Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 70.33
Liaison Enid Cardinal
Submission Date March 3, 2022

STARS v2.2

Rochester Institute of Technology
PA-8: Affordability and Access

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.63 / 4.00 Enid Cardinal
Senior Sustainability Advisor to the President
Office of the President
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Provide at least one of the following figures:

Percentage of need met, on average, for students who were awarded any need-based aid :
76.64

Percentage of students graduating without student loan debt:
25.30

Percentage of entering students that are low-income:
30

Graduation/success rate for low-income students:
66

Optional Fields

A brief description of notable policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:
Currently, more than 13,000 RIT undergraduate and graduate students receive over $291 million dollars in financial assistance from federal, state, and institutional resources, in the form of scholarships, grants, loans, and part-time employment.
The New York State Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) provides up to 10 semesters of financial support per student.
The Rochester City Scholars (RCS) Program provides an unlimited number of academically qualified and financially eligible incoming freshmen with a tuition-gap scholarship for their time at RIT. RCS has a limited number of supplemental scholarships and funds that cover everything from books to housing and even study abroad.
The Division of Diversity & Inclusion Tutoring Program offers free tutoring for "traditionally challenging" courses, with a peer-to-peer tutoring model, a best practice approach for helping improve retention and graduation roles for underrepresented students. Additionally, the following programs provide high-need students with assistance in acquiring textbooks: RCS Textbook Scholarship Program, MCAS Textbook Lending Program.

A brief description of notable policies or programs to support non-traditional students:
Learning through RIT Online: Leveraging decades of experience, RIT Online captures the world-class quality of RIT and customizes it for online learning. RIT’s reputable faculty instruct over 30 degree and certificate programs, with hundreds of individual course offerings available each term. Students enrolled in online degree programs benefit from reduced tuition. Graduate students receive a 43% discount and Undergraduate students receive a 36% discount off the standard campus-based rate.
RIT’s online and part-time undergraduate programs are designed for adult learners seeking a bachelor's degree. The BS Applied Arts and Sciences provides a flexible, individualized pathway that allows students to design a unique, multidisciplinary degree that combines several areas of academic interest to create a customized bachelor's degree.
RIT has a tradition of honoring and supporting active duty military and veterans. For more than 50 years, RIT has had a Veterans Services Office dedicated to supporting and advocating for active duty military, veterans, and their dependents—helping them from the moment they consider applying to RIT all the way until graduation. RIT has been designated a Military Friendly School for 2020-2021.

Additionally, RIT provides a tuition waiver benefit for eligible employees and eligible family members.

Estimated percentage of students that participate in or directly benefit from the institution’s policies and programs to support low-income and non-traditional students:
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Website URL where information about the institution’s accessibility and affordability initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
additional information can be found:
https://www.rit.edu/future-students#cost

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.