Admissions & selectivity
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at RPI?
RPI’s reported acceptance rate is 63.5%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 63.5%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
For applicants, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported an admission rate of 63.5%, below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In practical terms, the rate is the share of the reported applicant pool that was admitted.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 14,356 first-year applicants, 9,655 admitted applicants, and 1,394 enrolled first-year students.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled RPI students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 28% of the entering class submitted a high-school class rank. Among those who did, 63% were in the upper ten percent of their class and 90% in the upper twenty-five percent.
For enrolled first-year students who submitted SAT scores, the composite range was 1380 to 1500; 53% submitted SAT scores. The ACT composite range for enrolled submitters was 31 to 34, though only 13% submitted ACT scores.
Applicants can weigh SAT scores against the 1380 to 1500 range and ACT scores against the 31 to 34 range, remembering that these describe enrolled students who submitted scores. The reported average high-school GPA was 3.93 among the 96.0% of enrolled first-year students who reported one. That average reflects those reporters, not a threshold for admission.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at RPI. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
53% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1380
- Median
- 1450
- 75th percentile
- 1500
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
13% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 31
- Median
- 33
- 75th percentile
- 34
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at RPI?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 19.9%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 5.3%
- First-year retention
- 90.7%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute enrolls 5,714 undergraduates, with Pell Grant recipients comprising 19.9% of that population and an estimated 5.3% entering as transfers or part-time students. The composition points to a primarily first-year undergraduate population, alongside financial-access and transfer routes.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 14,356 first-year applicants, 9,655 admitted, and 1,394 enrolled. It also reported 347 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 222 admitted, and 83 enrolled.
Retention and completion both exceed the medians for comparable institutions, although Pell recipients complete below the overall rate. The first-year retention rate is 90.7%, above the peer median of 83.4% for comparable institutions.
The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 83.6%, above the peer median of 68.8%. Pell recipients have a six-year completion rate of 81.3%, below the overall rate by 2.3 percentage points.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 91% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class. For the first-time, full-time fall 2019 entering class, it reported a six-year graduation rate of 80.0%, with Pell recipients at 77.0%, below the overall rate.
Enrolled students can expect high reported persistence through the first year and completion rates above comparable-institution medians.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.