Virginia Tech earns spots in two recent rankings by Money and Forbes
Virginia Tech received accolades from two renowned publishers, Money and Forbes, for the university’s strengths in academic quality, affordability, and success after graduation. Both publications heavily considered debt and outcomes for alumni to form the rankings.
Money placed Virginia Tech in the top 50 of all institutions and top 20 among the public institutions, in its “Best Colleges” ranking of 736 schools. The ranking was determined using 21 factors in three categories: quality of education, affordability, and outcomes, which looked at career earnings.
Money also lauded Virginia Tech’s high graduation rate, “seven percentage points higher than the average for its peers,” the publication noted. Virginia Tech received a value-added grade of “B+” that looks at student success within the context of their economic and academic background.
Forbes recent ranking of the top 25 best public colleges also highlighted Virginia Tech, which earned the No. 23 spot. Forbes partnered with the Center for College Affordability and Productivity to create the rankings.
The Forbes list emphasized schools that are not only academically challenging, but also those which produce graduates who are successful after commencement. The ranking looked at student satisfaction, post-graduate success, student debt, graduation rate, and academic success.
“These recent rankings reflect not only the academic quality of our students but also the high-caliber academic programs that empower them for success,” said Wanda Hankins Dean, vice provost for enrollment and degree management. “As a land grant institution, we look for opportunities to ensure access and affordability to allow more students to gain skills employers seek and to promote lifelong learning.”
As part of an effort to increase access, Virginia Tech will welcome its largest freshman class ever, with more than 6,300 students accepting offers of admission. Even with a 17 percent increase in the first-year class over last year, the Class of 2019 is still outstanding academically, with grade point averages, SAT scores, and other academic measures on par or higher than previous years.
Cost to attend Virginia Tech remains low, with 2015-16 tuition and fees at $12,485 for in-state students and $29,129 for out-of-state students. To help offset costs and increase affordability, undergraduate students received more than $100 million in grant aid and scholarship support in Fiscal Year 2014.
In addition, Virginia Tech students are successful after graduation. Virginia Tech’s Career Services tracks students’ plans within six months after graduation. For those who graduated in 2013-14, 83 percent reported employment or plans to continue their education. Employed graduates reported an average annual salary of $53,000.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
