A public R1 research university in Atlanta, GA, admitting 14.07% of applicants with $102,772 median earnings at ten years and in-state tuition of $12,058.
Atlanta, Georgia
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public R1 research university in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1885. It enrolls 18,785 undergraduates and 32,772 graduate students across six colleges: the College of Engineering, the College of Computing, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, the College of Sciences, the Scheller College of Business, and the College of Design. Engineering and computer science account for the largest shares of bachelor's degrees, with business and sciences also significant.
Georgia Tech holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Georgia Tech requires SAT or ACT scores for undergraduate admission; test scores are a required component of the application. Georgia Tech operates cooperative education (co-op) and internship programs that place students in paid industry positions for multiple semesters, which is reflected in graduation timelines and earnings.
Official website: gatech.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), Georgia Tech scores 91.14 overall, rated Excellent. Outcomes (98.19) reflects a 94.02% six-year graduation rate and ten-year median earnings of $102,772, among the highest at any public university. Value scores 98.24, reflecting strong earnings relative to in-state cost of attendance. Affordability scores 46.16. All scores use verified federal data only.
Georgia Tech admits 14.07% of applicants, with Georgia residents receiving a meaningful advantage in the competitive pool due to the university's public mission. Georgia Tech requires SAT or ACT scores for undergraduate admission; submitting scores is not optional. Students who are admitted typically average 1,480 on the SAT, with the middle 50% ACT range between 30 and 34.
Georgia Tech uses the Common App with a required supplemental essay. The Early Action deadline is October 15 (non-binding); the Regular Decision deadline is January 1. Applicants select a college or program at the time of application; admission rates differ by program, with the College of Computing (CS) being the most competitive. Out-of-state applicants are in a significantly more competitive pool.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
For Georgia residents, Georgia Tech charges $12,058 in tuition and fees plus $13,608 in room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $26,000 before aid. For out-of-state students, tuition is $34,484, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $50,000 before aid. The average net price across all enrolled students is $12,116.
For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $7,666. For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the net price averages $7,209. For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the net price averages $15,088. For families earning above $110,000, it averages $17,396. Georgia residents who qualify for the HOPE Scholarship (B average or higher in high school) receive substantial tuition funding through the state lottery-funded program.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $75 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Georgia Tech completes the large majority of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 94.02% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. First-year retention stands at 97.91%. Note that the four-year completion rate is lower than the six-year rate because Georgia Tech's cooperative education (co-op) program places thousands of students in multi-semester paid industry positions; co-op students typically take five years to graduate and are counted in the six-year but not four-year rate. The co-op program is a significant earnings and career development asset.
Georgia Tech graduates earn well above the national median for public research universities. Median earnings are $89,432 six years after first enrolling and $102,772 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 93.38% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate.
The ten-year earnings figure is exceptional for a public university, reflecting Georgia Tech's heavy concentration in engineering, computer science, and data science, fields with consistently high starting salaries. Georgia Tech's co-op program provides students with 12-18 months of paid industry experience before graduation, which boosts both early career placement rates and starting salaries.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Georgia Tech enrolls 18,785 undergraduates on its main campus in Midtown Atlanta, a dense urban neighborhood adjacent to Georgia Tech's active research park and the Georgia World Congress Center. Asian students account for 34.60% of undergraduates; white 34.67%, Hispanic 8.62%, and Black 8.34%. Fourteen percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 14.92% are first-generation college students.
Atlanta is the economic capital of the Southeast with major technology, finance, media, logistics, and healthcare industries; the campus is walkable to MARTA rail connections and a growing tech corridor. Graduate enrollment of 32,772 substantially exceeds undergraduate enrollment, reflecting Georgia Tech's emphasis on graduate and doctoral education.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus offers an extensive catalog of programs: 117 distinct programs across 17 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Georgia Tech operates at an 18:1 student-to-faculty ratio, reflecting its large graduate enrollment. 90.18% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $11,809 per year as reported in federal data; this figure is lower than it appears because the large graduate enrollment inflates the denominator. The endowment stands at $3.17 billion. Georgia Tech is consistently ranked among the top engineering and computer science universities globally. The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and a network of research centers in robotics, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing generate substantial federal research funding.
1,002 instructional faculty across 6 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 443 | 44% | $178,332 |
| Associate Professors | 240 | 24% | $129,104 |
| Assistant Professors | 208 | 21% | $123,731 |
| Instructors | 1 | 0% | $93,937 |
| Lecturers | 102 | 10% | $91,922 |
| No Rank | 8 | 1% | $82,204 |
Georgia Tech's defining strengths are its Value score (98.24, among the highest in peer group A), ten-year earnings of $102,772 (exceptional for a public university), in-state tuition of $12,058, a 94.02% six-year graduation rate, and the co-op program that delivers 12-18 months of paid work experience before graduation. UCD 91.14 Excellent. The HOPE Scholarship reduces cost significantly for qualifying Georgia residents.
The trade-offs are primarily cultural and structural: the curriculum is engineering and computing-heavy; students outside STEM programs have fewer resources; the 18:1 student-to-faculty ratio is high; the federal loan rate of 16.97% and median debt of $21,672 are significant; and the test requirement means test-optional applicants must look elsewhere. Best fit for Georgia residents who want a top-ranked engineering or computing program with strong career outcomes at a public university cost, and out-of-state students who target Georgia Tech specifically for its CS, engineering, or industrial design programs.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Georgia Tech: how selective admissions are, what the co-op program is, how HOPE Scholarship reduces cost, and what graduates earn.
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