Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rankings

Data year Earned doctorates Full-time graduate students Total R&D expenditures
Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked
2023 120 74.3 459 182 70.2 602 168 81.9 914
2022 131 71.8 457 162 82.3 900
2021 136 70 447 192 67.5 583 156 83.1 908
2020 128 72 450 152 83.7 916
2019 117 74.2 447 205 65.6 589 159 82.9 914
2018 112 74.3 428 157 83 911
2017 128 70.4 425 224 61.5 575 149 83.7 898
2016 118 73 430 148 83.7 896
2015 112 74.1 426 189 67.3 570 143 84.3 898
2014 120 72 422 144 84.1 889
NOTES:
  • 1. See TableBuilder for the prior year data.
  • 2. Blank white cells indicate data not available, not applicable, or institution not eligible for survey.
  • 3. Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

Data

Number of earned doctorates, by trend major field of study of recipients: 2023–14
Fields 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
All fields 145 119 111 130 147 164 122 142 164 135
  Science and engineering 131 111 97 115 138 148 111 130 149 125
    Agricultural sciences and natural resources . . . . . 1 . . . .
      Natural resources and conservation . . . . . 1 . . . .
    Biological and biomedical sciences 11 9 10 5 9 14 8 11 8 7
      Biochemistry and biophysics 4 . 3 2 6 8 4 4 3 4
      Biology and biomedical sciences, general 5 6 6 . 2 1 1 4 . 1
      Bioinformatics, biostatistics, and computational biology 1 . . . . 1 . . . .
      Cellular and developmental biology, and anatomy . . . . . 1 1 1 2 .
      Ecology, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology . . . 1 . . 1 . 1 1
      Genetics and genomics . . . . . 1 . . 1 .
      Microbiology and immunology . . . 1 1 . . 1 . .
      Molecular biology . 1 . . . . 1 1 1 .
      Neurobiology and neurosciences . 1 . . . . . . . .
      Biology and biomedical sciences, other 1 1 1 1 . 2 . . . 1
    Computer and information sciences 18 11 7 15 14 15 11 16 17 5
      Computer science 16 11 7 15 13 13 10 15 16 5
      Computer and information sciences, other 2 . . . 1 2 1 1 1 .
    Engineering 74 74 56 66 83 87 60 72 89 77
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 9 9 2 6 5 9 3 1 4 6
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 10 4 4 5 12 9 5 4 9 7
      Chemical and petroleum engineering 15 8 10 10 7 13 13 10 15 11
      Civil, environmental, and transportation engineering 6 9 4 4 4 1 4 6 7 7
      Electrical and computer engineering 8 14 11 13 17 12 11 23 17 15
      Industrial engineering and operations research 3 1 3 3 5 3 . 3 3 2
      Materials and mining engineering 10 8 7 5 12 6 9 4 15 9
      Mechanical engineering 8 15 12 13 13 26 11 18 12 14
      Engineering, other 5 6 3 7 8 8 4 3 7 6
    Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 1 . . 1 6 3 . 1 2 1
      Geological sciences 1 . . 1 6 3 . 1 1 1
      Ocean, marine, and atmospheric sciences . . . . . . . . 1 .
    Health sciences 1 . . . . . 1 . . .
      Public health 1 . . . . . . . . .
      Health sciences, other . . . . . . 1 . . .
    Mathematics and statistics 9 6 7 7 5 5 9 7 7 7
      Applied mathematics 6 4 3 4 4 5 6 7 6 4
      Mathematics . . 1 . 1 . . . . 1
      Mathematics and statistics, other 3 2 3 3 . . 3 . 1 2
    Physical sciences 9 10 11 15 18 15 14 15 15 23
      Astronomy and astrophysics . . . . 2 . . 1 . 3
      Chemistry 3 4 6 6 7 8 7 6 3 8
      Physics 6 6 5 9 9 7 7 8 12 12
    Psychology 7 1 2 2 . 4 2 1 4 4
      Counseling and applied psychology . . . . . . . . . 1
      Research and experimental psychology 7 1 2 2 . 4 2 1 3 3
      Psychology, other . . . . . . . . 1 .
    Social sciences 1 . 4 4 3 4 6 7 7 1
      Anthropology . . . . . 1 . . . .
      Economics . . . . . . 1 1 4 .
      Sociology, demography, and population studies . . . . . . 1 . . .
      Social sciences, other 1 . 4 4 3 3 4 6 3 1
  Non-science and engineering 14 8 14 15 9 16 11 12 15 10
    Business 3 2 3 3 6 6 3 7 10 4
      Business 3 2 3 3 6 6 3 7 10 4
    Education 1 . . . . . . . . .
      Teacher education and teaching fields 1 . . . . . . . . .
    Humanities and arts 5 4 9 6 3 2 3 1 . 2
      Letters . 1 3 1 . 1 1 . . .
      Philosophy and religious studies . . . 1 . . . . . .
      Music and performing arts 1 . . . 1 1 . . . .
      Humanities and arts, other 4 3 6 4 2 . 2 1 . 2
    Other non-science and engineering 5 2 2 6 . 8 5 4 5 4
      Communication 2 1 1 2 . 3 1 2 2 2
      Non-science and engineering, other 3 1 1 4 . 5 4 2 3 2

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates

Total R&D expenditures, by field: 2023–14
(Dollars in thousands)
Field 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
  All R&D fields 121,706 121,809 119,056 122,753 103,739 100,856 104,797 101,127 102,841 105,608
    Science 44,901 51,186 42,770 44,230 39,495 37,031 37,087 32,455 32,582 33,504
      Computer and information sciences 13,075 14,752 13,145 14,686 11,282 9,830 9,062 9,089 10,392 9,103
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 1,961 2,214 1,868 2,837 1,931 2,601 1,873 2,593 2,205 2,023
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Geological and earth sciences 1,961 2,214 1,868 2,837 1,931 2,601 1,873 2,593 2,015 2,023
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 190 0
      Life sciences 8,077 8,885 6,913 6,102 5,384 5,431 5,448 4,093 5,598 5,584
        Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Biological and biomedical sciences 8,077 8,885 6,913 6,102 5,384 5,431 5,448 4,093 5,598 5,584
        Health sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Life sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Mathematics and statistics 3,783 3,658 2,944 2,808 2,258 1,641 1,878 1,795 1,754 1,714
      Physical sciences 12,723 15,894 12,251 12,143 15,038 14,662 16,534 11,910 9,688 11,342
        Astronomy and astrophysics 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Chemistry 6,945 7,599 6,355 5,704 6,393 5,560 7,338 6,178 3,689 4,004
        Materials science 156 702 444 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
        Physics 2,955 4,177 2,883 2,554 4,936 4,705 5,158 5,350 5,999 6,699
        Physical sciences nec 2,667 3,416 2,569 3,885 3,709 4,397 4,037 382 0 639
      Psychology 3,870 3,954 4,036 4,479 3,151 2,433 1,895 2,138 2,380 2,699
      Social sciences 1,412 1,829 1,535 1,175 451 433 397 837 565 1,039
        Anthropology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Economics 840 671 624 572 139 109 47 236 377 669
        Political science and government 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Social sciences nec 572 1,158 911 603 312 324 350 601 188 370
      Sciences nec 0 0 78 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 66,158 63,146 67,810 70,156 59,831 57,190 59,446 61,452 69,540 71,340
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 10,734 8,233 9,421 6,133 5,780 6,401 5,265 6,883 7,253 8,330
      Chemical engineering 11,281 9,971 10,365 10,954 10,295 8,274 11,735 8,387 7,115 8,586
      Civil engineering 2,688 3,369 4,669 6,251 6,768 4,254 4,297 4,930 13,079 13,170
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 14,000 14,865 14,323 15,077 10,945 12,413 12,452 13,800 18,821 17,967
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 394 440 493 498 987 1,353 1,529 0 0 0
      Mechanical engineering 17,833 17,423 19,888 20,165 16,802 15,992 17,548 18,406 17,292 16,454
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 6,286 5,813 5,697 6,281 4,154 4,888 3,133 4,449 4,799 4,353
      Engineering nec 2,942 3,032 2,954 4,797 4,100 3,615 3,487 4,597 1,181 2,480
    Non-S&E 10,647 7,477 8,476 8,367 4,413 6,635 8,264 7,220 719 764
      Business management and business administration 5,176 2,491 2,302 89 622 959 871 957 576 571
      Communication and communications technologies 15 69 103 384 89 91 1,059 471 0 75
      Education 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Humanities 0 0 0 153 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Law 0 0 0 488 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Social work 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 986 947 959 1,353 322 1,055 302 352 143 118
      Non-S&E nec 4,470 3,970 5,112 5,884 3,380 4,530 6,032 5,440 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Total R&D expenditures, by source of funds and R&D field: 2023
(Dollars in thousands)
Field All R&D expenditures Federal government State and local government Institution funds Business Nonprofit organizations All other sources
  All R&D fields 121,706 56,445 3,289 45,192 10,959 3,123 2,698
    Science 44,901 19,308 353 16,798 6,163 776 1,503
      Computer and information sciences 13,075 4,769 0 3,872 4,264 14 156
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 1,961 1,339 14 607 0 0 1
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Geological and earth sciences 1,961 1,339 14 607 0 0 1
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Life sciences 8,077 4,524 11 2,092 169 610 671
        Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Biological and biomedical sciences 8,077 4,524 11 2,092 169 610 671
        Health sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Life sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Mathematics and statistics 3,783 1,244 0 1,531 1,002 6 0
      Physical sciences 12,723 5,155 328 6,267 428 143 402
        Astronomy and astrophysics 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Chemistry 6,945 4,013 176 2,124 428 143 61
        Materials science 156 0 0 112 0 0 44
        Physics 2,955 1,142 152 1,433 0 0 228
        Physical sciences nec 2,667 0 0 2,598 0 0 69
      Psychology 3,870 2,144 0 1,153 300 0 273
      Social sciences 1,412 133 0 1,276 0 3 0
        Anthropology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Economics 840 35 0 802 0 3 0
        Political science and government 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Social sciences nec 572 98 0 474 0 0 0
      Sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 66,158 34,192 2,485 21,462 4,796 2,104 1,119
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 10,734 7,340 65 2,838 276 105 110
      Chemical engineering 11,281 4,824 540 3,323 1,213 1,380 1
      Civil engineering 2,688 993 0 1,265 18 375 37
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 14,000 5,803 1,075 4,331 2,153 53 585
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 394 381 0 13 0 0 0
      Mechanical engineering 17,833 11,966 40 5,183 448 59 137
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 6,286 2,563 765 2,374 450 132 2
      Engineering nec 2,942 322 0 2,135 238 0 247
    Non-S&E 10,647 2,945 451 6,932 0 243 76
      Business management and business administration 5,176 990 0 3,910 0 201 75
      Communication and communications technologies 15 0 0 15 0 0 0
      Education 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Humanities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Law 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Social work 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 986 0 349 637 0 0 0
      Non-S&E nec 4,470 1,955 102 2,370 0 42 1

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Federally funded R&D expenditures, by federal agency: 2023–14
(Dollars in thousands)
Source of funds 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Federal Agencies 56,445 50,605 52,465 52,150 50,448 50,120 51,130 52,163 59,528 59,070
  DOD 11,163 12,091 12,484 10,332 10,182 9,939 9,149 9,129 12,136 13,501
  DOE 11,714 10,768 11,968 12,839 11,374 8,158 8,269 6,814 7,490 6,431
  HHS 14,228 11,168 11,882 11,326 10,402 10,497 12,358 11,954 12,318 13,621
  NASA 2,619 2,569 2,994 2,624 1,272 1,209 915 994 1,254 493
  NSF 14,273 11,939 10,817 12,507 14,907 16,797 17,115 19,697 22,331 20,454
  USDA 0 0 172 240 306 298 252 49 53 183
  Other 2,448 2,070 2,148 2,282 2,005 3,222 3,072 3,526 3,946 4,387

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Headcount of R&D personnel: 2023–17 [temporarily discontinued]
Year
2023 . . . .
2022 . . . .
2021 . . . .
2020 . . . .
2019 1,580 239 1,341 .
2018 1,636 256 1,380 .
2017 2,102 250 1,852 .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field: 2023–14
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space 2023 2021 2019 2017 2015
  All research space 299 277 252 217 265
    Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Biological and biomedical sciences 4 4 4 3 3
    Computer and information sciences 9 7 4 8 11
    Engineering 222 215 201 155 205
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 9 9 8 7 6
    Health sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Mathematics and statistics 5 4 3 4 4
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0
    Physical sciences 24 16 14 15 24
    Psychology 7 6 4 6 2
    Social sciences 9 9 7 7 2
    Other 8 6 7 12 7

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

New construction of science and engineering research space, by field and time of construction: 2025–16
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

Costs for repair and renovation of science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field and time of repair and renovation: 2025–16
(Dollars in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space Planned to start in FY 2024 or FY 2025 Started in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017
  All research space 0 5,522 3,194 6,776 3,030
    Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Biological and biomedical sciences 0 2,110 1,508 1,233 1,944
    Computer and information sciences 0 0 330 349 0
    Engineering 0 3,095 1,356 3,160 697
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Health sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 0 0 0
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0
    Physical sciences 0 317 0 622 389
    Psychology 0 0 0 0 0
    Social sciences 0 0 0 1,412 0
    Other 0 0 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

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