With the growing complexity of construction projects, the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector increasingly requires a skilled workforce. This need is magnified by the challenge of less than ideal retention rates in engineering fields, prompting a search for methods to enhance the learning experience. Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as an effective tool in this context, offering immersive and interactive learning environments that improve the grasp and retention of complex concepts in engineering. This research assesses the benefits of implementing a VR solution for building inspections in an undergraduate civil engineering program. It compares the use of a VR system against traditional desktop-based inspection techniques and considers cognitive load, user experience, and usability aspects of this implementation. Additionally, it examines how students’ spatial abilities affect their performance with both methods. Results demonstrate that VR does not increase cognitive load and is often perceived as requiring less effort by student users. While both the desktop and VR options produced similar usability scores, the VR implementation provided a much more engaging user experience. These results were replicated and echoed in a second study with actual engineering instructors, who likewise held a strong positive attitude towards the VR system, consistent with student attitudes. Taken together, these results highlight the potential for VR to revolutionize educational opportunities, suggesting that its further adoption and exploration should be prioritized as a useful and viable academic tool. Specifically, these results suggest that VR can enhance the learning process in civil engineering and make collaborative virtual building inspections more efficient and engaging.