by our College Data Analytics TeamWorcester Polytechnic Institute is a private not-for-profit institution in Worcester, Massachusetts enrolling 5,447 undergraduates. It accepts 60% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 90%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #131 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 3%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute ranks #131 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 3%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute was awarded 201 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked WPI as #131 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, WPI holds the #14 spot on the Best Colleges in Massachusetts ranking.
See all of the rankings for Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
The acceptance rate at Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a competitive 60%, so make sure you take your application seriously when putting it together. Even leaving out a minor detail could be a reason to move you to the rejection pile.
Learn more about Worcester Polytechnic Institute admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 13 to 1, Worcester Polytechnic Institute is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Worcester Polytechnic Institute is 83%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 94% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Worcester Polytechnic Institute enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at WPI for first-time, full-time students is 90%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
The current enrollment includes 5,447 undergraduates at WPI.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
The typical net cost at WPI is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $24,018 | $24,452 | $32,350 | $37,753 | $49,716 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of WPI, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At WPI, approximately 52% of students took out student loans averaging $6,433 a year. That adds up to $25,732 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.7%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $103,470 in their early years. This is good news for future Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduates since it is 110% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Worcester Polytechnic Institute make the most money.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute is an private not-for-profit institution situated in Worcester, Massachusetts. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Contact information for Worcester Polytechnic Institute can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609-2280 |
| Phone: | 5088315000 |
| Website: | www.wpi.edu/ |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcester_Polytechnic_Institute |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/wpi.edu |
| Twitter: | www.twitter.com/wpi |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 15 majors graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 2,433 | NA |
| Computer Science | 402 | $86,601 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 298 | $72,526 |
| Robotics Engineering | 228 | $79,793 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 180 | $57,498 |
| Electrical Engineering | 160 | $83,126 |
| Data Science. | 134 | NA |
| Aeronautical Engineering | 107 | $72,303 |
| Chemical Engineering | 86 | $67,835 |
| Civil Engineering | 71 | $67,056 |
294 students took at least one online class at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Curious how schools stack up against WPI? Compare them side by side using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
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