For Prospective Students Are you a woman who is interested in becoming an engineer? As you have probably already heard, RIT offers excellent engineering programs which are complemented by a unique coop program. What you may not have heard is that women enrolled within engineering at RIT graduate at a higher rate than their male classmates. The national retention average for women versus men in engineering programs reveals that more women on average drop out of engineering programs compared with their male peers, but at RIT that trend is reversed. So, how has RIT been able to graduate more (on average) successful women engineers than our peer colleges? The answer is easy... There is a strong, positive community for women engineering students at RIT. RIT is committed to your success as a woman engineer and offers various activities to assist you as you progress through your degree requirements. As an enrolled woman in one of our five engineering disciplines, you will find a supportive environment to help you achieve your career goals. Our engineering college has many women engineering role models who care about your success: 2 out of the college's 5 engineering department heads are women. 10 % of our engineering faculty are women 17% of the mechanical engineering department's faculty are women 75% of our women engineering faculty are active members of the RIT Women in Engineering Internal Advisory Board RIT's Women in Engineering program (also known as WE@RIT) has been in existence since 1996. The program has been carefully designed to help you achieve your career goals by offering activities aimed at fostering a positive community for women within our college. This past year,RIT's Society of Women Engineers (SWE) student section won the Outstanding Student Section award for medium medium size sections in 2004. This is the second year in a row that SWE has won this award, and this national recognition is a great honor. RIT's WIE Center strongly supports its highly successful SWE Student Section and identifies that the organization provides a strong community for its members. RIT's college of engineering is the only engineering college in the nation which is named after a woman! The college is named after Kate Gleason, entrepreneur, engineer, business woman and role model, in recognition of her significant personal and professional accomplishments. Not yet ready to enter college? RIT also offers various outreach activities for girls in sixth to the eleventh grades to generate and excite interest in the engineering profession. On-campus activities, like Park and Ride, Expanding Your Horizons, or the SWE Overnight Shadow Program, will help you learn more about engineering and RIT. By navigating through our web page, you will obtain more details about the programs that we offer, information about RIT, scholarships for women pursuing an engineering degree, and links to fun activities on the internet.