Last fall, the Virginia General Assembly's audit arm, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC), released a report critical of nonacademic student fees. In particular, it highlighted high fees for intercollegiate athletics. However, Virginia Tech fared well in the report, with the lowest athletic fee in the state by a wide margin.

Virginia Tech students paid $267 in the 2011-12 academic year (the fee is now $273) versus an average of $1,185 for all public colleges, the study noted. The highest was $2,044.

Revisit the stellar research and discovery, teaching and learning, and outreach and engagement activities that defined Virginia Tech in 2013.

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NEW HEIGHTS »
David G. Schmale III, an associate professor of plant pathology, physiology, and weed science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was named to Popular Science magazine's 2013 Brilliant Ten list for his research using drones—also called unmanned aerial vehicles.

OUTREACH IN BOTSWANA »
Kathleen Alexander, an associate professor of wildlife in the College of Natural Resources and Environment and an affiliated researcher in the Fralin Life Science Institute, studies human and animal interactions with a focus on the transmission of diseases between people and wildlife.

PASSION FOR THE PAST »
Daniel Thorp, an associate professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, has received a near-perfect average teaching evaluation, as well as the university's 2013 William E. Wine Award.