Virginia Tech Innovation Campus to open next year
Due to construction supply chain issues, the first academic building on the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus will open in 2025. In fall 2024, graduate students in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area will continue to attend classes at the university’s Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church.
The building schedule change was shared at a town hall meeting for Northern Virginia faculty and staff on Thursday at the Northern Virginia Center.
Virginia Tech broke ground on the Innovation Campus in September 2021 with plans to open this August. While the building’s opening has been delayed to the spring 2025 semester, enrollment and programming in the region continues to prosper. Innovation Campus students have attended classes in Falls Church since fall 2020.
In four years, Virginia Tech has grown its number of computer science and computer engineering master’s degree students based in the D.C. area to 376. This cohort of Virginia Tech Innovation Campus graduate students – part of Virginia’s Tech Talent Investment Program – will help the commonwealth’s efforts to close the tech talent gap in the region.
“Our vision remains unchanged. We are building a community perfectly positioned to connect talented students with Northern Virginia’s growing tech ecosystem,” said Lance Collins, vice president and executive director of the Innovation Campus.
Two-thirds of the Innovation Campus master’s degree students are full-time graduate students, while the others are part-time. Full-time Master of Engineering students can complete the degree in as little as one year. The program also is accessible to working professionals on a part-time basis.
The priority deadline to apply for fall 2024 admission is March 1.
Companies are also partnering with the Innovation Campus on student projects that will inform the planning for the Innovation Campus opening and its project-based learning.
At Thursday’s town hall, university leaders acknowledged that the delay will have an impact on faculty, staff, and students. They committed to offering comprehensive support and ensuring regular updates – via future town meetings and Virginia Tech News website - to the campus community to help manage these impacts.
The university’s growing presence in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area is supported by the launching of the Innovation Campus, the growing influence of the National Security Institute in Arlington, the development of a Coalition for Smart Construction in Falls Church, and Fralin Biomedical Research at Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus.
Virginia Tech’s 3.5-acre Innovation Campus in Alexandria is adjacent to the Potomac Yard-VT Metrorail Station. Last month, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced plans for a $2 billion public-private partnership to create an entertainment district next to the campus that will include a new arena for both the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards.
