which has more than 2,000 students – ranks the 10th in the nation. It is the highest-ranked engineering school in Virginia.