What We Do

Graduate students are vital members of the Virginia Tech community. Across the university's colleges and campuses, you'll find them teaching classes, mentoring students, working in labs, and connecting with communities. They come from all walks of life, and they are role models, colleagues, innovators, inventors, and discoverers, driven by their passion to learn, teach, and turn ideas into action.

The Graduate School team works to help our students thrive and succeed. In addition to administrative roles associated with academic advancement and student services, we support graduate programs across the university and push the boundaries of traditional education by providing students with opportunities for growth beyond their expectations, regardless of the degrees they pursue, the campuses at which they are enrolled, and whether they are enrolled part or full time. We do this by fostering and supporting a diverse, collegial graduate community and providing a range of programs, activities and services.

We are committed to excellence through inclusivity, integrity, active civic engagement, and support for interdisciplinary research and education. We help students recognize their power to make a difference in the communities in which they live and work, and to share their experiences with others. 

Inclusivity

We are dedicated to providing an inclusive and affirming environment for all students. Find out how we are working to help all students thrive and about our Diversity Scholars program.

Opportunities

We promote a graduate education that serves the whole student. We provide multiple ways for students explore their passions and interests and get involved.

Our professional development program offers a range of scholarly, social, and extracurricular activities to help you prepare, connect, succeed, and stand out in industry, the academy or wherever you choose to work.

Research

You'll find opportunities for research in programs across the university. Additoinally, the university's Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Programs focus on a variety issues and provide ways to expand and enrich your education and research experience at Virginia Tech. Also learn about the Graduate School's Citizen Scholar program, which helps you connect your research to your community.

Teaching

We offer a number of classes and programs that will expand your thinking and skill set, and help you prepare for the job market, including the Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Workshop and the Preparing the Future Professoriate certificate program.

Communicating across boundaries

The Virginia Tech Center for Communicating Science offers classes that will help scientists from all fields (including social sciences) and backgrounds develop skills and techniques to communicate their work effectively to a variety of audiences.

Services

We want our graduate students to thrive. We offer a range of services and events aimed towards supporting students and building a vibrant and inclusive community.

• Health and Wellness ─ We offer subsidized medical insurance, on-campus health care facilties, free mental health counseling services, and recreational sports facilites.
• Spouses, Partners, Children ─ We support a number of childcare initiatives and provide work life grants for students expecting or adopting children in order to help new and established families balance home and work life needs.
• Visit the full list of the services we offer. 
• For those in the greater Washington, D.C. metro area, visit the Hokie One Stop for your student services needs.

We provide opportunities for graduate students to get to know each other. These include:

•  Weekly GLC Café on Thursdays 3:30-5:00 pm and on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month in the GLC Reading Room on the Blacksburg campus
•  Semi-annual photo and art contests
•  Multiple social events every semester
• Community lunches that help you find peer groups across the university
• The Graduate Education Week cook out, and more.

Check the weekly Graduate Life Center email and the D.C. Area Weekly email for details on programs, events, and opportunities across our campuses. We send them out every Monday to all of our graduate students.