California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California
- Private nonprofit
- City
- 987 undergrads
- Admit rate
- 3%Source: College Scorecard
- Average net price
- $8,509per year, after grantsSource: College Scorecard
- Graduation rate
- 92%within 6 yearsSource: College Scorecard
- Median earnings
- $166,64210 years after startingSource: College Scorecard
What's special
Caltech's campus life and academic work are governed by an Honor Code stating that no member of the community shall take unfair advantage of any other member.
Source: Honor Code - CalTech Admissions
All Caltech undergraduates must complete a STEM core curriculum including a yearlong physics course and mathematics covering multivariable calculus and linear algebra.
First-year Caltech students go through Rotation, a formal process of getting to know the eight undergraduate houses and ranking which one, if any, they'd like to join.
Getting in
- Admit rate
- 3%About 1 in 39 applicants get in.Source: College Scorecard
- Test policy
- Test-blindScores are not considered, even if you send them.Source: College Scorecard
- SAT (middle 50%)
- Not reportedSource: College Scorecard
- ACT (middle 50%)
- Not reportedSource: College Scorecard
From California Institute of Technology's own report
These numbers come from the school's Common Data Set for 2025–26, a standard report colleges publish about their applicants and first-year students. Open the report.
- Admit rate in this report
- 4%428 admitted of 11,285 first-year applicants
- ACT, middle 50%
- 35–36First-years who sent scores
- Top 10% of their class
- 97%100% were in the top quarter.
What the admissions office says it weighs
Very important
- How challenging your classes were
- Test scores
- Essay
- Recommendations
- Character and personal qualities
Important
- GPA
- Class rank
- Activities
Considered
- A talent or ability
- Being first in your family to go to college
- Where you live
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
Not considered
- Interview
- Family who went there (legacy)
- Living in the state
- Religious affiliation
- Showing interest in the school
Where you'd stand
Enter your numbers to see where they'd fall among California Institute of Technology's first-year students. This isn't a prediction: it shows how you compare with students who enrolled, using the sources linked below.
Leave out anything you don't have. Your numbers stay in this browser and fill in on other school pages. See my list
Sources: California Institute of Technology Common Data Set 2025–26. Test ranges describe enrolled students who sent scores.
What it really costs
Most families pay less than the sticker price. Net price is what's left after grants and scholarships.
- Average net price
- $8,509full-time first-years who got grant aidSource: College Scorecard
- Total cost of attendance
- $90,822sticker price incl. housing, per yearSource: College Scorecard
- Tuition
- $68,208Source: College Scorecard
After you enroll
- Graduation rate
- 92%first-time, full-time students finishing within 6 yearsSource: College Scorecard
- Came back for year two
- 97%full-time first-year studentsSource: College Scorecard
- Median earnings
- $166,64210 years after starting, for students who got federal aidSource: College Scorecard
- Median debt at graduation
- $7,500federal loans, students who finishedSource: College Scorecard
Students
- Undergraduates
- 987Source: College Scorecard
- Receive Pell grants
- 23%a sign of economic diversitySource: College Scorecard
- First-generation students
- Not reportedparents didn't go beyond high schoolSource: College Scorecard
Similar schools
Similar, and easier to get into
- Scripps College Claremont, CA — admits 38%
- Pitzer College Claremont, CA — admits 25%
- Dominican University of California San Rafael, CA — admits 84%
- Soka University of America Aliso Viejo, CA — admits 43%
Also worth a look
- Minerva University San Francisco, CA — admits 3%
- College of the Ozarks Point Lookout, MO — admits 12%
- Pomona College Claremont, CA — admits 7%
- Berea College Berea, KY — admits 19%
- The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York, NY — admits 21%
- Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME — admits 7%
Where these numbers come from
Every number on this page comes from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard page for California Institute of Technology, which draws on what the school reports to the federal government and on federal student aid and tax records. We last pulled the data on November 4, 2026. Different measures cover different years; here's how each one works.
Spot something wrong? Report a data error.