Virginia Beach, VA (population: 439,564) has one fashion school within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Virginia Commonwealth University has a total student population of 32,172. It is the 222nd highest ranked school in the USA and the 5th highest in the state of Virginia (#1 is Washington and Lee University).
Fashion students from Virginia Beach schools who go on to become fashion professionals, fashion merchandisers, marketers, fashion models, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 15,780 people working as fashion designers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $74,410. Also, Merchandise displayers and window trimmers make on average $28,480 per year and there are about 61,280 of them employed in the US today.
Virginia Beach lies in Virginia Beach county, which is one of the 61 counties in Virginia. Overall, the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News-NC area has 735,390 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.9% unemployment rate, $19.28/hr average worker wage, and a $40,100 average annual salary.
After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Virginia Commonwealth University ends up costing a student $15,907/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Virginia Beach |
| Chesapeake | VA | 223,315 | 5 | 26.9533 | 56 | 15.5 miles |
| Norfolk | VA | 234,477 | 11 | 21.2525 | 420 | 16.7 miles |
| Portsmouth | VA | 102,540 | 2 | 19.0088 | 64 | 19.6 miles |
| Hampton | VA | 147,560 | 2 | 15.4443 | 49 | 25.5 miles |
| Suffolk | VA | 84,501 | 2 | 10.9214 | 2 | 33.4 miles |
| Newport News | VA | 182,057 | 4 | 29.3064 | 58 | 35.1 miles |
| Petersburg | VA | - | 3 | 33.8633 | 70 | 82.5 miles |
| Weldon | NC | - | 1 | 13.6824 | 51 | 89.1 miles |
| Highland Springs | VA | - | 1 | 3.25189 | 0 | 90.3 miles |
| Richmond | VA | 198,179 | 22 | 25.9212 | 685 | 95.9 miles |