10-yr median earnings
$102,051
Federal aid recipients only
Private Nonprofit · Troy, New York
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a private nonprofit institution in Troy, New York. Graduates earn a median of $102,051 ten years after enrollment at an average net price of $36,228/yr.
- $102,051
- 10-yr median earnings
- $36,228
- Avg net price / yr
- 63.5%
- Acceptance rate
- 83.4%
- 4-yr completion
The verdict
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute pairs top-1% graduate earnings with a moderately open admit.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- Top 1%
- graduate earnings, US
- 63.5%
- acceptance rate
- 83.4%
- 4-yr completion
- +23%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
City: Small
Carnegie: R1
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a private nonprofit institution in Troy, New York enrolling 5,714 students, according to the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard's 2024-25 release. The acceptance rate is 63.5% with an average SAT of 1,456. Graduates earn a median of $102,051 ten years after enrollment, based on U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal financial aid data. The average net price after financial aid is $36,228. This profile includes admissions data, graduation rates, program-level earnings, and cost breakdowns to help students compare colleges using official federal data.
Data updated July 2026
What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Troy, New York (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 5,714 students of which 6,285 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile's peer group and cost cohort are determined; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is categorized as "Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity" under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.
Admissions and cost figures below come from the same annual IPEDS Fall enrollment survey and net-price calculation that every Title IV institution is legally required to submit to the federal government, so the same standardized methodology applies whether comparing a public flagship or a small private college. Net price nets grant and scholarship aid out of the published sticker price, the number financial-aid experts consider the honest comparison point - the table further down breaks that figure out by family income band rather than a single blended average, since what one family actually pays can look very different from what another family pays at the identical school.
The outcomes further down come from federal tax records the U.S. Treasury links to former students who received federal financial aid, not a self-reported alumni survey - an approach that removes response bias but also means graduates who never took federal aid are absent from the earnings figures. Completion and retention rates only count first-time, full-time degree-seeking students, so a school with a large transfer or part-time population can serve those students well without that showing up in these particular metrics. Reading the cost, completion, and earnings figures together, rather than any single one in isolation, is the approach the College Scorecard's own methodology recommends for judging return on investment.
College Value Score
C
College Value Score
58/100
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
A 6-metric composite of earnings, cost, and completion outcomes benchmarked against every reporting US college, not a ranking of teaching quality, campus life, or fit for any individual student. See the full methodology.
Earnings A+
$102,051
10-year median graduate earnings
Net Price F
$36,228
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Graduation Rate N/A
N/A
6-year completion rate
Debt F
$23,750
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment A+
95.4%
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention A
90.7%
First-year students returning for year two
Each axis is the percentile score shown in the breakdown at left; the shape shows this school's overall profile at a glance.
Avg net price
$36,228
After grants and scholarships
4-yr completion
83.4%
First-time, full-time bachelor's
4-year completion vs national average (40%) 83.4%
Higher is better
College ROI Quadrant - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute vs peers
Each dot is a college plotted by 10-year median earnings (x-axis) vs average net price (y-axis), colored by 4-year graduation rate. Top-left = best ROI; bottom-right = avoid.
How Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ranks nationally
Where this school's graduate earnings fall within the full national distribution of every US college that reports to the College Scorecard, not just its peer set.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: graduate earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$102,051 Top 1% higher than 99% of 5,103 US colleges
Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · 2024
Quick Facts
5,714
Total enrollment
63.5%
Acceptance rate
1,456
SAT average
83.4%
4-yr graduation rate
$102,051
10-yr median earnings
90.7%
First-year retention
Admissions
| Admission Rate | 63.5% |
| SAT Average | 1,456 |
| SAT Math (25th-75th) | 705 – 770 |
| SAT Reading (25th-75th) | 670 – 740 |
| ACT Average | 33 |
| ACT (25th-75th) | 30 – 34 |
Share of applicants admitted
Costs & Financial Aid
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $64,081 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $64,081 |
| Average Net Price | $36,228 |
Net Price by Family Income
| $0 – $30,000 | $24,078 |
| $30,001 – $48,000 | $26,289 |
| $48,001 – $75,000 | $28,212 |
| Over $110,000 | $42,541 |
19.9%
Pell Grant Rate
51.0%
Federal Loan Rate
$23,750
Median Debt
$252/mo
Monthly Payment
Student Demographics
Race & ethnicity
Student body at a glance
34.4%
Female
13.7%
First Generation
Outcomes
83.4%
4-Year Completion Rate
90.7%
Retention Rate
$83,054
Median Earnings (6yr)
$102,051
Median Earnings (10yr)
88.7%
Earning Over $25K
95.4%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Programs & Earnings
Top programs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute by graduate earnings
Median earnings of program completers, College Scorecard field-of-study file
- Computer Science
Computer Science
$200,027 median earnings
- Computer Science
Computer Science
$141,528 median earnings
- Computer Engineering Techn…
Computer Engineering Technologies/Technicians
$125,531 median earnings
- Computer and Information S…
Computer and Information Sciences, General
$115,100 median earnings
- Applied Mathematics
Applied Mathematics
$114,450 median earnings
- Management Sciences and Qu…
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
$112,190 median earnings
- Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
$107,173 median earnings
- Mathematics
Mathematics
$105,768 median earnings
What this shows The highest-earning programs at a school are not necessarily its most popular ones - a small specialized program can post strong median earnings without reflecting the outcome most students here actually see.
| Program | Credential | Completers | Median Earnings | Median Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Science | Master's | 26 | $200,027 | - |
| Computer Science | Bachelor's | 284 | $141,528 | $23,233 |
| Computer Engineering Technologies/Technicians | Bachelor's | 80 | $125,531 | $23,582 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General | Bachelor's | 46 | $115,100 | $27,000 |
| Applied Mathematics | Master's | 36 | $114,450 | - |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods | Master's | 46 | $112,190 | - |
| Mechanical Engineering | Master's | 39 | $107,173 | - |
| Mathematics | Bachelor's | 83 | $105,768 | $23,250 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | Bachelor's | 107 | $104,596 | $23,250 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | Master's | 24 | $104,117 | - |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering | Bachelor's | 70 | $103,306 | $26,000 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | Bachelor's | 56 | $99,713 | $25,000 |
| Chemical Engineering | Bachelor's | 63 | $98,679 | $24,985 |
| Industrial Engineering | Bachelor's | 56 | $98,509 | $22,500 |
| Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering | Bachelor's | 112 | $94,750 | $24,861 |
Guides & Resources
Is College Worth It?
Analyze the financial return of a degree
Debt vs. Earnings by Major
Which fields of study pay off fastest
Colleges With the Best ROI
Schools where graduates earn the most vs. cost
How to Compare Colleges
A data-driven framework for picking schools
Understanding Earnings Data
How College Scorecard measures outcomes
Community College vs. 4-Year
Compare costs, outcomes, and career paths
Related Colleges
Other private nonprofit institutions in New York
New York University
New York, NY
28,663 students Earn $82,509 9.2% admit
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
15,995 students Earn $104,043 8.8% admit
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
15,477 students Earn $79,164 45.9% admit
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY
13,215 students Earn $76,571 66.9% admit
Excelsior University
Albany, NY
11,550 students Earn $78,493
Fordham University
Bronx, NY
10,512 students Earn $85,569 59.3% admit
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the acceptance rate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute? ▼
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a private nonprofit institution in Troy, New York. The acceptance rate is 63.5%. The average SAT score is 1,456. Total enrollment is 5,714 students.
How much do Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduates earn? ▼
Graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute earn a median of $102,051 ten years after enrollment. Six years after enrollment, median earnings are $83,054.
How much does Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute cost? ▼
The average net price at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is $36,228. In-state tuition is $64,081 and out-of-state tuition is $64,081. Median student debt at graduation is $23,750.
What is the graduation rate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute? ▼
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has a 4-year completion rate of 83.4%. The first-year retention rate is 90.7%.
Is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is $23,750, while graduates earn a median of $102,051 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 23% of first-year post-graduation earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 95.4% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $252.
Sources & methodology
According to the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard's 2024-25 release, PlainCollege tracks 6,243 postsecondary institutions and 70,827 individual school-and-program earnings records nationwide.
Every figure on this page is read live from official U.S. federal datasets, as of the 2024-25 release. Read the full methodology for how the data is sourced, computed, and verified.
- College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education - graduate earnings, cost & completion (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- IPEDS, National Center for Education Statistics - enrollment, admissions, Carnegie class & demographics (nces.ed.gov/ipeds).
- U.S. Treasury / IRS earnings linkage - median earnings 6 & 10 years after enrollment for federal-aid recipients (irs.gov).
- College Scorecard, Field of Study - program-level (credential) earnings & debt (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- Federal Student Aid (Title IV / NSLDS) - U.S. Department of Education - net price, student debt & aid-recipient repayment outcomes (studentaid.gov).
What this means for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's graduates land in the 1st percentile nationally for 10-year earnings among reporting colleges.
- The average net price after aid is $36,228 - compare it against schools with similar outcomes but a lower cost.Find similar schools that cost less
- See how this school compares to every other college in New York.Browse New York
This profile is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or admissions advice. Figures are historical averages and may not predict an individual student's outcome - confirm current details directly with the institution before making enrollment decisions.
Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Institution profiles are compiled directly from College Scorecard, IPEDS, and Treasury earnings-linkage data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2024-25.