Virginia State University, America's first fully state supported four-year institution of higher learning for Blacks, is a comprehensive university and one of two land-grant institutions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its mission is to promote and sustain academic programs that integrate instruction, research, and extension/public service in a design most responsive to the needs and endeavors of individuals and groups within its scope of influence. Ultimately, the University is dedicated to the promotion of knowledgeable, perceptive, and humane citizens--secure in their self-awareness, equipped for personal fulfillment, sensitive to the needs and aspirations of others, and committed to assuming productive roles in a challenging and ever-changing global society.

The campus sits atop a rolling landscape overlooking the Appomattox River in the Chesterfield County village of Ettrick. It is accessible by Interstates 95 and 85, which intersect in adjacent Petersburg, as well as U.S. Routes 1, 301 and 460. The University is centrally located about two hours away from Washington, DC to the north, the North Carolina Triangle area to the south, the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

VSU students live and learn on a 236-acre main campus, with more than 50 buildings, including 15 dormitories and 16 classroom buildings, and a 416-acre agricultural research facility.