Computer science at Caltech
Caltech graduates about 71 computer science majors a year, 33% of its graduating class. That puts it 29th of 691 schools we score for computer science, a standout program at 91 out of 100. Its current catalog lists 38 undergraduate courses in the field, more than 42% of the schools we've counted. Graduates in the major earn a median $201,000 four years out, 1.87× what the same major pays nationally. Research spending in the field runs about $7 million a year, a rough guide to how many labs and projects undergraduates can join.
Where computer science happens
Buildings on campus that fit the field: Linde Laboratory for Global Environmental Science, Arms Laboratory of the Geological Sciences, Chen Neuroscience Research Building, Central Engineering, AWS Center for Quantum Computing, Powell-Booth Laboratory for Computational Science, Firestone Flight Sciences Laboratory, Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology.
Named buildings on the campus map: Academic 36 · Student housing 22 · Dorm 8 · Athletics 4 · Dining 2 · Library 2.
Nearby in the computer science ranking
Other strong majors at Caltech
- Physics & astronomy 99 · #2
- Engineering (all) 97 · #2
- Math & statistics 89 · #38
- Mechanical engineering 83 · #24
- Biology 60 · #275
- Neuroscience 60 · #121
How the score works
The score is out of 100 and compares Caltech with every school we score in computer science. It weighs the school's overall strength; how many students graduate in the major and what share of the class they are; research spending in the field (NSF); early pay against the same major nationally; how many courses the catalog lists; and test scores. 80+ is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid. Sources: US Department of Education (College Scorecard, IPEDS), NSF HERD, each school's current course catalog, OpenStreetMap and Wikimedia Commons.