Blacksburg, VA
Founded in 1872
Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) is a comprehensive public university established in 1872, with six campuses across the United States. The main campus is located in Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia. The university has more than 31,000 students, with over 8,000 graduate students. Virginia Tech was ranked 74th in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report rankings. The university offers approximately 116 undergraduate programs and 160 graduate and doctoral programs. Its graduate programs are ranked 9th nationally, with the graduate program in vocational and technical education ranked 4th, and the graduate program in instructional design and technology ranked in the top 9. In terms of undergraduate programs, Virginia Tech’s engineering programs are highly ranked nationally, with aerospace engineering ranked 14th, civil engineering 10th, electrical engineering 15th, mechanical engineering science 8th, environmental engineering 11th, industrial engineering 8th, mechanical engineering 14th, biosystems engineering 11th, and chemical engineering 20th. Virginia Tech is well-known for its American football team, and the university’s mascot is an anthropomorphic turkey known as "Hokie." The term "Hokies" is also used to refer to the university and its students. Over 9,000 students live on campus, and the university is unique in that it still maintains a fully functional Corps of Cadets with more than 1,000 members and an official military barracks. Notable alumni include William Lewis, Robert Coleman Richardson, and others.