RIT was born of an unlikely institutional marriage of an influential cultural association, the Rochester Athenaeum, founded in 1829, and a technical training school, the Mechanics Institute, founded in 1885. The institute adopted the name Rochester Institute of Technology in 1944 and awarded its first bachelor of science degree in 1955.
Programs ranking in the top 10 nationally in the following areas: computing security, film and animation, fine arts (glass, metals and jewelry design), industrial design, online MBA, photography, and video game design.
Award-winning programs in a host of uncommon disciplines: sustainability, medical illustration, microelectronic engineering, packaging science, museum studies, American sign language/English interpretation, and diagnostic medical sonography.
Unique doctoral programs: RIT’s eight Ph.D. programs include astrophysics, color science, computing and information sciences, engineering, imaging science, mathematical modeling, microsystems engineering, and sustainability.
RIT sponsored research grew by 18 percent in fiscal year 2018, reaching a record $78 million in funding. RIT received 340 new awards from a variety of state, federal, corporate, and foundation sponsors.
RIT’s strategic research initiatives are in the following areas: Cybersecurity, Personalized Healthcare Technology, the Future Photon Initiative, Remote Sensing with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and Computational Relativity and Gravitation.
Each year RIT gathers information about the career plans of its graduates in accordance with national standards established for the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). These outcome summaries are provided for both the university overall and each RIT college at both the undergraduate and advanced degree candidate levels and reflect the career activities of graduates within 6 months of their degree certification.
At RIT there are two departments that work with your student in support of their residential experience:
Housing Operations: Responsible for the administration of housing assignments, student access, and the maintenance of the apartments, suites, and Greek circle.
Center for Residence Life: Provides staffing and expertise to support the development of a strong, positive community in residence halls and apartments on campus.
RIT Libraries advance knowledge, spark creativity, and connect communities.
The RIT Student Health Center provides high quality primary health care and education to students in a caring and supportive environment. Health Center staff approach health care from a holistic perspective. Recognizing that good health is an important component of a successful college experience, the Center strives to support students in illness prevention and developing healthy lifestyles.
RIT’s main campus is located in Henrietta, NY, and occupies 1,300 acres in suburban Rochester, the third-largest city in New York state. Rochester is large enough to provide the dining and night life opportunities you might expect in a bigger city, yet small and friendly enough to be inviting and accessible. Of the nearly 19,000 enrolled students, nearly 3,500 students are from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds along with more than 2,700 international students.
With over 300 student clubs and organizations at RIT supporting over 13,000 on-campus and off-campus events, you are sure to stay busy at RIT. Whether you are into art, gaming, music, politics, science, sports, or theatre you’ll almost certainly find others at RIT who share your same passion.
Rochester Institute of Technology is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). This accreditation body requires institutions to meet standards related to best practices in higher education. These standards are known as the Characteristics of Excellence.
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