Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, the VT-MIT program is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

The VT-MIT program is currently ranked #3 by U.S. News and World Report and has been in the top three programs nationwide for six consecutive years. But rankings aren’t everything. We encourage you to research several programs to find the best fit for your personal, professional, and academic goals.

Distance learning requires the ability to work independently. When separated from the instructor, it is up to you to take responsibility for what you learn. In general, students who succeed in distance learning are actively involved in their learning, are able to focus on their goals, prioritize their responsibilities, and reach out for the assistance they need.

Most Virginia Tech faculty members are full-time, tenured professors in either the Pamplin School of Business or the College of Engineering. All have significant industrial and business experience. Adjunct faculty members typically have full-time industry positions. It should be understood that adjuncts, just like regular faculty, typically have Ph.D. degrees in an appropriate discipline and are practitioners in their disciplines.

Most of our students are working professionals, and take 1 - 2 courses each semester. Average completion time is 2 ½ years. If you wish to accelerate your program of study, that is possible with careful planning. An accelerated program of study will typically take 15 - 18 months to complete and is only recommended for students who do not have other professional obligations.

Master of Information Technology. This is an interdisciplinary degree, being that it is offered jointly by the Pamplin College of Business and the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. Your degree does not state the location (online).

We like for applicants to have at least a year or two of work experience prior to applying for admission. However, we do accept applications from well-qualified undergraduates in their final semester. If your application for admission is accepted, we would grant a “conditional admit” which basically means you must provide your final official transcript showing the conferred degree before you are allowed to start classes.

Yes - assuming you meet our admissions criteria. The VT-MIT program was designed at the direction of SCHEV, the governing body for all Virginia public universities, to provide a path into the Information Technology field for students without specific undergraduate preparation in Computer Science or Electrical and Computer Engineering. For those with little or no programming experience, we highly recommend that you take ITP120 Java Programming I at Virginia Western Community College prior to starting your first class. This will ensure that you have some programming experience and a comfort level with the terminology prior to starting classes.

The VT-MIT degree is a 33-credit graduate degree -- a Master of Information Technology.  A VT-MIT graduate certificate requires the successful completion of 9-12 credits (3-4 courses) in a particular information technology subject area.  In most cases, credits earned for a VT-MIT graduate certificate can be transferred to the VT-MIT degree.  Currently, we offer 10 VT-MIT Graduate Certificates.

The application for the MIT program is online, as part of the Virginia Tech Graduate School application.

The graduate school requires official transcripts from every institution where you have received a conferred degree. We are able to accept scanned official transcripts for the review period. The transcript copy must be legible and it must be a scan of an official transcript (some institutions allow students to print out transcripts with no seals or signatures over the web, those will not be accepted by the Graduate School). All pages must be scanned in and if there is writing on the back that must be scanned in also. Should you receive an offer of admission, we will require an official sealed transcript or an e-script directly from each institution.

The VT-MIT program totals eleven courses (33-credit hours), so transfer credits are not accepted. If you have academic or professional proficiency in one area, you are encouraged to choose another concentration.

The GRE and GMAT are not required. The TOEFL is required for applicants who did not receive their bachelor’s degree from a US, Canadian, or British university and whose first language is not English. The minimum acceptable score for Virginia Tech is 90 (electronic) or 577 (paper).

You can find a list of accredited list of evaluation and translation services on the website of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services.

Candidates who meet our admissions criteria whose undergraduate or graduate GPA is below the minimum of 3.0, but above a 2.75 as required by the Virginia Tech Graduate School, may qualify for provisional admission.
The applicant must demonstrate other experience or qualifications that show the potential to undertake graduate study. Upon successful completion of four foundation courses (earning a B or better in each course) the student is changed to Regular Status.

Candidates who meet our admissions criteria, but whose undergraduate and/or graduate GPA falls below a 2.75 may qualify for admission as a Commonwealth Campus student. Commonwealth Campus admittance into the Master of Information Technology Program is limited, and granted at the discretion of the Program Director upon review for regular admission. A Commonwealth Campus student will be allowed to take four foundation courses and upon successful completion (earning a B or better in each course) the student will be invited to re-apply for Regular Admission. While in Commonwealth status, a student is ineligible for Financial Aid.

Candidates applying to a Graduate Certificate program must have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0.  There are no exceptions.

1. A conferred bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
2. Mimium grade point average of a 3.0 out of a 4.0 in the last 60 credit hours of coursework.
   
3. Proficiency in using the Java computer programming language or experience in another programming language such as C, C++, C#, or Python is expected.  An online course that meets this requirement is ITP120 Java Programming I, specifically offered through Virginia Western Community College. It is tailored to VTMIT students who have no programming experience, or those who need a refresher. It is fully online, and is offered every semester - Spring, Summer, and Fall. However, you don’t need to complete this prior to applying. There are a few courses that do not require a background in programming. If admitted, you can start with those courses while completing the prerequisite. Some courses (namely the Networking courses) require additional background in calculus. See the individual course descriptions for more information.

Not necessarily. If you are near completion of your bachelor’s degree, you may apply for a future term. If your application for admission is accepted, we would grant a “conditional admit” which basically means you must provide your final official transcript showing the conferred degree before you are allowed to start classes. If you do not have any programming experience, we would require that you take either the Java prerequisite course at Virginia Western Community College or a similar program. You are welcome to call the program office at 703-538-8484 if you have any questions regarding the prerequisites.

We have a rolling admissions cycle and accept applications year-round. An application must be complete in order to be reviewed. The admissions committee meets twice each month, and your application will be reviewed in the order in which it was received. You can expect a decision within 2 -3 weeks of your application being complete. If you haven’t received a decision in that time frame, please check your application to be sure all of materials have been submitted. Then, call the program office at 703-538-8384 for an update.

You must have experience with Java, C, C++, C#, Python, or other modern programming language. If you have no programming experience, or need a refresher, consider enrolling in Virginia Western Community College’s ITP120 Java Programming I. It is fully online, and is offered every semester - Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Some courses in the Networking and Big Data modules do require an introductory knowledge of either statistics or probabilty mathematics.  Your VT MIT academic advisor will work with you to make sure you're aware of course requirements.

All courses follow the Virginia Tech academic calendar. Students can take courses during the fall, spring, or summer terms. Courses have scheduled deadlines, scheduled exams, and online meeting times that must be followed. For more information, visit http://www.registrar.vt.edu/

A Plan of Study is the road map for your degree program. Graduation will be contingent upon approval of the formal Plan of Study that will be created for you electronically in the HokieSpa student record system by the VT-MIT department.

The graduate school requires a plan of study be entered by the program department by the time the student has completed 18-21 credit hours of coursework, or 6-7 courses. You may use the Plan of Study document (available to enrolled students on the VT-MIT Canvas page) to make tentative plans for your graduate program. It will be important to give consideration to course prerequisites and to projected course offering schedules.

All program courses are accessed through the Canvas portal at https://canvas.vt.edu

No. Only some of the materials will be available online. You should still expect to have to purchase some textbooks, course packets, or software. To get a list of the materials you need, contact the instructor of the course that interests you (or visit the course website if one is posted).

Instructors place orders through either the VT Bookstore or the online NVC bookstore. You are welcome to compare prices and shipping times at other bookstores. Your instructor will let you know which materials are available online and how to obtain any special materials not available in bookstores.

Here are some general recommended laptop attributes:

• The computer can be either PC or Mac
• Intel i7 processor (eighth or ninth generation)
• Minimum of 16GB of DDR4 memory, higher if needed
• Solid State Hard Drive (256 GB or above) Nvidia GPU (2GB or higher)
• Students are encouraged to obtain a Microsoft Office 365 license through the university Student Software Distribution if you do not have a Microsoft license.

Any additional requirements can be determined by consulting with faculty and course syllabi for individual course requirements.