Virginia Military Institute is a public institution that was founded in 1839. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,664, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 200 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Virginia Military Institute's ranking in the 2014 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 65.

Located in Lexington, Va., the Virginia Military Institute is the oldest state-supported military college in the United States. Students admitted to the college are known as military cadets and are required to participate in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).