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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Basic Information

Type Private
Geographical Reach National
Location Troy, NY
Population 550,000
Website http://www.rpi.edu/
Map of the United States

Demographics

Total Undergraduates 5,909
Men / Women 69% / 31%
White 47%
Asian 16%
Hispanic 9%
International 7%
Black 6%
Mixed 5%
Native American 1%
From State 37%
From Region 34%

Academics

Undergraduate Degrees
Engineering 43%
Computer Science 28%
Physical Sciences & Math 8%
Business & Economics 7%
Arts 5%
Life & Natural Sciences 4%
Humanities & Social Sciences 3%
Health Sciences 1%

Financial

Tuition & Fees $64,081
Est. Cost of Attendance $82,404
10-Year ROI $297,000
ROI Percentile 97th

Retention & Graduation

Full-Time Retention 91%
4-Year Graduation Rate 72%
6-Year Graduation Rate 84%
Transfer-Out Rate 0%

Weather

Comfortable Days 95 (20%) very dry
Sunshine Hours 1,950 (1% 🌧️)
Days Without Precipitation 200 (5% ☔)

Admissions

Uses Common App Yes
Acceptance Rate 67%
Yield (Unbound) 11%
Early Decision 1 Nov 1
Regular Decision Jan 1
Early Decision 2 Jan 15

Research

Research Level R1
Expenditure
Engineering, Computing & Math $101M #63
Humanities & Social Sciences $7M #152
Life & Natural Sciences $25M #185
Graduate Degrees
Engineering, Computing & Math 80 #73
Life & Natural Sciences 19 #423
Humanities & Social Sciences 9 #481

Honors College

Standardized Tests

Test Scores

Test Policy optional
Submitted Test Scores 60%
SAT Range 1390 – 1480
SAT Math Range 705 – 770
SAT RW Range 670 – 740
ACT Range 30 – 34

Earnings by Major Category

Each major category's degree-weighted estimated median 5-year earnings at this college, expressed as a z-score against the national degree-weighted distribution for that category. 0 is the national average. The shaded band between +1.28 and −1.28 marks the central 80% of the national distribution (10th–90th percentile).

Schools & Majors

⇅ Trends Degrees Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employment
Lally School of Management 97 75% / 25% 20% $121,222 98%
Information Technology and Web Science 23 — 61% / 39% 9% $170,829 100 100%
Business Statistics 14 — 71% / 29% 36% $127,402 99 98%
Business and Management 60 — 82% / 18% 20% $100,765 94 97%
⇅ Trends Degrees Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employment
School of Architecture 53 42% / 58% 4% $74,898 95%
Architectural Sciences 1 — 0% / 100% 0% $76,227 72 —
Architecture 52 — 42% / 58% 4% $74,873 70 95%
⇅ Trends Degrees Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employment
School of Engineering 592 70% / 30% 10% $104,848 97%
Aeronautical Engineering 92 — 80% / 20% 3% $98,049 93 93%
Biomedical Engineering 75 — 37% / 63% 11% $111,812 97 98%
Chemical Engineering 48 — 52% / 48% 4% $107,062 96 99%
Civil Engineering 50 — 60% / 40% 2% $94,283 90 100%
Electrical Engineering 68 — 85% / 15% 21% $116,079 98 95%
Environmental Engineering 10 — 10% / 90% 20% $88,236 86 100%
Industrial and Management Engineering 19 — 58% / 42% 11% $117,724 98 98%
Materials Engineering 15 — 67% / 33% 27% $84,117 83 100%
Mechanical Engineering 146 — 80% / 20% 12% $94,402 90 96%
Nuclear Engineering 16 — 69% / 31% 6% $97,907 92 97%
Computer Systems Technology 53 — 89% / 11% 11% $135,609 99 97%
⇅ Trends Degrees Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employment
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences 97 61% / 39% 13% $77,944 92%
Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences 39 — 79% / 21% 15% $85,611 84 92%
Quantitative Economics 8 — 100% / 0% 38% $92,037 89 95%
Cognitive Science 10 — 50% / 50% 0% $73,748 68 —
Communication 7 — 29% / 71% 14% $74,677 70 —
Digital Communication 1 — 100% / 0% 0% $73,497 67 84%
Interdisciplinary Studies 4 — 50% / 50% 0% $94,499 91 94%
Philosophy 3 — 67% / 33% 0% $77,133 74 —
Psychology 11 — 36% / 64% 9% $67,738 55 —
Science, Technology and Society 2 — 0% / 100% 0% $78,773 76 —
Sustainability Studies 3 — 0% / 100% 0% $67,873 55 —
Music Theory and Composition 2 — 100% / 0% 0% $50,696 10 —
Visual and Performing Arts 7 — 29% / 71% 29% $47,820 7 —
⇅ Trends Degrees Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employment
School of Science 408 75% / 25% 16% $125,484 95%
Computer Science 237 — 85% / 15% 13% $148,254 100 95%
Applied Physics 5 — 40% / 60% 40% $111,815 97 95%
Chemistry 10 — 50% / 50% 0% $77,318 74 —
Geology 1 — 0% / 100% 0% $75,541 71 —
Mathematics 54 — 80% / 20% 50% $106,266 96 96%
Physics 32 — 72% / 28% 12% $111,815 97 95%
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 20 — 55% / 45% 0% $78,683 76 —
Biology 17 — 41% / 59% 6% $77,153 74 92%
Biopsychology 8 — 38% / 62% 0% $75,212 71 —
Computational Biology 6 — 50% / 50% 0% $80,018 78 —
Environmental Science 4 — 25% / 75% 0% $67,625 55 —
Pre-Medicine 14 — 43% / 57% 0% $78,535 76 —

Rankings

Academics

Crying in the Library at 3 AM Toughest Schools
Caffeine Required

Engineering

It's Not About Molecules, It's About Pipes Chemical Engineering
High-Vis Vests & Factory Floor Grunts
Resistance Is Futile Computer Engineering
Bricked Microcontroller Brigade
Resistance Is Not Futile Electrical Engineering
Soldering Iron Burn Victims
Is It a Solid? Is It a Liquid? Yes. Materials Engineering
Composite Crew
WD-40 & Duct Tape Mechanical Engineering & Robotics
Rust Belt Royalty & Co-op Cults

Computer Science

No, I Can't Fix Your Printer Computer Science (Eng)
Co-op Purgatory
Pixels, Psychology, and Post-its Human-Computer Interaction
Game Engine Gurus
Have You Tried Turning It Off and On Again? Information Technology
IT Enterprise Experts

Physical Sciences & Math

Breaking Bad Chemistry
Plastics, Polymers & Profitable Patents
The "I Understand Interstellar" Elite Physics & Astronomy
The Industrial Alchemists (Specialized Tech & Polytechnics)

Arts

Sleep Deprivation by Design Architecture
Blueprint Masters
Trapped in the Render Queue Digital Arts & Photography
Pixels & Programming