Academic Departments

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VMI awards undergraduate degrees in 14 recognized majors across the liberal arts, sciences, and three engineering disciplines, delivering small classes and direct faculty mentorship.

While VMI’s academic departments are not organized into larger ‘schools’ or ‘colleges’ as they are at some other institutions of higher education, the departments do align with those overarching branches of education. As a liberal arts college focused on the complete development of its students – cadets – every department plays a role in the education of the Corps.

Arts & Humanities

Offering courses in writing, rhetoric, literature, philosophy, and the visual arts, each which encourages cadets to engage their world through critical, cross-disciplinary inquiry while shaping their values and futures.

Preparing graduates for careers in law, business, politics, government service, and the armed forces, while offering understanding of social and economic developments and political and constitutional problems.

Train in the languages, literatures, and cultures of France, Germany, Spain, and Latin America, China, and the Middle East with courses aimed in acquiring knowledge of the language, literature, culture, history, economics, and politics of the country or area.

Engineering

Study in areas such as structural, environmental, geotechnical, transportation, water resources, and construction engineering, with research opportunities supported by experienced faculty.

Develop analytic and communications skills applied to the design of electrical and computer engineering hardware and software components and systems.

Explore courses related to energy or structures and motion in mechanical systems backed with a background of science, mathematics, liberal arts, and all of the engineering sciences.

Information & Social Sciences

Discover modern computer software systems from requirements analysis and representation to system and software design, development, and maintenance, as well as rigorous experiential learning in computer security, human-centric computing, and product development of online and mobile platforms.

Understand the economic system and the function of business enterprise in the economy with courses aimed at developing the cadet’s ability to think critically about society’s economic issues, emphasizing developing analytical tools and methods of both public economic policy and business decision making.

One of the Institute’s most rigorous majors, emphasizing political science, ethics, foreign language, economics, history, and study abroad.

Life Sciences

Study the biological sciences to prepare students for careers in medicine and other health professions, field work related to conservation and ecology and other technical pursuits including graduate school.

Comprehensive and progressive academic (non-degree granting) and experiential (co-curricular) programs designed to enhance self-esteem, physical fitness, leadership characteristics, and develop a commitment to life-long physical fitness and health.

Challenging cadets to extend the boundaries of their knowledge about human behavior, develop mature and ethical values, learn to distinguish between valuable and trivial information, and acquire the broad perspective necessary to influence and shape the world around them.

Natural Sciences

Emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach, extensive use of technology, and modeling of real world problems, the department prepares its graduates for careers in the fields of operations research, statistics, or computational mathematics, as well as graduate level studies.

Master modern chemical instrumentation, analytical and mathematical skills, and the ability to think things through and solve problems, with a strong emphasis on undergraduate research.

Develop intellectual breadth while also building strong scientific and technical skills. Train and work with faculty to explore topics from lasers and fiber optics, to nanotechnology and nuclear physics.

ROTC Coursework

In addition to classes in the below departments, cadets at VMI also participate in academic courses offered through the ROTC programs on post. From leadership training and military history, to warfare and national security, faculty in each ROTC unit contributes to the overall education of every member of the VMI Corps of Cadets. Classes become more specialized as cadets move up in the ranks within their battalions and detachments.

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