FACTBOX: Shooting puts Virginia Tech in spotlight

(Reuters) - Virginia Tech university became the site of the worst shooting rampage in U.S. history this week when a gunman killed 32 people and himself.

What follows are several facts about the 135-year-old Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which specializes in engineering, business and science.

* The main campus consists of more than 100 buildings on 2,600 acres along the eastern slopes of the Appalachian mountains in rural Virginia, about 240 miles (390 km) southwest of Washington.

* It was ranked 34th among U.S. public universities and 77th among all universities this year by U.S. News and World Report. The magazine also ranked its engineering college 17th among U.S. engineering schools.

* Founded in 1872, the school has struggled for a national identity during much of its history in the shadow of its older and more highly rated neighbor, the University of Virginia, which was established by Thomas Jefferson.

* Virginia Tech has a full-time student population of 26,370, which is the largest in Virginia but medium-sized among U.S. colleges and universities. By contrast, Yale University has a student population of about 13,000, while Ohio State University's enrollment is 59,000.

* About 70 percent of the student body is white, 6.3 percent are Asian; 4.4 percent African American and 2.2 percent Hispanic. International students make up 7 percent of the student body.

* Virginia Tech has eight colleges and a graduate school; More than 26 percent of students are enrolled in engineering, 17 percent in liberal arts and human sciences, 14.6 percent in business and 13.7 percent in science.

* Annual undergraduate tuitions and fees are $6,973 for state residents and $19,049 for out-of-state students.