Meet the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Class of 2020

Incoming Class Will Be Largest Freshman Class in Rensselaer’s History

By SCER Staff

Troy, NY – The incoming Class of 2020 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) promises to be an exceptional group. According to Office of Enrollment Management, based on unprecedented demand for a Rensselaer education, the Institute will likely enroll the largest freshman class in the Rensselaer history. While it is hard to predict the exact number of freshmen who will matriculate in the fall, Rensselaer expects the class size to be greater than the 1,511 students the Institute had planned to enroll.

“Rensselaer will provide more numerical details as we get closer to the start of the fall semester,” said President Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. “The quality metrics for the entering class continue to be very strong, and speak to the solid brand recognition that Rensselaer enjoys at the national and international level. Moreover, this also promises to be a class of greater diversity than we have experienced heretofore with respect to ethnic, gender, and geographic diversity.”

Preliminary planning already has begun in order to accommodate this much larger class, and to maintain and elevate the quality of our teaching, research, and overall student experience. In addition, Rensselaer will make the necessary adjustments and allocation of resources to ensure that entering students will continue to have the highest quality educational experience, including the residential living and learning experience that is central to our educational approach, President Jackson noted.

In planning for the fall, living arrangements for current students will not be impacted by this increase in the freshman class. Upperclassmen who opt to live in Rensselaer housing will have the continued opportunity to do so. The Institute also will ensure that all campus and student support services will have the capacity to handle additional requests that may result from this increase.

“The attraction of such a class reflects the hard work of everyone here-especially Enrollment Management, but also our faculty, staff, and students,” President Jackson said. “From organizing open houses in our schools and departments, to giving students a flavor of the clubs and other co-curricular opportunities available at Rensselaer, to showcasing our living and learning environments, the entire campus community came together in a special way to help prospective students to understand the Institute.”

President Jackson further noted that “just as student recruitment is a shared responsibility, as planning continues, the Institute will share information and seek input from our current students, faculty, and staff.”