Our son has been accepted to RPI. It is one of his top picks however we have some concerns. The president of the school is being paid a much higher salary than presidents of more prestigious universities. Is this high salary dragging the school down financially? The school has a large amount of debt. Is there a plan to reduce the debt? The student to teacher ratio is 15:1. This is not as good as other schools that charge the same tuition. In this tuition price range shouldn’t we expect a lower teacher to student ration?
Engineers make more money than professionals in other academic fields. Ratios are calculated in different ways. Some include faculty who don’t teach. I know one school that advertises itself as having a 20:1 ratio but when you get rid of the non-teaching faculty (as the London Times World ratings of universities does, that school as more than a 23:1 ratio. Be wary of how it is calculated. The tuition is not aligned with the ratios. I expected the concern to be Troy!
There are quite a few threads that discuss the Presidents Salary and why it was so high for just one year. Just look around the rpi discussion board.
I am a freshman physics major at RPI. There is certainly partial truth to your concerns. The administration here is not good, even oppressive at times. I considered transferring at one point. However, weighing my options, RPI was and still is my best choice. The faculty in the mathematics, physics, and cognitive science departments (my areas of interest) are excellent. They want you to succeed. Additionally, I have made a lot of friends here, so the social scene issue isn’t much of a problem. There’s always Greek Life or intramural/club sports for the less geekily-inclined. People here are smart no matter where you look. RPI is really tough, but it’s a great school. What field is your son interested in? If it’s engineering, computer/cognitive science, physics, economics, or business, I personally know that those fields are top-notch at RPI, although I certainly wouldn’t discount anything I excluded from that list.