California Institute of Technology, often referred to as Cal-Tech, was founded in 1891 and is located in Pasadena, California. The private research university has six academic divisions that focus primarily on engineering and science.
Mission/Vision
The mission of California Institute of Technology is “to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education”. The academic programs offered at Caltech focus predominately on solving fundamental problems in technology and science.
Campus Setting
The suburban Caltech campus spans for 124 acres in Pasadena. Downtown Los Angeles is 11 miles southwest of campus. Students attending their first year at Caltech are required to live on campus. Around 95 percent of the students remain living on campus, and the faulty allow students to do take-home tests based on the campus honor code.
Academics
Caltech is a private non-profit educational institution that separate its academics into six different divsions. The six research-oriented divisions of academics at the university include Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, Humanities and Social Sciences, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Biology and Biological Engineering, Geological and Planetary Sciences and Engineering and Applied Science. Caltech has an estimated enrollment of 978 undergraduate students and 1253 postgraduate students.
Caltech has been recognized as a top-tier academic institution by at least four national publications and three global publications, including the Times and Forbes. The Quarterly Journal of Economics ranked Caltech behind Harvard as its No. 2 preferred university in the U.S. There have been 32 faculty members and alumni of Caltech who have been recognized with 33 Nobel Prizes. There have been 70 faculty or alumni who have been awarded with the U.S National Medal of Technology or Science. There are currently 294 professional faculty members.
Athletics
The university teams, better known as Caltech Bears, is part of the NCAA Division II. The Caltech Bears compete mostly against other schools within the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Caltech participates in 13 sports sanctioned by NCAA Division II. The team colors for the Caltech Beavers are orange and white. Some of the sports students participate in include basketball, fencing and volleyball.
Tuition & Financial Aid
The tuition for Caltech was $39,990 for the 2013-14 academic year. The university estimates the total cost of attendance, including housing, fees, books and personal expenses, to be around $58,775. Students who qualify may be eligible for financial aid such as loans, grants or scholarships.
Accreditation
The college was first accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 1949.
Admissions
Caltech requires freshman to submit one recommendation from a math or science teacher and one from a social science or humanities teacher. Students are also required to submit SAT or ACT scores. Caltech typically accepts around 230 freshman and 10 to 15 new upperclassmen each fall semester. The faculty reviews the applications and select undergraduate students participate on the admission committee.
For more information about admissions to California Institute of Technology contact the university directly at:
ugadmissions@caltech.edu
Caltech Undergraduate Admissions
1200 E. California Blvd. MC 10-90
Pasadena, CA 91125
Phone: 626-395-6341