Here's how to get Mathematica 10.2 to recognize MS Visual Studio 2015's C compiler (Windows 8.1).
In the Mathematica installation folders, go to SystemFiles / Components / CCompilerDriver
Make a backup copy of VisualStudioCompiler.m (for any disaster recovery)
Open VisualStudioCompiler.m
Scroll to $VisualStudioVersions and add "2015" to the list
Scroll to installPath["2013"] and after it, include this new line
installPath["2015"] := installPathFromEnvironment["VS140COMNTOOLS"]
These hiccups bit me:
Although I could edit VisualStudioCompiler.m, it wouldn't save to the above folder
Instead, save it elsewhere and then copy it into the above folder
It's not enough to simply install VS2015 -- once installed, within it you must yet install the C++ compiler
Once the C++ compiler is installed, open Mathematica and run:
Needs@"CCompilerDriver`"
CCompilers@Full
You should see Visual Studio in the output list -- you're good to go
A big "Thank You" to those who led me to this solution.
Bruce
20150818