Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Overview

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a private not-for-profit institution located in Troy, New York. The city atmosphere of Troy makes it a great place for students who enjoy having lots of educational and entertainment options.

What Is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Known For?

• Students at RPI have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 1%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
• The highest award offered at RPI is the doctor's degree.
• For the 2019-2020 academic year, 88% of the faculty were full-time.
• Students who graduate from RPI with a bachelor's degree make about $93,416 a year. That's 129% more than those who graduate from other schools.
• On average, it takes about 4.2 years for students from RPI to earn a bachelor's degree. This is excellent when compared to the average of 4.4 years.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rankings

We have ranked RPI as #107 out of 2,018 colleges and universities in the country in our 2023 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation. Out of the 128 colleges in New York, it is ranked at #10.

These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.

RPI has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#60	Best Doctor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#93	Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#128	Best Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at RPI.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Computer Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Engineering Technologies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#5	Best Other Interdisciplinary Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#6	Best General Biology Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#7	Best Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#8	Best Biochemistry & Biophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#15	Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#16	Best Mathematics & Statistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#27	Best Visual & Performing Arts Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#85	Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards RPI has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#1	Best Computer Engineering Technology Schools	College Factual
#1	Best Architecture (Other) Graduate Degree Schools	College Factual
#1	Best General Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Degree Schools	College Factual
#2	Best Engineering Technologies Schools	College Factual
#11	Best Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Degree Schools	College Factual
#42	Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Schools	College Factual

Where Is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute?

Contact details for RPI are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	110 8Th St, Troy, NY 12180-3590
Phone:	518-276-6000
Website:	www.rpi.edu
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/RPI.EDU
Twitter:	https://twitter.com/rpinews

How Do I Get Into RPI?

You can apply to RPI online at: admissions.rpi.edu/undergraduate/admission/index.html

Admission Requirements for RPI

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	required
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	required
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into RPI?

The acceptance rate at RPI is 57%, which is a sign that the school is fairly selective. While it may not be as hard to get into as other colleges, you should not take admission for granted.

Approximately 67% of accepted students are men and 33% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 57%, and the acceptance rate for women is 57%.

Average Test Scores

About 67% of students accepted to RPI submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 620 and 720. Math scores were between 680 and 780.

RPI received ACT scores from 29% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 29 and 34.

Can I Afford Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute?

The overall average net price of RPI is $48,623. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At RPI, approximately 46% of students took out student loans averaging $10,027 a year. That adds up to $40,108 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at RPI is 1.3%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 6,283 undergraduate students at RPI, with 6,262 being full-time and 21 being part-time.

There are also 1,218 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 6,262 full-time undergraduates at RPI, 69% are male and 31% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,044
Black or African American	292
Hispanic or Latino	663
White	2,749
International Students	1,003
Other Races/Ethnicities	511

Geographic Diversity

New York students aren't the only ones who study at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. At this time, 48 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 69 countries are represented at RPI. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Canada.

Online Learning at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Computer Science	262	26	7	295
Mechanical Engineering	239	38	12	289
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	114	22	2	138
Electrical Engineering	96	25	10	131
Biomedical Engineering	105	20	5	130
Chemical Engineering	74	11	12	97
Computer Information Systems	32	61	0	93
Business Administration & Management	61	27	4	92
Computer Engineering Technology	76	12	2	90
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	3	85	0	88
Civil Engineering	62	22	4	88
Mathematics	69	1	7	77
Physics	54	6	4	64
General Architecture	56	4	0	60
Industrial Engineering	54	3	0	57
Applied Mathematics	0	51	0	51
General Biology	27	8	6	41
Materials Engineering	25	5	7	37
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	25	4	2	31
Design & Applied Arts	24	5	0	29
Chemistry	15	7	6	28
Nuclear Engineering	18	2	3	23
Environmental Engineering	12	5	0	17
Cognitive Science	5	7	2	14
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	13	0	0	13
General Visual & Performing Arts	4	0	6	10
Architectural Sciences & Technology	1	8	0	9
Communication & Media Studies	4	1	4	9
Health/Medical Prep Programs	9	0	0	9
Science, Technology & Society	2	3	4	9
General Psychology	9	0	0	9
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	7	0	0	7
Economics	2	5	0	7
Systems Engineering	0	4	2	6
Geological & Earth Sciences	4	2	0	6
Radio, Television & Digital Communication	5	0	0	5
Sustainability Science	5	0	0	5
Architecture (Other)	0	3	0	3
Natural Resources Conservation	3	0	0	3
Entrepreneurial Studies	0	2	0	2
Astronomy & Astrophysics	0	1	0	1
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other)	0	0	0	0
Other Business, Management & Marketing	0	0	0	0
Finance & Financial Management	0	0	0	0
Public Relations & Advertising	0	0	0	0
Engineering Mechanics	0	0	0	0
Engineering Physics	0	0	0	0
Engineering Science	0	0	0	0
General Engineering	0	0	0	0
Operations Research	0	0	0	0
Other Engineering	0	0	0	0
Non-Professional General Legal Studies	0	0	0	0
Data Analytics	0	0	0	0
Human Computer Interaction	0	0	0	0
Interdisciplinary Studies	0	0	0	0
Natural Sciences	0	0	0	0
Philosophy	0	0	0	0
Other Physical Science	0	0	0	0
General Social Sciences	0	0	0	0
Other Social Sciences	0	0	0	0
Music	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	1,576	486	111	2,173

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By UpstateNYer under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.