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Worcester Polytechnic Institute

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Worcester Polytechnic Institute Overview

Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Worcester, Massachusetts. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life.

What Is Worcester Polytechnic Institute Known For?

1,159 Undergraduate Awards
$51,379 Avg Cost After Aid
59% Acceptance Rate
  • The 1% student loan default rate at WPI is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
  • The highest award offered at WPI is the doctor's degree.
  • In 2017-2018, 80% of the faculty were full-time.
  • After graduation, WPI bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $84,900 a year. That's about 108% more than their peers at other schools.
  • The average WPI student graduates in 4.1 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.

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Worcester Polytechnic Institute Rankings

WPI landed the #53 spot in our 2022 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,587 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This lands it a coveted spot in the top 5% of all colleges and universities in the country. Out of the 72 colleges in Massachusetts, it is ranked at #9.

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.

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

Rank Ranking Name Share
#11 Best Graduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#29 Best Doctor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#42 Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#52 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 WPI.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#1 Best Manufacturing Engineering Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Biotechnology Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Robotics Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Other Business & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Biochemistry & Biophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#2 Best Management Information Systems Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#3 Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#4 Best General Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#17 Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#36 Best Computer & Information Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

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

Rank Ranking Name Source
#5 Best Management Information Systems Schools College Factual
#12 Best General Biology Schools College Factual
#17 Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Schools College Factual
#43 Best Computer & Information Sciences Schools College Factual
#53 Best Business Schools Business Degree Central
#63 Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools College Factual

Where Is Worcester Polytechnic Institute?

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Contact details for WPI are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609-2280
Phone: 508-831-5000
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wpi.edu
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wpi

How Do I Get Into WPI?

You can apply to WPI online at: https://www.wpi.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/how-to

Admission Requirements for WPI

Submission Required?
High School GPA considered but not required
High School Rank considered but not required
High School Transcript required
College Prep Program required
Recommendations required
SAT or ACT Scores neither required nor recommended
TOEFL required

How Hard Is It To Get Into WPI?

59% Acceptance Rate
32% Of Accepted Are Women
The acceptance rate at WPI is 59%, 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 68% of accepted students are men and 32% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 56%, and the acceptance rate for women is 67%.

Can I Afford Worcester Polytechnic Institute?

$51,379 Net Price
59% Take Out Loans
0.7% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of WPI is $51,379. 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

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At WPI, approximately 59% of students took out student loans averaging $14,589 a year. That adds up to $58,356 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at WPI is 0.7%. 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.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate Student Diversity

4,709 Full-Time Undergraduates
40% Women
23% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 4,892 undergraduate students at WPI, with 4,709 being full-time and 183 being part-time.

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There are also 2,028 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 4,709 full-time undergraduates at WPI, 60% are male and 40% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 365
Black or African American 131
Hispanic or Latino 429
White 2,980
International Students 347
Other Races/Ethnicities 457

Geographic Diversity

Massachusetts students aren't the only ones who study at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. At this time, 37 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 80 countries are represented at WPI. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Vietnam.

Online Learning at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

661 Took All Classes Online
834 Took At Least One Class Online
9.2% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
In 2019-2020, 834 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at WPI has changed over the last few years.

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This school is the 15th most popular in Massachusetts for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of WPI

The following table shows how WPI is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major Tuition for In-State Students Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Robotics Engineering #1 #1
Mathematics & Computer Science #1 #1
Systems Theory #4 #4
Biotechnology #4 #4
Biomedical Engineering #13 #13
Environmental Engineering #28 #28
General Biology #31 #31
Systems Engineering #37 #37
Other Engineering #39 #39
Mathematics #49 #49
Civil Engineering #67 #67
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies #73 #73

Online Growth Rankings of WPI

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute was 9.2%. This is the #1,421 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at WPI regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of WPI majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major 1-Year Growth Rate
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 26%
Computer & Information Sciences 3%
Computer Science 11%
Mathematics & Computer Science 16%
Mechanical Engineering 1%
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies 2%
Robotics Engineering 2%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at WPI ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at WPI.

Major Growth Rate Rank
Mathematics & Computer Science #1
Robotics Engineering #1
Biotechnology #13
Environmental Engineering #13
Other Engineering #19
Systems Engineering #29
Mechanical Engineering #34
Civil Engineering #43
Electrical Engineering #55
Computer Science #71
Biological & Biomedical Sciences #97
Engineering #171
Computer Information Systems #296
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies #394

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate Concentrations

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

Major Bachelor’s Graduate Certificate Master’s Doctor’s TOTAL
Mechanical Engineering 262 1 79 4 346
Computer Science 201 3 47 5 256
Electrical Engineering 100 8 69 5 182
Robotics Engineering 95 2 63 5 165
Biomedical Engineering 100 0 16 6 122
Chemical Engineering 76 0 9 6 91
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 37 0 27 2 66
Mathematics & Computer Science 0 2 61 0 63
Civil Engineering 49 3 7 2 61
Systems Engineering 0 3 51 0 54
Business Administration & Management 0 0 45 1 46
General Biology 39 0 2 3 44
Computer Information Systems 0 0 30 0 30
Industrial Engineering 30 0 0 0 30
Mathematics 18 0 10 2 30
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 20 0 7 1 28
Other Business, Management & Marketing 26 1 0 0 27
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 0 3 24 0 27
Computer Software & Applications 17 0 8 0 25
Manufacturing Engineering 1 12 8 2 23
Materials Engineering 0 0 20 3 23
Other Engineering 0 2 20 0 22
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 3 8 10 1 22
Physics 12 0 5 4 21
General Business/Commerce 3 5 12 0 20
Environmental Engineering 9 0 6 0 15
Management Information Systems 10 3 0 0 13
Other Statistics 10 0 0 0 10
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 5 0 3 1 9
Architectural Engineering 9 0 0 0 9
Applied Mathematics 0 0 8 0 8
Human Computer Interaction 0 0 7 0 7
Design & Applied Arts 7 0 0 0 7
Marketing 0 0 6 0 6
Public Relations & Advertising 6 0 0 0 6
Statistics 0 0 6 0 6
General Psychology 6 0 0 0 6
Biotechnology 0 0 4 0 4
Systems Theory 1 2 1 0 4
Chemistry 2 0 2 0 4
Instructional Media Design 0 0 1 1 2
Sustainability Science 2 0 0 0 2
Economics 2 0 0 0 2
Liberal Arts General Studies 1 0 0 0 1
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 0 0 0 0 0
Engineering Physics 0 0 0 0 0
Nuclear Engineering 0 0 0 0 0
Science, Technology & Society 0 0 0 0 0
International Relations & National Security 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 1,159 58 674 54 1,945

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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