Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers.

Since its founding as a land-grant college in 1872, Virginia Tech has grown to an enrollment of more than 36,000 students across Virginia. The university offers a wide range of majors through its seven undergraduate colleges, two professional colleges, Graduate School, and Honors College. Inside and outside of the classroom, in living-learning communities, and in collaboration across academic disciplines, Virginia Tech students engage in experiential learning. 

Virginia Tech is also a leading global research institution that conducts more than $530 million in research annually. The university boasts world-class research institutes and facilities that solve big problems—such as the Smart Road transportation research testbed, and the Cube, a four-story theater and laboratory in the Moss Arts Center. The LINK, LICENSE, and LAUNCH team is dedicated to supporting all aspects of corporate partnerships from research collaborations, to corporate giving, to technology commercialization and start-ups.

Global Land-Grant 

Land-grant institutions were created with the specific mission of providing educational opportunities for individuals who had not historically attended college, and for applying research to the practical needs of society. At the time, the focus was on local and regional advancement in agriculture and engineering. Today, Virginia Tech serves as a global force for positive change by providing opportunities for education and service to individuals around the world who can benefit from our particular strengths in engineering; architecture and design; physical, biological, medical and social sciences; business; and natural resources.

Virginia Tech’s motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), is deeply ingrained in the university’s learning, discovery, and engagement. It represents a value system that guides students’ decisions and helps mold them into responsible citizens of the world.

Expanding Our Reach

Virginia Tech has built a network of international research and public service partnerships, including major presences in Europe, India, and Africa. The university’s international presence is anchored by the Steger Center for International Scholarship in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. We also have a major research and education presence in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area that connects us with global initiatives through governmental and corporate partnerships.

In the D.C. area, the university is developing a 1 million-square-foot Innovation Campus that will become a global center of talent production and technology excellence, part of a $1.1 billion tech-talent package Vir­ginia had the foresight to offer in persuading Amazon to locate its second headquarters in the commonwealth.

In Roanoke, Virginia, the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC—with a vision to amass a concentration of biomedical research talent and catalyze it with the resources of a major research university and an enterprising health care system, then give it the freedom to innovate—and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine are a part of the university’s Health Sciences and Technology Campus. Several recent discoveries have been patented and are centerpieces of spin-off companies, including a brain cancer stem cell therapeutic and a diagnostic screen for alcohol abuse risk, both of which have won highly competitive federal technology transfer business awards.

Research Institutes

Virginia Tech's research institutes enhance the university’s ability to address large-scale research opportunities with world-class faculty expertise and specially equipped, advanced laboratories.

• Fralin Life Science Institute
• Hume Center (Cybersecurity)
• Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology
• Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science
• Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment
• Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC (Medical Sciences)
• Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Destination Areas

Transdisciplinary communities work within the framework of nine Destination Areas to collaboratively address complex problems that impact the human condition. These teams are working across boundaries to address challenges in rural health, infectious disease, coastal mitigation, brain health and development, and security. Virginia Tech professors have a reputation for imagining the next great thing—from blind-driver cars to energy-conscious homes to inventing the farm of tomorrow—and then making it happen. 

Diversity and Inclusion

Guided by its Principles of Community, the university is dedicated to increasing access, inclusion, and diversity in order to create a community that nurtures learning and growth for all of its members.