Center for Public Administration and Policy

Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Seal
Former names	Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1944-1970) Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (1896-1944) Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1896)
Motto	Ut Prosim (Latin)
Motto in English	That I May Serve
Type	Public Land-grant Space-grant Sea-grant Senior military college
Established	1872
Endowment	$843.0 million (2016)
President	Timothy D. Sands
Provost	Thanassis Rikakis
Academic staff	1,395
Students	30,598
Undergraduates	25,318
Postgraduates	5,280
Location	Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S. 37°13.5′N 80°25.5′W / 37.2250°N 80.4250°W / 37.2250; -80.4250Coordinates: 37°13.5′N 80°25.5′W / 37.2250°N 80.4250°W / 37.2250; -80.4250
Campus	Rural 2,600 acres (11 km2; 4.1 sq mi)
Operating Budget	$1.35 billion
Colors	Chicago maroon and burnt orange
Athletics	NCAA Division I – ACC
Nickname	Hokies
Mascot	HokieBird
Affiliations	APLU ORAU URA
Website	www.vt.edu

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech, is a public, land-grant, research university with a main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, educational facilities in six regions statewide, and a study-abroad site in Switzerland. Through its Corps of Cadets ROTC program, Virginia Tech is also designated as one of six senior military colleges in the country.

As Virginia's third-largest university, Virginia Tech offers 225 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to some 30,600 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million, the largest of any university in Virginia. 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.

In 1872, with federal funds provided by the Morrill Act of 1862, the Virginia General Assembly purchased the facilities of Preston and Olin Institute, a small Methodist school in Southwest Virginia's rural Montgomery County. That same year, 250 acres (100 ha) of the Solitude Farm including the house and several farm buildings on the estate were acquired for $21,250 The commonwealth incorporated a new institution on the site, a state-supported land-grant military institute named Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College.

Under the 1891–1907 presidency of John M. McBryde, the school organized its academic programs into a traditional four-year college. The evolution of the school's programs led to a name change in 1896 to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute. The "Agricultural and Mechanical College" portion of the name was popularly omitted almost immediately; in 1944, the name was officially changed to Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI).