RIT Financial Aid

About Rochester Institute of Technology

Located in Rochester, New York, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) sprawls over 1,300 acres creating its own college suburban environment. Affectionately called ‘Brick City,’ the RIT campus has just about anything you could want as a student, especially in Park Point (also called ‘College Town’ by students), an 80,000 square foot residential and commercial development on the northeast corner of campus. RIT is really its own world: housing is great, on-campus dining is sweet, and underground tunnels (!) connect all the buildings because it gets pretty darn cold in winter.

Budgeting and RIT Financial Aid

Since you can find pretty much anything you might need for college life either on or immediately surrounding the RIT campus, you shouldn’t have to worry about having to spend tons of money on transit expenses. Having everything so accessible to you might make it easier to spend money, however - but don’t give in! If you’re receiving RIT financial aid, which most students at RIT do, you want to be careful with parting ways with your cash. Certain expenses are cool, like dorm supplies, the occasional meal out at Jay’s Diner or The Distillery, and hockey season tickets ($70, totally worth it), but do your best to keep things in check.

Applying for RIT Financial Aid

Though private, RIT doesn’t require students to submit the CSS/PROFILE form, which is a blessing for many students and families: they just want the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), and a state aid form for in-state students. If you think the FAFSA is going to give you headaches, never fear: we have guides explaining the whole process (you can find them from our homepage!). Aside from the FAFSA, that’s about it for your aid application process. Once you submit it, you’ll receive your RIT financial aid package in the mail with your next tuition bill.

RIT Financial Aid Packages

The RIT financial aid program provided students with over $213 million dollars in financial aid funding in the 2010-2011 academic year, so RIT financial aid packages are anything but unsubstantial. Almost three-quarters of students at RIT accept federal student loans included in their aid packages. Despite the generosity of the RIT aid program, some students will require additional funding on top of any federal and institutional aid they receive. These students turn to private student loans after exhausting all other forms of aid, and for many college students, that’s the best choice to find funding for college after institutional and federal aid. If you’re short some cash and have run through all of your options, check out our student loan comparison tool. It lets you search for and compare a variety of private student loans from both national and local lenders, just for RIT, and when you find the loan that’s best for your financial outlook, you can apply for it right there. Remember, only apply for a private student loan for RIT if you’ve exhausted all other forms of aid, but if you have, then it’s the smartest financial option available.