Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY · Private nonprofit · 5,714 undergrads (medium, city) · website ↗

Test-optional
$70 application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$24,078
$30,000 – $48,000	$26,289
$48,000 – $75,000	$28,212
$75,000 – $110,000	$36,230
Over $110,000	$42,541
All incomes (average)	$36,228

Sticker tuition and fees: $64,081 in-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$18,560
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$18,560
Books and supplies	$1,380
Other expenses, on campus	$1,780
Other expenses, off campus	$1,780

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (2,002 of them) in 2022–23; 96% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	96%	$43,994
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	19%	$5,420
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	96%	$41,926
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	57%	$5,174

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 64%
Average SAT: 1456
Median ACT: 33
Students with Pell grants: 20%
Graduation rate (6yr): 84%
Freshman retention: 91%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $102,051
Median debt at graduation: $23,750
International undergrads: 534 (9%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Test-optional
Application fee: $70
Students per faculty member: 14 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 89%
Open admission: No

Middle 50% of test scores, fall 2024

25th to 75th percentile of enrolled first-year students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the first figure and a quarter above the second. Section ranges can't be added together into a total-score range.

SAT Reading and Writing: 670–740
SAT Math: 705–770
ACT composite: 30–34

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Required
High school class rank	Required
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Required
Recommendations	Required
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Required
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Required
Legacy status	Not considered

First-time applicants: 16,283
Admitted: 9,517
Enrolled: 1,552

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Engineering42%

Computer Science23%

Biology & Life Sciences5%

Architecture5%

Mathematics & Statistics5%

Physics & Chemistry4%

Business4%

Visual & Performing Arts3%

Health & Nursing1%

Communications & Media1%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (23)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Computer Science	237	$110,300	$141,528national $107,009	$22,375
Mechanical Engineering	146	$79,755	$92,952national $92,135	$23,250
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering	92	$82,409	$94,750national $98,207	$25,250
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	75	$75,585	$103,306national $93,451	$24,125
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	68	$84,742	$104,596national $100,647	$21,094
Business Administration, Management and Operations	60	$69,404	$99,713national $68,257	$20,750
Mathematics	54	$81,465	$105,768national $69,562	$19,500
Computer Engineering Technologies/Technicians	53	$90,346	$125,531national $83,742	$22,125
Architecture	52	$58,771	$75,551national $66,914	$31,000
Civil Engineering	50	$74,148	$86,794national $86,517	$26,000
Chemical Engineering	48	$81,536	$98,679national $98,158	$25,000
Design and Applied Arts	39	$34,202	$87,358national $51,490	$25,500
Physics	37	$58,485	$81,840national $76,786	$23,250
Computer and Information Sciences, General	23	$101,485	$115,100national $92,374	$20,500
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	20	$55,598	—national $65,466	$26,000
Industrial Engineering	19	$83,823	$98,509national $98,442	$19,718
Biology, General	17	$48,714	—national $57,214	$21,500
Nuclear Engineering	16	—	$87,239national $99,297	—
Materials Engineering	15	$79,144	$82,947national $91,449	—
Psychology, General	11	—	—national $50,706	$21,750
Economics	8	—	—national $82,686	$19,500
Visual and Performing Arts, General	7	$26,970	—national $41,688	$26,000
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other	4	$76,523	$83,958national $55,693	—

Master's degrees (9)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	73	$91,698	$112,190national $124,807	$20,500
Applied Mathematics	33	$94,834	$114,450national $116,060	—
Mechanical Engineering	32	$96,597	$107,173national $115,974	—
Systems Engineering	23	$97,256	—national $144,565	—
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering	22	$103,214	—national $122,434	$20,500
Civil Engineering	19	$81,191	—national $98,323	—
Computer Science	17	$152,362	$200,027national $145,571	—
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	17	$87,651	—national $106,375	—
Business Administration, Management and Operations	0	$82,438	$104,117national $103,485	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 102 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 110 8th St, Troy, NY 12180-3590
Phone: (518) 276-6000
Institutional accreditor: Middle States Commission on Higher Education

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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