Virginia Tech Overview

Virginia Tech is a public institution located in Blacksburg, Virginia. The city atmosphere of Blacksburg makes it a great place for students who enjoy having lots of educational and entertainment options.

What Is Virginia Tech Known For?

• The student loan default rate at Virginia Tech is 2%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
• The highest award offered at Virginia Tech is the doctor's degree.
• For the 2017-2018 academic year, 98% of the faculty were full-time.
• A student who earns a bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech makes roughly $62,500 a year. This is 53% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.

Virginia Tech Rankings

Virginia Tech is ranked #95 out of 2,320 schools in the nation for overall quality on our 2021 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation. Virginia Tech also holds the #2 spot on the Best Colleges in Virginia ranking.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Virginia Tech has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#36	Best Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#36	Best Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#46	Most Popular Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#61	Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#77	Most Popular Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#83	Most Popular Doctor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#134	Most Popular Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Virginia Tech.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Other Computer & Information Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Human Sciences Business Services Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Other Physical Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Marine Engineering Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Fisheries Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#2	Best Natural Resources & Conservation Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#4	Best Computer & Information Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#5	Best Architecture & Related Services Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#19	Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Virginia Tech has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#1	Best Colleges for General Architecture	College Factual
#5	Best Colleges for Family, Consumer & Human Sciences	College Factual
#10	Best Computer Science Schools	Computer Science Degree
#11	Best Colleges for Natural Resources & Conservation	College Factual
#19	Best Colleges for Engineering	College Factual
#32	Best Colleges for Business, Management & Marketing	College Factual

Where Is Virginia Tech?

Contact details for Virginia Tech are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	210 Burruss Hall, 800 Drillfield Dr., Blacksburg, VA 24061-0131
Phone:	540-231-6994
Website:	WWW.VT.EDU
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/virginiatech
Twitter:	https://twitter.com/virginia_tech

How Do I Get Into Virginia Tech?

You can apply to Virginia Tech online at: vt.edu/apply.html

Admission Requirements for Virginia Tech

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	neither required nor recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	neither required nor recommended
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Virginia Tech?

Virginia Tech has an acceptance rate of 70%, which means that is not quite as selective as some other schools. Still, you'll need good grades and a solid application if you want to be admitted.

Approximately 57% of accepted students are men and 43% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 68%, and the acceptance rate for women is 74%.

Average Test Scores

About 83% of students accepted to Virginia Tech submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 590 and 670. Math scores were between 590 and 690.

Virginia Tech received ACT scores from 45% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 24 and 31. Math scores were between 25 and 30. Composite scores were between 25 and 30.

Can I Afford Virginia Tech?

The overall average net price of Virginia Tech is $37,613. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Virginia Tech, approximately 41% of students took out student loans averaging $8,607 a year. That adds up to $34,428 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Virginia Tech is 1.6%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Virginia Tech Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 29,300 undergraduate students at Virginia Tech, with 28,584 being full-time and 716 being part-time.

There are also 7,083 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 28,584 full-time undergraduates at Virginia Tech, 57% are male and 43% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Virginia Tech students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2,934
Black or African American	1,211
Hispanic or Latino	1,956
White	18,409
International Students	1,954
Other Races/Ethnicities	2,120

Geographic Diversity

Virginia students aren't the only ones who study at Virginia Tech. At this time, 42 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 115 countries are represented at Virginia Tech. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and South Korea.

Online Learning at Virginia Tech

In 2017-2018, 9,863 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Virginia Tech has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 16th most popular in Virginia for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.

Online Growth Rankings of Virginia Tech

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Virginia Tech was 6.9%. This is the #1,534 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Virginia Tech regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Virginia Tech majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	32%
Agriculture & Agriculture Operations	4%
Business Administration & Management	5%
Business, Management & Marketing	9%
Computer & Information Sciences	20%
Engineering	7%
Foreign Languages & Linguistics	15%
International Relations & National Security	10%
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	15%
Natural Resource Management	15%
Natural Resources & Conservation	22%
Nuclear Engineering	29%
Other Computer & Information Sciences	26%
Political Science & Government	9%
Public Policy	6%
Social Sciences	10%
Systems Engineering	67%
Teacher Education Subject Specific	48%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Virginia Tech ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Virginia Tech.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Marine Engineering	#1
Nuclear Engineering	#5
Other Computer & Information Sciences	#6
Natural Resource Management	#8
General Agriculture	#9
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	#11
International Relations & National Security	#12
Public Policy	#12
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	#13
Other Engineering	#15
Systems Engineering	#21
Natural Resources & Conservation	#24
Civil Engineering	#25
Foreign Languages & Linguistics	#30
Political Science & Government	#31
Agriculture & Agriculture Operations	#34
Public Administration	#63
Engineering	#76
Curriculum & Instruction	#90
Social Sciences	#131
Teacher Education Subject Specific	#131
Public Administration & Social Service	#139
Educational Administration	#180
Computer & Information Sciences	#248
Education	#427

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Virginia Tech Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Associate’s	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Mechanical Engineering	0	384	0	50	26	460
Computer Information Systems	0	304	4	60	21	389
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	0	381	0	0	0	381
Civil Engineering	0	217	0	108	21	346
Finance & Financial Management	0	325	8	0	0	333
Business Administration & Management	0	176	2	129	0	307
Food, Nutrition & Related Services	0	269	0	9	9	287
Electrical Engineering	0	171	0	63	36	270
Human Development & Family Studies	0	247	0	10	5	262
Computer Engineering	0	183	0	57	9	249
General Biology	0	218	0	7	21	246
Industrial Engineering	0	184	0	42	15	241
Accounting	0	184	0	52	0	236
Communication & Media Studies	0	227	0	9	0	236
General Psychology	0	207	0	6	6	219
Political Science & Government	0	192	2	15	0	209
Marketing	0	198	0	0	0	198
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	0	157	0	26	10	193
Animal Science	0	154	0	8	12	174
General Architecture	0	87	0	64	6	157
Economics	0	122	2	12	5	141
Other Computer & Information Sciences	0	0	0	135	0	135
Neurobiology & Neurosciences	0	131	0	0	0	131
Sociology	0	118	0	5	7	130
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	1	110	14	125
Chemical Engineering	0	102	0	10	11	123
Veterinary Medicine	0	0	0	0	123	123
Construction Management	0	106	0	9	0	115
Mathematics	0	96	0	15	4	115
Forestry	0	87	0	21	7	115
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	0	113	0	0	0	113
International Relations & National Security	0	108	3	0	0	111
General English Literature	0	97	0	13	0	110
Materials Engineering	0	78	0	19	12	109
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	0	96	0	13	0	109
Natural Resource Management	0	18	36	55	0	109
Human Sciences Business Services	0	99	0	0	0	99
Applied Mathematics	0	90	0	5	0	95
Chemistry	0	45	0	9	21	75
Geography & Cartography	0	51	10	9	5	75
Real Estate	0	71	0	0	0	71
Wildlife Management	0	71	0	0	0	71
Physics	0	53	0	3	15	71
Design & Applied Arts	0	71	0	0	0	71
Plant Sciences	0	46	0	12	11	69
Agricultural Engineering	0	55	0	7	6	68
History	0	56	4	7	0	67
Hospitality Management	0	66	0	0	0	66
Educational Administration	0	0	24	27	15	66
Natural Resources Conservation	0	61	0	0	0	61
Statistics	0	38	0	12	7	57
Teacher Education Grade Specific	0	0	55	0	0	55
Agricultural Production	54	0	0	0	0	54
Engineering Mechanics	0	36	0	5	12	53
Public Administration	0	0	17	26	9	52
Fine & Studio Arts	0	52	0	0	0	52
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other)	0	0	0	33	18	51
Construction Engineering	0	50	0	0	0	50
Agricultural Economics & Business	0	40	0	4	0	44
Food Science Technology	0	42	0	0	0	42
General Agriculture	0	13	0	26	0	39
Engineering-Related Fields	0	38	0	0	0	38
Medicine	0	0	0	0	37	37
Mining Engineering	0	28	0	5	2	35
Music	0	32	0	0	0	32
Philosophy	0	25	0	6	0	31
Business/Managerial Economics	0	29	0	0	0	29
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology	0	29	0	0	0	29
Public Health	0	0	0	28	0	28
Geological & Earth Sciences	0	17	0	6	5	28
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology	0	26	0	0	0	26
Drama & Theater Arts	0	21	0	5	0	26
Teacher Education Subject Specific	0	0	4	16	3	23
Urban & Regional Planning	0	0	0	21	0	21
Student Counseling	0	0	0	15	6	21
Veterinary Biomedical & Clinical Services	0	0	0	5	14	19
Religious Studies	0	18	0	0	0	18
Landscape Architecture	0	13	0	4	0	17
Environmental Engineering	0	0	0	17	0	17
Public Policy	0	16	0	0	0	16
Biomedical Engineering	0	0	0	3	12	15
Other Physical Science	0	15	0	0	0	15
Science, Technology & Society	0	0	0	9	4	13
Urban Studies	0	0	1	4	7	12
Writing Studies	0	0	0	8	3	11
Health/Medical Prep Programs	0	0	10	0	0	10
Educational Assessment	0	0	9	0	0	9
Marine Engineering	0	0	1	8	0	9
Fisheries Sciences	0	0	0	8	1	9
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	0	6	0	0	2	8
General Business/Commerce	0	0	0	0	8	8
Other Engineering	0	0	2	0	6	8
Polymer & Plastics Engineering	0	0	0	3	5	8
Nuclear Engineering	0	0	3	3	1	7
Homeland Security	0	0	7	0	0	7
Systems Engineering	0	0	0	6	0	6
Other Social Sciences	0	0	0	0	6	6
Botany/Plant Biology	0	0	0	0	5	5
Human Computer Interaction	0	0	5	0	0	5
International Studies	0	0	5	0	0	5
Ethnic Studies	0	0	4	0	0	4
Gerontology	0	0	3	0	0	3
Zoology	0	0	0	0	2	2
Graphic Communications	0	0	0	2	0	2
Historic Preservation	0	0	0	2	0	2
Environmental Design	0	0	0	0	1	1
Community Organization & Advocacy	0	0	1	0	0	1
Information Technology	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	54	7,156	223	1,501	629	9,563

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Eric T Gunther under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.