Roanoke County is located within 60 miles of 19 colleges and universities, many of which are national award-winners in academics, research, and the arts.
Colleges & Universities within 60 miles of the Roanoke Valley
| Institution | Location | Enrollment (Fall 07) | Degrees |
| Virginia Tech | Blacksburg | 29,898 | B, M, D |
| Liberty University | Lynchburg | 26,974 | A, B, M, D |
| Radford University | Radford | 9,122 | B, M |
| Virginia Western Comm. College | Roanoke | 8,653 | A, C, CS |
| Central Virginia Comm. College | Lynchburg | 4,926 | A, C, Di |
| New River Comm. College | Dublin | 4,586 | A, C, Di |
| Patrick Henry Comm. College | Martinsville | 2,948 | A, C, Di |
| Lynchburg College | Lynchburg | 2,489 | B, M |
| Washington & Lee University | Lexington | 2,117 | B, JD |
| Roanoke College | Salem | 2,006 | B |
| Virginia Military Institute | Lexington | 1,378 | B |
| Dabney S. Lancaster Comm. College | Clifton Forge | 1,296 | A, C, Di |
| Ferrum College | Ferrum | 1,239 | B |
| Hollins University | Hollins | 1,049 | B, M |
| Jefferson College of Health Sciences | Roanoke | 971 | A, B, M, C |
| Sweet Briar College | Amherst | 802 | B |
| National College | Salem | 756 | A, Di, B, M |
| Southern Virginia University | Buena Vista | 752 | B |
| Randolph College | Lynchburg | 660 | B, PBC, M |
B = Bachelors Degree, M = Masters Degree, A= Associates Degree, C= Certificate, CS=Career Studies, D=Doctorate, Di=Diploma, JD= Juris Doctor, PBC=Post-Baccalaureate Certificates
Source: State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
Virginia Tech
Located within a 45-minute drive of downtown Roanoke, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is one of Virginia's largest universities, and one of the nation's most respected.
U.S. News & World Report's “America's Best Colleges 2008” ranked Virginia Tech 29th among national public universities. Among national universities, including such private institutions as Harvard and Yale, Virginia Tech ranked 71st.
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.
"America's Best Colleges 2008" survey released by U.S. News & World Report in August 2007 ranked the Virginia Tech College of Engineering's undergraduate program 14th in the nation among all accredited engineering schools that offer doctorates, and eighth among those at public universities. Six Virginia Tech undergraduate engineering specialties ranked among the top 20 of their respective peer programs ( aerospace engineering, 14th; civil engineering, 11th; electrical engineering, 17th; engineering science and mechanics, eighth; environmental engineering, 14th; industrial engineering, ninth; and mechanical engineering, 14th.
The College of Engineering's graduate program ranked 30th nationally, with seven individual programs in the top 30 (industrial and systems engineering, eighth; civil engineering, 10th; civil and environmental engineering, 11th; mechanical engineering, 16th; aerospace engineering, 17th; electrical engineering, 25th; and materials engineering, 28th).
U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools 2009" survey, released in March 2008, ranked the College of Engineering's graduate program 28th among all the nation's engineering schools and 17th among engineering schools at public universities.
In the most recent survey (2007) of the Engineering Workforce Commission of the American Association of Engineering Societies, Inc., the Virginia Tech College of Engineering ranked ninth nationally for the total number of degrees awarded, sixth for the number of undergraduate degrees awarded, 22nd for the number of master's degrees and 14th for the number of Ph.D.s.
The Pamplin College of Business undergraduate program is ranked in the nation's 50 best business schools by U.S. News & World Report “America's Best Colleges 2008”. Pamplin ranks 41st overall (which puts it in the top 10 percent of the 400-plus U.S. undergraduate programs accredited by AACSB International) and 24th among the public institutions.
In the Financial Times rankings of the world's top 100 graduate business schools, Pamplin's M.B.A. program was 63rd overall and 43rd among U.S. universities. The program ranked second among U.S. schools in the "aims achieved by M.B.A. alumni" category and sixth in "value for money."
The architecture and landscape architecture programs in Virginia Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies are ranked among the very best in America. In its 2007 report, DesignIntelligence, the only national college ranking survey focused exclusively on design, ranked the undergraduate architecture program fourth nationally and first among public universities. DesignIntelligence also ranked the university’s undergraduate interior design program seventh in the nation. DesignIntelligence ranked Tech’s graduate architecture program 10th in the nation and its graduate interior design program fifth.
In 2007, Virginia Tech awarded 4,887 Baccalaureate Degrees, 1,362 Masters Degrees and 356 Doctorate Degrees.
Roanoke College
A liberal arts college founded in 1842 as a preparatory school for boys, Roanoke College currently has a coed student body of approximately 2,000 students from 41 states and 26 countries, and a full-time faculty of over 117 teachers and scholars.
Roanoke College has been ranked among U.S. News & World Report's top 10 regional liberal arts colleges in the South for seven consecutive years and now places the College in the competitive Best National Liberal Arts Colleges category.
Students choose from 34 majors, 29 minors, and 19 concentrations. In 2007, 417 Baccalaureate Degrees were conferred.
Hollins University
Founded in 1842, Hollins is a distinguished national liberal arts
university for women with approximately 800 undergraduate women and nearly 300 coed
graduate students from 43 states and 11 countries.
There are 30 available majors, and coed graduate programs are offered in English and creative writing, liberal studies, children's literature, teaching, screenwriting and film studies. In 2007, 182 Baccalaureate Degrees and 106 Masters Degrees were awarded.
The Fiske Guide to Getting Into the Right College recognizes Hollins as one of 15 "small colleges and universities strong in art and design."
Hollins received an academic rating of four out of a possible four stars in the 2005 edition of The Princeton Review’s The Best 361 Colleges.
Virginia Western Community College
Virginia Western Community College
(WVCC) is a two-year public
institution of higher education operating one of the 23 Virginia Community
College System schools. More than 8,600 full- and part-time students attend
Virginia Western.
Workforce Development Services
VWCC's Workforce Development Services and Lifelong Learning Division is a community leader in providing up-to-date training resources, skills information, and educational support services to the existing business community, as well as to new and/or expanding enterprises.
Benefits to local business and industry include:
Eliminates the need for special training staff and related costs
Eliminates the need for designated space and special equipment for training
Permits supervisory and/or production staff to direct their time to regular responsibilities rather than to training
Enables new and/or small companies to compete with more established or larger companies by providing the kind of training necessary to be competitive
Reduces or eliminates non-productive time for training -- company equipment can remain in operation
Enables new businesses or industries to be fully operational upon opening
Associate Degrees are offered in Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Education, Horticulture, Commercial Art, Accounting, Management, Office Systems Technology, Engineering, Administration of Justice, and others.
In 2007, Virginia Western Community College awarded 496 Associate Degrees, 39 Certificates and 74 Career Studies Diplomas.
The school also offers customized on- and off-site training for businesses and industries in the Roanoke Valley.
Jefferson College of Health Sciences
Jefferson College of Health Sciences (JCHC) is a professional health sciences college, offering the master of science in nursing, physician assistant and occupational therapy and 12 associate and baccalaureate allied healthcare programs. JCHC annually enrolls approximately 900 undergraduate students and 40 graduate students, with a full-time faculty of 65.
The Jefferson College of Health Sciences is located in downtown Roanoke on the campus of Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital and less than a mile from Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital .
National College
For
over 120 years National College is dedicated to the training and educating of
men and women for a full life and a successful career in a number of general
and particular fields. Founded in 1886 in the Roanoke Valley, the College
continues to develop students intellectually, culturally and socially. National
College has a student body of approximately 800 including
international students from several countries.
National offers a Masters of Business Administration, 6 Bachelor's Degrees, 9 Associate Degrees, and 15 Diploma Programs.
The Roanoke Higher Education Center
The Roanoke Higher Education Center offers nearly 200 programs of study through the Center’s partner organizations. Averett University, Bluefield College, Jefferson College of Health Sciences, Ferrum College, Hampton University, Hollins University, Mary Baldwin College, Old Dominion University, Radford University, Roanoke College, TAP - This Valley Works job training programs, the University of Virginia, Virginia Intermont College, Virginia Tech, and Virginia Western Community College offer undergraduate and graduate level courses. The New Century Technology Council and the Western Virginia Workforce Development Board are also located at the Center.
Located in the former headquarters of the Norfolk and Western Railroad in downtown Roanoke, the Roanoke Higher Education Center features teleconferencing and distance learning capabilities and a day care center. Students can work on GEDs, high school diplomas, undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as specialized training or non-credit courses.
For additional information go to Roanoke Higher Education Center.
Vocational Education
The public schools in the Roanoke Valley offer a full range of Vocational and Technical Education for both students and adults, including apprenticeships and college credit.
Programs for adult students include:
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| Spanish |