Caltech (California)

The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) enrolls about 2,100 students and offers programs in areas such as chemistry, planetary sciences, physics, math, humanities, social sciences, and engineering. Caltech has a very low student-teacher ratio of 3:1. The school receives about half of its operating revenue through research grants, primarily from government agencies. Its professors and graduates have snared a total of 32 Nobel Prizes; other alumni include filmmaker Frank Capra and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt. Caltech operates the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which supervises Mars exploration programs and other interplanetary missions, under contract to NASA. The school was founded in 1891. Mission: The mission of the California Institute of Technology is to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education. We investigate the most challenging, fundamental problems in science and technology in a singularly collegial, interdisciplinary atmosphere, while educating outstanding students to become creative members of society.