702 University City Blvd. (0373) Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
John Provo - Interim Director, Office of Economic Development
Phone: 540-231-4004
jprovo@vt.edu
www.vt.edu

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ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is a public land-grant university serving the Commonwealth of Virginia, the nation, and the world community. Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college named Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, Virginia Tech is now a comprehensive, innovative research university with the largest number of degree offerings in Virginia. Through a combination of its three missions of teaching and learning, research and discovery, and outreach and engagement, Virginia Tech continually strives to accomplish the charge of its motto: Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). As a top-ranked research university, Virginia Tech excels at the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge.

RANKING/SUPERLATIVES

• U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2012”:
  • Virginia Tech ranked 28^th among national public universities and 71^st  among all national universities
  • The College of Engineering undergraduate program was ranked 15^th in the nation among all accredited engineering schools that offer doctorates and 7^th among engineering schools at public universities
  • Nine Virginia Tech undergraduate engineering specialties (including, aerospace; civil; electrical and computer; environmental; industrial systems; biological systems; and mechanical engineering; and engineering science and mechanics)  ranked among the top 20 of their respective peer programs
  • The Virginia Tech Undergraduate Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering program ranks 7^th in the nation among all accredited engineering schools that offer doctorates.  At the undergraduate level, Biological and Agricultural Engineering program is ranked 9^th while Civil Engineering is ranked 10^th in the nation
  • The Pamplin College of Business is ranked 46^th among the nation's top undergraduate business programs. Pamplin’s overall ranking places it in the top 10 percent of the 600-plus U.S. undergraduate programs accredited by Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, and 26^th among public institutions

• A 2010 Wall Street Journal report ranked Virginia Tech among the top 25 schools for "best-qualified" graduates
• Over 90 percent of 2010 graduates received had one or more career-related experiences (internship, co-op, undergraduate research) prior to graduation
• The Kiplinger "100 Best Values in Public Colleges" list released in Spring 2011 ranks Virginia Tech 24th among 100 institutions "that combine outstanding economic value with a first-class education"
• Virginia Tech’s undergraduate programs in architecture and landscape architecture ranked 4^th and 3^rd, respectively, in the 12^th annual America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools study conducted by the journal DesignIntelligence. 2011 marks the fifth straight year the program has been ranked in the top 5 in North America

GRADUATE

AREA

• Outside Magazine ranked Blacksburg a top ten “dream town” for outdoors enthusiasts because of its proximity to the Appalachian Trail and the Washington-Jefferson National Forest
• Virginia’s largest town, Blacksburg has been ranked among the nation’s best places to live by Blue Ridge Country Magazine, Men’s Journal, 50 Best Small Southern Towns, The Sporting News, and Retirement Places Rated
• The nationally accredited Virginia Tech Police Department operates 24-hours a day and provides full police service to the university community.
• The award-winning Blacksburg Transit (BT), which provides town-wide public transportation at a reasonable cost, also furnishes a game day shuttle for football and basketball games
• In 2005, Blacksburg was named by Expansion Management magazine’s “Knowledge Worker Quotient” as a Top Metro for Ph.Ds. per Capita (following only Ithaca, N.Y.); Best Educated Technical Work Force; and Five-Star Knowledge Worker Metro
• Montgomery County was first in the U.S. to directly connect every K-12 school to the Internet. Today, every classroom in every Montgomery County school has direct, high-speed access

• Tech has more than 100 centers and institutes, including university and college-based interdisciplinary programs and laboratories, for addressing complex, multifaceted research problems. Click here for a listing of research centers, institutes, labs, and groups at Virginia Tech. Areas of achievement and on-going attention include computational science and engineering, advanced materials, wireless telecommunication, transportation, housing, geographic information systems, human and animal health, the environment, and energy – including power electronics, biofuels, fuel cells, and solar-powered building structures.
• Virginia Tech generated $396.7 million for research programs in FY 2009, ranking 44^th in the nation (National Science Foundation).
• In 2009-10, the university received 2,472 awards to conduct research
• Virginia Tech ranked 5^th in the country with $91 million in agriculture and natural resources research spending in 2008, according to the National Science Foundation.
• Research in areas such as agriculture, biotechnology, information and communication technology, transportation, and a wide range of technical and creative fields yielded 44 patents and 45 license and option agreements for Virginia Tech (VTIP).
• The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center (CRC), located on 120 acres adjacent to campus, consists of 27 buildings that house more than 140 companies with approximately 2,200 employees. The current construction of the CRC Phase II will add an additional 28 buildings for research, business partnerships, and extension
• Virginia Tech consistently ranks among the top 15 schools in the nation in the number of patents received.
• Three university-level institutes have been created to focus and facilitate advances in scholarship: the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, Fralin Life Science Institute, Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, and the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment.
• The Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute functions through four main organizational units: research initiatives, education, facilities and equipment, and industry involvement and outreach. In particular, the MII Outreach unit works with economic development entities to support Virginia industries and assist in attracting new companies to the Commonwealth. Established in 1978, this highly productive and collaborative polymer science and engineering institute been awarded over $17 million in the past three years, including a fuel cell materials program funded by federal (National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Office of Naval Research, and NASA) and industry sources.
• The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) is Virginia Tech’s largest university-level research center. With almost $26.7 million in research awards to date, VTTI has conducted applied research to develop new techniques and technologies to study transportation challenges from various perspectives: vehicle, driver, infrastructure, and environment. VTTI employs over 300 multi-disciplinary researchers, engineers, technicians, support staff, and students. Facilities and tools include VTTI’s internally developed Data Acquisition System (DAS), the 2.2-mile, two lane, fully instrumented “Smart Road” and more than 51,000 square feet of office and specialized laboratory space- such as an asphalt lab, fully equipped garages, and instrumentation bays.   VTTI has earned a unique standing in the transportation research field and has become a "one-stop-shop" for transportation research, evaluation, analysis and development.
• Established in 2000 as a Commonwealth of Virginia shared resource, the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) conducts research centered on understanding the "disease triangle" of host-pathogen-environment interactions. VBI researchers work to cure many human, crop, and animal diseases; create high-yield, insect- and disease-resistant crops; and provide bioinformatics information and tools to support further discoveries. In October 2009, the VBI landed a $27 million, 5-year contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  The contract is the largest one-time federal award in the history of Virginia Tech.  The funding is being used to provide resources for scientists, help researchers analyze genomic, proteomic and other data arising from infectious disease research, as well as to develop vaccine, diagnostic, or therapeutic targets for counter measures.
• The mission of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, created in 2009, is to become a premier institute of interdisciplinary and translational research within the medical sciences, to facilitate research-based medical education, and to improve patient care through invention and partnership with clinicians. Located adjacent to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, the Carilion Research Institute provides state-of-the-art space to conduct research in areas of neurobiology and cognitive neuroscience. Other research areas are addition, cancer biology, cardiovascular virology, developmental and regenerative medicine, and infectious disease and inflammation. 
•  The Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science is leading research at the intersection of engineering, science, biology, and the humanities at Virginia Tech. Current research areas include nanoscale science and engineering, sustainable energy, national security, sustainable water quality, cognition and communication systems, and renewable materials. Facilities include the Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory and additional lab space in the university’s engineering and life sciences corridors.
• Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc. (VTIP) was established as a nonprofit corporation in 1985 to support the research mission of the university by protecting and licensing intellectual properties that result from research performed by Virginia Tech faculty members, staff, and students. In 2009, Virginia Tech ranked 10^th among universities globally in the IEEE Spectrum Patent Power Scorecards, which analyzed the strength of patent portfolios.
•  The Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute (VT-ARI) provides a platform for the university’s engineering and computer science researchers to collaborate with counterparts in academia, government, and private-sector industry in the National Capital Region. Located at Ballston in Arlington, VA, the VT-ARI is engaged in research in the fields of computer networking, data visualization, fiber-optics, wireless and telecommunications, satellite systems, medical informatics, energy and the environment, and more.

The Office of International Research, Education, and Development serves as the management entity for two global projects, funded with $30 million in grant aid provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The purpose of the Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP) is to develop and implement approaches to pest management that help raise the standard of living and improve the environment in numerous countries around the world. IPM research and technology has supported agriculture in regions of Latin America, the Caribbean, South Asia, and Africa. The second project, called the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Support Program (SANREM CRSP) promotes stakeholder empowerment and improves livelihoods through knowledge-based sustainable agriculture and natural resource management systems. Target regions for phased projects include the Andes and Southeast Asia.  The work conducted by these two projects will enhance food and livelihood security globally while limiting negative effects on natural resources through prudent environmental stewardship and conservation agriculture.

ENROLLMENT (FALL 2010)
Full-Time: 28,115

Part-Time: 2,891

AFFILIATED SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, GRADUATE SCHOOLS

College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
College of Architecture & Urban Studies
College of Engineering
College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
College of Natural Resources & Environment
College of Science
Graduate School
Pamplin College of Business
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

SATELLITE CAMPUSES

National Capital Region
Richmond
Roanoke
Southwest Virginia

NUMBER OF DEGREES CONFERRED (2010-2011)

Bachelor’s: 5,948
Master’s: 1,546
Ph.D.’s: 414
DVMs: 85

SELECTED DEGREES OFFERED