The best community colleges provide an effective springboard into higher education, offering students high-quality two-year degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The top-rated community colleges in Virginia offer a broad selection of associate’s degrees, affordable tuition rates, and strong partnerships with public four-year schools so that students can easily transfer their credits into accredited bachelor’s degree programs.
Liberty University, a private Christian school in Lynchburg, is the largest school in Virginia, serving over 60,000 students. The largest public university, Virginia Tech, has a student population of about half that but offers many in-person degree programs as well as eight master’s programs and 19 certificate programs online. Students who attend Virginia Tech can pursue fields like engineering, criminal justice, education, and business.
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The majority of Virginia’s universities and colleges could be considered small schools, serving populations of less than 5,000 students. Included on this list are public schools, like Christopher Newport University in Newport News, and private schools, like Hampton University, a historically black university in Hampton. Though most of its higher education institutes charge tuition fees above the national average, Virginia offers several loan forgiveness programs for qualifying attorneys and medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmaceutical professionals.
Virginia is perhaps most famous for its rich history - but the state is also home to many unique museums and famous landmarks. For example, those who love the classics can visit the Edgar Allen Poe Museum in Richmond. Those who harbor romantic dreams of espionage and intrigue might visit the CIA Museum in McLean. And, if you like your attractions random, you could check out Virginia’s 300-yard-long natural tunnel or its 29-ton spinning granite ball. While you’re here, you might consider attending one of the 78 colleges located in the state.
Learn more about Virginia’s higher education opportunities by checking out the state’s many colleges and universities.
We’ve identified 26 community colleges in Virginia. The following list shows the best community colleges and primarily associate degree granting colleges in Virginia.
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
33%
Student body
32K
Northern Virginia Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
44%
Student body
2K
Danville Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
26%
Student body
11K
Tidewater Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
28%
Student body
4K
Virginia Peninsula Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
72%
Graduation
40%
Student body
1K
Richard Bland College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
40%
Student body
5K
Germanna Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
32%
Student body
3K
Piedmont Virginia Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
33%
Student body
3K
Virginia Western Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
33%
Student body
32K
Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
41%
Student body
1K
Patrick & Henry Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
41%
Student body
1K
Virginia Highlands Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
42%
Student body
3K
New River Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
35%
Student body
2K
Southwest Virginia Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
36%
Student body
2K
Central Virginia Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
32%
Student body
2K
Rappahannock Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
42%
Student body
2K
Southside Virginia Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
24%
Student body
5K
J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
44%
Student body
2K
Mountain Empire Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
44%
Student body
1K
Wytheville Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
24%
Student body
<1K
Paul D. Camp Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
33%
Student body
2K
Blue Ridge Community College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
47%
Student body
<1K
Mountain Gateway Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Graduation
63%
Student body
<1K
Columbia College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
45%
Student body
4K
Laurel Ridge Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
30%
Student body
5K
Brightpoint Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
37%
Student body
<1K
Eastern Shore Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.