One Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, NY 14623

Founded in 1885 as the Mechanics Institute, the Rochester Institute of Technology now provides a technology based education to nearly 16,000 students per year in more than 90 undergraduate degrees and more than 70 graduate degrees. The school also offers four doctorate programs.

The Rochester Institute of Technology can trace its roots back to 1829, when Colonel Nathan Rochester and other influential citizens established the Athenaeum, which promoted literature, science and the arts. The Athenaeum and the Mechanics Institute merged in 1891.

The Rochester Institute of Technology has eight schools: applied science and technology, business, computing and information sciences, engineering, Imaging Arts and Sciences, liberal arts and the National technical institute for the Deaf, and Science. Over 1,100 deaf and hard of hearing students attend the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Many students who can hear also learn to sign from their peers and from taking credit courses.

The RIT Wallace Library is available over 120 hours per week for student use. Four floors of research materials offer students access to many volumes of books, periodicals, archives, special collections and Internet access.

Nearly 70 percent of students live on campus, including over 3,300 in residence halls; and over 3,000 students in on-campus apartments. Over 100 students live in Greek housing.

One of the newest facilities is the 160,000-square-foot Gordon Field House and Activities Center, which opened in 2004. The field house and activities center boasts 60,000 square foot multi-use arena and athletic field, as well as a two-story fitness center.

Quick Facts:

The RIT Wallace Library is home to the Cary Collection, a special collection on the history of printing.

The Rochester Institute of Technology has approximately 100 full and part-time interpreters on campus, the largest staff of interpreters at any college in the United States.

More than 150 clubs, social activities and professional organizations exist on the RIT campus.

More than 50 percent of Rochester students participate in intramural sports that include flag football, golf and inner-tube water polo. Fitness facilities include racquetball courts, a dance studio, weight training, an ice arena, swimming pools and an indoor track.

Rochester Institute of Technology sports teams are members of the NCAA Division III. The school offers many sports including basketball, cross country, soccer and ice hockey.

In 2004, the Rochester Institute of Technology cross country team set out on a coast to coast run in commemoration of the school's 175th anniversary. They break the record set by the team in 1979, who ran in honor of the school's 150th anniversary.

This school profile has been compiled and updated by The CollegeBound Network. The school is not affiliated with The CollegeBound Network and shall not be considered a sponsor of this program.