Virginia for College Students
Virginia's college-town identities are genuinely distinct: Blacksburg (Virginia Tech), Charlottesville (the University of Virginia), Williamsburg (William & Mary), and Fairfax (George Mason University) each offer a different college experience across genuinely different regions of the state.
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Learn moreVirginia Tech anchors a real, large-scale university identity in Blacksburg
Virginia Tech enrolled 38,995 students for Fall 2025 (31,536 undergraduates, a record 57,700+ first-year applications), anchoring Blacksburg's real, large-scale college-town identity in the Blue Ridge highlands of Southwest Virginia -- a genuinely different setting from Virginia's coastal or DC-metro regions.
The University of Virginia anchors a genuine, historic identity in Charlottesville
The University of Virginia enrolled roughly 3,976-3,985 first-year students for Fall 2025 off a record 64,457 first-year applications, with a state mandate keeping roughly two-thirds of each entering class Virginia residents -- anchoring Charlottesville's own genuinely distinct, historic Piedmont college-town identity.
William & Mary and George Mason University anchor two more genuinely distinct settings
William & Mary anchors Williamsburg's historic Tidewater setting alongside the Historic Triangle's colonial-history tourism economy, while George Mason University anchors Fairfax's Northern Virginia setting with real access to the DC-metro federal/tech job market -- two genuinely different college experiences from Blacksburg's or Charlottesville's.
Key takeaways
- Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) anchors a real, large-scale university identity in the Blue Ridge highlands -- 38,995 students, a record 57,700+ first-year applications for Fall 2025.
- The University of Virginia (Charlottesville) anchors a historic Piedmont college-town identity, with a two-thirds Virginia-resident mandate.
- William & Mary (Williamsburg) and George Mason University (Fairfax) each anchor genuinely distinct settings -- historic Tidewater tourism versus DC-metro job-market access.
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