Rochester Institute of Technology

About Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

Located in New York state's third largest city, Rochester Institute of Technology's history is deeply rooted with the Rochester community. In 1829, Nathaniel Rochester and other influential people of the city created a place to help cultivate art, science and literature called the Athenaeum. It later joined the Mechanics Institute, eventually growing larger with donations from many local contributors, such as George Eastman and Frank Gannett. In 1944, the college finally took the name Rochester Institute of Technology.

Today RIT expanses over 238 buildings and has libraries that provide a great electronic and bricks and mortar selection. In 2008, RIT had over 16,494 undergraduate and graduate students. The ratio of men to women was almost 2:1. RIT follows the quarter system, rather than the semester system, where there are four 10-week quarters throughout the school year with final exams given at the end of each quarter. RIT offers a variety of programs through eight colleges, including engineering, sciences, math, business, hospitality, communications and film. RIT also houses the largest technological school for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

Admissions and Enrollment Information

Personal interviews are not required by RIT, however they do urge students and their families to make scheduled visits or attend information sessions. During these visits students meet faculty and tour the campus and housing. To apply, students can go on-line or apply through the mail. Students must submit a small fee with their application. When accepted, in-coming students must pay a one-time Acceptance of Admission Deposit to secure their enrollment. This fee is later credited towards their tuition.

Colleges of Rochester Institute of Technology

College of Applied Science &Technology

The College of Applied Sciences & Technology (CAST) is the largest of the eight colleges, granting roughly 28% of RIT's students their degrees. CAST originally was part of RIT and became a separate college in 1981. Today 2,475 undergraduate students are enrolled in one of the many bachelor's programs, such as computer engineering, packaging science, safety technology or nutrition management. There are 380 graduate students looking to receive a master's in facility management, hospitality-tourism management, health systems, telecommunications or engineering technology.

College of Science

In 1963, the College of Science was established. With unique master's and doctorate degrees in color science and astrophysical sciences and technology, the College of Science sees roughly 195 graduate students. More than 1,175 undergraduate students choose this college and pursue programs in biotechnology, physics, imaging science and mathematics. One laboratory that students of this college make use of is the NanoPower Research lab where students research new or improved power generation and storage techniques.

College of Liberal Arts

The College of Liberal Arts, originally named the College of General Studies, was renamed in 1982. This college sees the least amount of students, with only 570 undergraduate students and 115 graduate students. This is because RIT offers 30 liberal arts minors with the intention of students developing a secondary area of expertise or enhancing other degrees. Despite the small number of students majoring at this college, there is a variety of degree program possibilities, including advertising and public relations, communication and media technologies, psychology, public policy and international studies.

College of Imaging Arts & Sciences

Film, video and animation, 3D digital graphics, woodworking, interior design and new media publishing are among the options offered to the 2,110 undergraduate students at the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. The 325 graduate students have the opportunity to take specified programs, such as glass, metal, ceramics, imaging arts-photography and medical illustration. The college offers so many options that it has been broken up into six schools: Photographic Arts and Sciences, Print Media, Film and Animation, American Crafts and Art and Design. In fact, this college offers more hands-on and production experience than any other college in the nation.

Kate Gleason College of Engineering

Kate Gleason College of Engineering is one of only three of the colleges that offer a doctorate; in this case, the option is microsystems engineering. Originally dedicated as its own college in 1971, this college uses the co-op system, which gives students the opportunity to work while receiving school credit and learning workplace scenarios. RIT's co-op is the fifth largest in the world with over 2,000 placements for engineering. Presently, 2,000 undergraduate students have the opportunity to take programs in computer, electrical, micro-electrical, industrial or chemical engineering. Moreover, 440 graduate students can choose from options that include applied statistics, product development, sustainable engineering, and materials science and engineering.

B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing & Information Sciences

Computer science, information security, computer security, game design and development and information assurance are just a few of the programs offered to the 2,300 undergraduate and 450 graduate students at this college. In 1972, RIT created one of the first computer science undergraduate programs. Students in this school have an opportunity to participate in many clubs, such as the RIT Gamer's Club, Society of Software Engineers, Women in Computing at RIT and Computer Science House.

E. Philip Saunders College of Business

This college is home to 850 undergraduate students and 350 graduate students. With bachelor's programs in accounting, marketing, new media marketing and management and master's programs in finance, innovation management and accounting, it is understandable why co-ops are required to gain expertise that can only be acquired through workplace experience. Students of business have unique opportunities to put their knowledge to good use. For example, in the Financial Management Association, students manage over $100,000 real dollars in portfolios, while accounting students prepare taxes for local families in the Next Generation

National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID)

The NTID houses over 1,200 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the world's first and largest technological school of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. This is the only college of RIT that offers associate degrees and these degrees are often 2+2 programs where deaf and hard-of-hearing students can continue towards their bachelor's at RIT. RIT was officially selected at the sponsoring institution for NTID in 1966 over three other universities. Many perks are offered to aid the deaf and hard-of-hearing students, such as interpreting, tutoring, real-time captioning services and note taking.

School Contact Information

• Address: One Lomb Memorial Dr, Rochester, NY 14623
• Phone number: (585) 475-2411