Rochester Institute
of Technology
Private Research University in Rochester, NY. Six-year graduation rate 72%. Median 10-year earnings $76,571.
A decade after enrolling, the median Rochester Institute of Technology student earns $76,571 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. The six-year graduation rate of 72% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $26,778, neither a bargain nor a burden. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.3% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.35 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 67% puts Rochester Institute of Technology on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool is large — 27,911 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. A 16% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 40% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 650–720 | 1,212 (40%) |
| SAT Math | 650–740 | |
| ACT Composite | 29–33 | 283 (9%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Rochester Institute of Technology →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 72% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 89% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 13:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 13,225 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $39,534 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $24,680 while those at $110k+ pay $44,970. Grant aid is widespread — 96% of students receive it, averaging $29,525. Borrowing is widespread: 56% take federal loans.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 3,053 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $24,680 |
| $30–48k | $24,820 |
| $48–75k | $28,874 |
| $75–110k | $34,510 |
| $110k+ | $44,970 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 7,447 of these 13,225 students, totalling $46,379,187 — an average of $6,228 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Monroe County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)