Virginia Tech is on the 2014 Princeton Review list of 150 Best Value Colleges, representing the nation’s best institutions concerning balance among strong academics, cost, and financial aid awards.

The list features 75 public and 75 private institutions. The top 10 public schools and top 10 private schools are ranked; the remaining 65 in each category are listed in alphabetical order and unranked.

The Princeton Review looks at survey data from 2,000 undergraduate institutions as well as surveys from enrolled students. Schools are evaluated based on 30 data points related to academics, cost of attendance, and financial aid as well as student feedback on their satisfaction with their financial aid awards and opinions of their academic experience.

Virginia Tech provides over 100 undergraduate programs of study in diverse fields while maintaining a low overall cost with significant financial aid support. Annual tuition and fees for in-state students is $11,455 and $27,211 for out-of-state students. 

To help cover those costs, the university distributed $423 million in aid in 2012-13, up almost $100 million since 2008-09. About 76 percent of Virginia Tech students receive some form of financial aid.

“As a land-grant university, we are committed to expanding access to higher education,” said Wanda Hankins Dean, vice provost for enrollment and degree management. “The university continues to look for opportunities that make Virginia Tech a possibility for hard-working and committed students in the commonwealth and across the country.”

Virginia Tech has several strategic financial aid initiatives to offset the costs of college, achieve enrollment goals, and recognize academically talented students, including

  • Funds for the Future, Virginia Tech’s signature financial aid program created to maintain the affordability of a Virginia Tech education to Virginia students from low and moderate-income families. This is the university’s largest undergraduate financial aid program, designed to assist returning students with financial need by mitigating all or a portion of increases in tuition and required fees based on level of family income;
  • The Presidential Scholarship Initiative for new, first-year students from Virginia who demonstrate strong financial need as well as academic and leadership potential; and
  • The Presidential Campus Enrichment Grant for incoming, first-year students who show a commitment to educational diversity. The grant is supported, in part, by sales of Virginia Tech license plates sold in the commonwealth.

Virginia Tech also aims to reduce money and time toward degree completion through tuition reduction during special sessions. Tuition for summer session and winter session for undergraduates has a 10 percent reduction compared to regular session hourly rates.

Beyond competitive academic majors, Virginia Tech offers opportunities to enhance the undergraduate academic experience through experiences such as undergraduate research, first-year experiences, University Honors, academic support services, and living-learning communities.

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.

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