California Institute of Technology is a private institution in Pasadena, CA with an acceptance rate of 3% and 987 students. The average net price after financial aid is $23,397 per year.
About California Institute of Technology
A private 4-year urban university in Pasadena, CA.
California Institute of Technology is a college in Pasadena, CA. It enrolls roughly 987 students. The most recent acceptance rate is 3%.
Your chances at this school
What admitted students look like here. Sign in to see how your own profile compares.
California Institute of Technology is a reach school for the average admitted student profile. A reach for almost every applicant, including very strong ones.
What strengthens an application here
- Depth in one or two activitiesSustained commitment, a leadership role, or a result in a few activities says more than a long list of memberships.
Your chances estimate is based on your academic profile and activities — it is a guide, not a guarantee of admission. Decisions weigh essays, recommendations, and fit factors that aren't in the data.
Admissions
What it actually takes to get into California Institute of Technology. Test scores, GPA, application requirements, and deadlines.
Application requirements
- Personal essay required
- 2 teacher evals
- Mid-year report
- SAT/ACT required
- $85 application fee
- Accepts fee waiver
Deadlines (2026-27)
- Restrictive EA
- Nov 1, 2026
- Regular Decision
- Jan 4, 2027
Source: Common App 2026-27 requirements grid (verified Aug 2026). Always confirm on the college's own site.
Cost & financial aid
Published costs can be misleading. Here's what families actually pay at California Institute of Technology after grants and scholarships.
Net price by family income
Average amount paid out of pocket — tuition, fees, and room & board minus all grant aid.
Net price represents the average cost after grants and scholarships for students receiving federal financial aid.
Academics & majors
Where students at California Institute of Technology concentrate, and how the classroom experience scales.
Student body
Who attends California Institute of Technology. Enrollment, diversity, and where students come from.
Race & ethnicity
- White19%
- Asian36%
- Hispanic17%
- Black5%
- Two or more races9%
- International14%
Gender
- Female45%
- Male55%
Outcomes after graduation
What California Institute of Technology graduates do next — and what they earn.
Is it worth it?
Earnings, debt, and price side by side — context for the cost-vs-payoff question, not a ranking.
- Median earnings
- $129k
- Typical debt
- $12.0k
- Avg. net price
- $23.4k/yr
- These numbers reflect who enrolls, not the value the school adds. A college's earnings can look high simply because it admits wealthier, higher-scoring students — not because of what happens there.
- Earnings vary far more by major and career path than by school. A school-wide median blends engineers and artists into one number that may match no real student.
- Federal earnings and debt figures cover only students who received federal aid, so they leave out full-pay students and can skew the picture.
- Net price is an average across aided students and debt is the median for borrowers only — many students borrow nothing. Your actual cost depends on your own aid package.
What this means
$129k is well above the national bachelor's-graduate median at the 10-year mark, and a 93% graduation rate puts California Institute of Technology in the top tier nationally.
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