About
COLLABORATION • DISCOVERY • INNOVATION
Our distinctive approach to education fosters transdisciplinary innovation, bringing together students and faculty from various disciplines to address complex real-world problems. VT Honors College students gain a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of different fields, harness the power of collective disciplinary differences, and develop the skills needed to address the most pressing challenges of our time.
We prioritize experiential learning, providing students with opportunities to apply what they have learned in practical, real-world settings. Through our immersive courses and studios, students work alongside nonprofit, industry, university, and community partners to explore and respond to complex issues, whether conducting quantitative and qualitative research or engaging in hands-on projects.
In the VT Honors College, we value the collective process of discovery, where students and faculty engage in collaborative inquiry to push the boundaries of knowledge. Through critical questioning, thoughtful discussion, and the development of well-informed perspectives, students contribute to a rich network of ideas and illuminate new avenues of exploration. By embracing diverse viewpoints on complex problems, Honors students generate critical solutions and make significant contributions as 21st century workers and citizens.
MEET OUR TEAM
Whether teaching Honors College classes, mentoring students, or handling the behind-the-scenes
administration of the college, we work each day to facilitate an extraordinary undergraduate education
for Honors students at Virginia Tech.
OUR PROGRAMS
The Honors Laureate Diploma offers a customizable approach to completing Honors Academic Requirements. The HLD allows students to select Honors credit from two categories: collaborative discovery and experiential learning. Most Honors students at Virginia Tech choose this approach due to its flexibility.
The Honors Minor in Collaborative Discovery offers a structured approach to completing Honors Academic Requirements. The Honors Minor is grounded in the Honors College core values of collaborative discovery and experiential learning. A curated list of Honors College (UH) courses and experiences makes up the minor checksheet. Students who complete the Honors Minor in Collaborative Discovery will automatically earn the Honors Laureate Diploma.
The Honors Community Engagement and Service (HCES) diploma approach offers an intensive experience for students who are deeply committed to Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) and want to learn by meaningfully engaging with communities. This is a limited opportunity for students who are committed to, ready to actively participate in, and have a passion for community engagement. HCES culminates in a capstone course, in which students collaborate on real-world projects driven by community partners’ priorities and needs. Pursuing this approach will earn you the SPIA Community Engagement and Service Pathways minor and the HCES diploma.
LEARN MORE ABOUT US
Ready to learn more about the Honors College?
Here are some quick links to some information that you may be interested in.
Land Acknowledgement and Labor Recognition
Virginia Tech acknowledges that we live and work on the Tutelo / Monacan People’s homeland, and we recognize their continued relationships with their lands and waterways. We further acknowledge that the Morrill Land-Grant College Act (1862) enabled the Commonwealth of Virginia to finance and found Virginia Tech through the forced removal of Native Nations from their lands in California and other areas in the West.
Virginia Tech acknowledges that its Blacksburg campus sits partly on land that was previously the site of the Smithfield and Solitude Plantations, owned by members of the Preston family. Between the 1770s and the 1860s, the Prestons and other local White families that owned parcels of what became Virginia Tech also owned hundreds of enslaved people. Enslaved Black people generated resources that financed Virginia Tech’s predecessor institution, the Preston and Olin Institute, and they also worked on the construction of its building.
OUR LOCATION
Hillcrest Hall
385 W Campus Dr
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Main office: Suite 122
CONTACT US
Email us at honors@vt.edu or call 540-231-4591. To reach someone specific, visit our Contact page for further information.