California Institute of Technology

For Fall 2025, 11,285 first-year students applied to Caltech, 428 were admitted and 248 enrolled: an acceptance rate of 3.8%.

Source: Caltech Common Data Set 2025-2026 (opens in a new tab), section C1. Read Oct 1, 2026.

By school or major. Caltech's Common Data Set reports one first-year acceptance rate for the whole institute, with no rate by option (Caltech's word for a major).

Source: Caltech Common Data Set 2025-2026 (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

Restrictive early action. Caltech has no early decision plan. The Common Data Set lists its Restrictive Early Action dates (November 1, notification December 15) but gives no early action counts, so it gives no early round acceptance rate.

Source: Caltech Common Data Set 2025-2026 (opens in a new tab), sections C21 and C22. Read Oct 1, 2026.

26 majors across 1 school. Every undergraduate option (Caltech's word for a major) in Caltech's official 2026-2027 Catalog. Each leads to a Bachelor of Science. Minors are left out.

For students applying in fall 2026, entering fall 2027

Required and supplemental materials can follow by November 6 for Restrictive Early Action and January 10 for Regular Decision. SAT or ACT scores are due before November 30 and December 31. Admitted students have until May 1, 2027 to decide. QuestBridge applicants follow a separate process.

Source: Caltech Undergraduate Admissions, First-Year Application Deadlines (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

Restrictive Early Action is not binding: if admitted, you have until May 1, 2027 to decide. While you apply this way, you may not apply early action or early decision anywhere else, with exceptions for schools outside the United States, public universities with a non-binding fall deadline (such as the University of California), non-binding rolling admission, military academies, and non-binding early programs required for a scholarship or special program. If you are deferred, you may apply to another school's Early Decision II. A denial is final for that cycle.

Source: Caltech Undergraduate Admissions, First-Year Application Deadlines (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

For students applying in fall 2026, entering fall 2027

Caltech requires the SAT or ACT. It does not use the composite: it reads each section score, and a section score of 750 or more on the SAT (33 or more on the ACT) is shown to readers only as a range. Caltech superscores, has no minimum score and no preferred test, and asks for official scores only if you enroll.

Source: Caltech Undergraduate Admissions, Standardized Tests (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

The Common Data Set also marks the SAT or ACT as required to be considered for admission for fall 2027 applicants, with scores due by December 31.

Source: Caltech Common Data Set 2025-2026 (opens in a new tab), section C8. Read Oct 1, 2026.

For students applying in fall 2027, entering fall 2028

Not announced yet. When we checked Caltech's admission pages on October 1, 2026, we found no announced changes for fall 2028 entry. The deadlines and rules above are for fall 2027 entry.

Source: Caltech Undergraduate Admissions, First-Year Application Deadlines (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

The published cost of a year at Caltech, 2026-2027:

For a student living in Caltech housing. Entering students also pay a one-time $600 orientation fee. Fees do not include Caltech's student health insurance, and a travel allowance can be added for U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens living in the U.S., its territories, Canada or Mexico.

Source: Caltech Catalog 2026-2027, Undergraduate Expenses (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

Average net price per year, by family income, 2023-24:

What first-year, full-time students who received federal aid paid after grants and scholarships, by family income, in 2023-24, the latest year the Department of Education publishes. Your own price comes from Caltech's aid offer.

Source: College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

Chosen for how close each is to California Institute of Technology on acceptance rate, public or private, location and majors offered.

• Stanford UniversityStanford, CA · Private3.8% admitted$13,807 average net price
• Harvard UniversityCambridge, MA · Private4.2% admitted$19,066 average net price
• Princeton UniversityPrinceton, NJ · Private4.4% admitted$6,128 average net price
• University of ChicagoChicago, IL · Private4.5% admitted$14,860 average net price
• Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, MA · Private4.6% admitted$20,111 average net price

Admitted: each school's latest first-year acceptance rate, so the year can differ from school to school; each school's page names its year and source. Average net price: what federal aid recipients paid per year after grants, 2023-24, and the in-state figure for a public university.