Colleges in Virginia Beach
An independent resort city in Virginia, Virginia Beach has miles and miles of beach front on Chesapeake Bay. A large portion of the Resort City’s economy comes from tourism, but Virginia Beach is also headquarters to a number of national and international corporations, advanced manufacturing, and locally owned businesses. There are only a few universities and colleges in the actual independent city of Virginia Beach, but there are several more in the area surrounding Neptune City.
Regent University, founded in 1977, serves more than 8,500 students. The private, Christian research university offers 132 areas of study for all levels of degrees, associate to doctoral. Atlantic University is the other higher education institution and is a special-focus graduate school. Associated with the Association for Research and Alignment (ARE), Atlantic University offers master’s degrees in Transpersonal Psychology and Mindful Leadership. For 2-year degrees, Tidewater Community College system serves more than 34,000 students with its largest campus in Virginia Beach. ECPI University is the one for-profit in the area and offers accelerated undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Both the University of Virginia and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University both host satellite centers in Virginia Beach. UVA is a public research institution with a main campus in Charlottesville that maintains the UVA School of Professional and Continuing Studies in Virginia Beach. Virginia Tech is also a public research institution and maintains the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, which offers graduate programs and professional development options.
On the border of Virginia Beach, partially in Norfolk, is Virginia Wesleyan University, a liberal arts institution.Twenty minutes outside of Virginia Beach, in Norfolk, are both Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University. ODU is a public research institution and NSU is a public historically black university serving more than 5,000 students.
Virginia Beach is reliant on vehicles, but does offer bus service and a light rail. It has the longest bridge-tunnel complex in the world, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT), which connects Virginia Beach to Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The city is served by the Norfolk International Airport.
