Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) is a public research university and land-grant institution with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. Its first student enrolled at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College on 1 October 1872. The university reports enrolment of nearly 39,000 in fall 2025.
Agriculture is taught in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), and forestry in the College of Natural Resources and Environment. CALS lists its research focus areas as agricultural profitability and environmental sustainability; food, nutrition and health; biodesign and bioprocessing; the green industry; infectious diseases; and community viability. The Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station has 11 Agricultural Research and Extension Centers across the state, which the college says involve nearly 340 scientists from five colleges. Its 3,200-acre College Farm operation includes Kentland Farm, site of the Virginia Tech Dairy Science Complex. The university says its Corporate Research Center houses 220 companies and that it completed 29 licence deals in fiscal year 2024.