Yes, there's a reason why you don't hear about it: It's terrible! Unfortunately I was a student in the Virginia Tech VT MPIA program. I should have known something was fishy when they accepted me before my application was even complete!
My advice is to stay far, far away from this program. It is very low quality, and most of the classes are online or telecast. I was there for a semester and then immediately transferred to a real IA program in DC. I almost didn't transfer the credits because I didn't want this awful school on my transcript at all! Beware: the student IQ level is also really low here. I felt like I was slamming my head on my desk each class. One student even printed out a professor's lecture (from another university, with his name on it) and turned it in to the class as her presentation. She didn't even try to hide her cheating/lack of initiative---see what type of student VT MPIA caters to?
Seriously, go anywhere else, and you'll be glad you did.
