PASADENA—For the second straight year, the California Institute of Technology has been named the best value in American higher education by Money magazine. The ranking appears in the current issue of Money magazine, which goes on sale Thursday, Aug. 14.
Dr. Steven Koonin, vice president and provost of Caltech, said that he is especially pleased that the Institute has won the distinction for the second straight year.
"We think we give great value," said Koonin, a theoretical physicist who earned his undergraduate degree at Caltech. "For a bright high school student with a keen interest in science and technology, a Caltech education is an exciting experience that can launch a fulfilling career."
Established in 1891 in Pasadena, California, the Institute for many decades has been the training ground for many of America's foremost scientists and engineers. Fourteen alumni have won Nobel Prizes, and many others have distinguished themselves as leaders in their fields.
Alumni include Linus Pauling, often called "the most original and creative mind in chemistry of the 20th century"; Harrison Schmitt, the only scientist to walk on the moon; Eugene Shoemaker, who was principal investigator for geological field investigations for the Apollo lunar programs from 1965 to 1970; Carl Anderson, who discovered antimatter; William Shockley, who co-invented the transistor; and David Ho, the 1996 Time Man of the Year and a famed AIDS researcher; and Lounette Dyer, recently profiled by Forbes Magazine as one of the young movers and shakers of Silicon Valley.
Alumni who made their mark outside the laboratory include Frank Capra, who directed Jimmy Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life; Moshe Arens, who has served as defense and foreign minister of Israel; Arati Prabhakar, the first woman to head the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and Bill Gross, the entrepreneur.
Caltech is located on a 124-acre campus in Pasadena. The Institute also manages the nearby Jet Propulsion Laboratory and operates eight other off-campus astronomical, seismological, and marine biology facilities. Caltech has an enrollment of some 2,000 students, more than half of whom are in graduate studies, and a faculty of about 275 professorial members and more than 400 research members. Caltech employs a staff of more than 1,700 on campus and 5,300 at JPL.
Written by Robert Tindol