Facts

Fact Sheet (PDF)

Range of Programs

The Pamplin College of Business offers majors in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. Its on-campus enrollment is about 3,600 undergraduates and about 290 full-time graduate students in the MBA, Master of Accounting and Information Systems, Master of Hospitality and Tourism Management, and Ph.D. programs.
The college enrolls about 125 evening MBA and about 55 executive MBA students at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center in metropolitan Washington, D.C., and about 50 professional MBA students, who take classes that alternate between Roanoke and Richmond.

Bridge to Business

To help alleviate the critical national shortage of business-school faculty, the college launched an innovative program in June 2008, designed to prepare Ph.D.s in non-business, but related, disciplines for new careers as business faculty members. Pamplin is among four U.S. business schools that are the first to launch post-doctoral “bridge-to-business” programs approved by AACSB International, the accrediting organization for business schools worldwide.

Master of Information Technology Program

The college manages this interdisciplinary, online education program, with 380 students in the United States and several other countries.

National Accreditation

The college's degree programs are accredited by AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration. 

In the Top 50 Programs

Pamplin’s undergraduate program is ranked in the nation’s 50 best business schools by U.S. News & World Report. Pamplin ranks No. 40 overall (which puts it in the top 10 percent of the 445-plus U.S. undergraduate programs accredited by AACSB International) and 24th among the public institutions.

Groundbreaking Research, Eminent Scholarship

Pamplin faculty members are tackling major issues in industry, finance, management practice, and information technology, to name a few areas. Their research has contributed to greater understanding of business issues, been cited in government hearings and court testimony, and played a role in policy making. Though sponsored research is not a central aspect of the research programs of business schools, several Pamplin faculty members have attracted national funding for their research, working as members of interdisciplinary teams. The college’s departments are also regularly ranked among the nation’s or world’s top programs for scholarly productivity, based on article publication in the leading academic journals in their fields.

Nationally and Internationally Recognized Faculty Experts

Pamplin’s senior faculty teach many of the required courses, and students learn from the professors who win teaching and research awards, write the books used in classrooms everywhere, serve as consultants to companies, or have worked in business and industry. The college has had 22 winners of the university’s Wine Award for teaching excellence since the award was established in 1957.

Preparing Students for Leadership Roles

The Center for Leadership Studies, directed by Dean Richard E. Sorensen, offers leadership development programs for all Virginia Tech students, supports academic research in leadership, and coordinates leadership programs across campus. These programs include the Business Leadership Center, which promotes the development of leadership knowledge and skills of students through classes, interaction with business leaders and scholars, and leadership roles on campus; and the Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development, which is based in the college and aims to prepare students to be leaders of integrity. The college offers a minor in leadership studies.

Preparing Students for International, Multicultural Business Challenges

The college sponsors several faculty-led study-abroad programs. It offers a global business minor and programs at Virginia Tech's Center for European Studies and Architecture in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland, and at other universities in Europe. Five Pamplin faculty members have received Fulbright Awards.
The college's minor in business diversity seeks to educate students about diversity issues in the workplace. The minor is coordinated by the Business Diversity Center, established in 2007 to coordinate the college's teaching and research programs in business diversity.

Student Investors

Through two student-run investing groups, Pamplin students manage about $10 million of Virginia Tech's endowment. SEED (Student-managed Endowment for Educational Development), manages about $5 million through stock investments and is believed to be the nation's largest student-run portfolio that is managed as an extracurricular activity. BASIS (Bond And Securities Investing by Students) manages about $5 million in bonds and other fixed-income securities and is one of a handful of bond-only student-investor programs in the nation. SEED's faculty advisers are finance professors John Pinkerton and Mike Kender; BASIS is advised by professors George Morgan and Derek Klock.

Distinguished Speakers

The college offers opportunities to students and faculty to learn about current events, business issues, and leadership practices by bringing top executives, journalists, attorneys, political pundits, and accounting and other professionals to speak on campus through the Cutchins Distinguished Lecture, the Wells Fargo Distinguished Lecture, the BB&T Distinguished Lecture, and the annual Business Ethics Conference. Speakers have included George Stephanopoulos, David Gergen, George Will, Peggy Noonan, Gloria Borger, Greg Ip, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Ralph Nader.

Career Services

The college’s undergraduate and MBA career services staff serve both students and employers. Recruiters from a range of business and government organizations attend Business Horizons Career Day, organized annually by Pamplin undergraduates. Five of our majors are routinely in the 10 majors most sought after by recruiters visiting campus.

Service to Community and Society

Several college centers offer the expertise of its faculty and students:

• The Business Diversity Center focuses on teaching and research on diversity issues and coordinates the business diversity minor.
• The Center for Global Electronic Commerce conducts research and promotes education in e-commerce, and assists companies with Internet business applications and training. 
• Management and Professional Development organizes customized, faculty-led programs designed to meet the continuing education needs of businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and other organizations.