Virginia Tech - Rankings

Rankings

In the U.S. News & World Report's 「Best Colleges 2013」, Virginia Tech ranked 72nd among national universities and 28th among national public universities. In a more recent report, the Virginia Tech College of Engineering undergraduate program was ranked 13th in the nation (tied with Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison) among all accredited engineering schools that offer doctorates and seventh among engineering schools at public universities. Six Virginia Tech undergraduate engineering specialties ranked among the top 20 of their respective peer programs (aerospace engineering, 10th; civil engineering, 7th; electrical engineering, 17th; engineering science and mechanics, 8th; environmental engineering, 9th; industrial engineering, 4th; and mechanical engineering, 14th, Biological System Engineering, 8th). Overall, its graduate programs in Engineering are considered among the first 20 in US, among all public and private universities, with strong emphasis on intensive interdisciplinary research.

The Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences graduate and undergraduate program are considered among the top 10 in US. In the U.S.News report (2011), Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' graduate program ranked 7th in the nation. In 2009, the National Science Foundation ranked Virginia Tech No. 5 in the country for agricultural research expenditures, much of which originated from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The Pamplin College of Business undergraduate program was ranked 42nd (2011) among the nation's undergraduate business programs and 10th among public institutions. Pamplin's overall ranking places it in the top 10 percent of the approximately 524 U.S. undergraduate programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.

Virginia Tech was also recognized as having one of the top 14 cooperative education and internship programs in the nation.

Virginia Tech ranks in the top 20 public colleges and universities nationally among colleges that offer a first-class educational experience at a bargain price, according to Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.

Virginia Tech's endowment is managed by the Virginia Tech Foundation, and as of 2011 total assets, gifts, and funds topped $600 million. Virginia Tech's operating budget for the 2009–2010 school year is $1.032 billion. The 2009–2010 budget represents a $20-Million increase from the previous school year.

The architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture programs in Virginia Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies are ranked among the very best in America. In its 2010 "America's Best Architecture & Design Schools" report, DesignIntelligence (the only national college ranking survey focused exclusively on design) ranked the undergraduate architecture program 4th nationally among both public and private universities. The graduate architecture program ranked 8th in the nation. DesignIntelligence ranked the university's undergraduate landscape architecture program No. 1 in the nation and its graduate landscape architecture program No. 2. (In addition, DesignIntelligence ranked the university's undergraduate interior design program 7th, and undergraduate industrial design program 11th.)

The Planetizen 2012 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs ranks Virginia Tech's MURP program as 19th. It is the best ranked program in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Appalachian region. This latest edition features new listings of the top master's degree programs in urban planning, as well as updated profiles for 100 planning programs in the U.S. and Canada. Virginia Tech's MURP program performed well overall and was also rated among the best programs in Technology, Land Use Planning, Environmental Planning, and Growth Management.

Programs in the College of Natural Resources consistently rank among the top of their type in the nation. The college's wildlife program is ranked first by its peers, and the fisheries program is ranked second. In a recently published study of the research impact of North American forestry programs, the Journal of Forestry ranked Virginia Tech's programs second on the perceptions-based composite score and third on the citations- and publications-based index. The wood science and forest products program is listed as an accredited program by the Society of Wood Science and Technology or SWST, and is recognized as one of the top programs in its category in North America. Virginia Tech is classified as a "RU/VH" (research university with very high research activity) under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

In the School of Education, graduate Career and Technical Education program was ranked 4th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report 2010 and graduate Instructional Design and Technology program is ranked one of the top nine graduate programs by its peers.