2025 College Rankings

The Georgia Institute of Technology has moved to scale back Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in recent years. In early 2025, the Atlanta-based research university began removing DEI-related content from its official websites, following guidance from the University of Georgia system. The effort is part of a broader push to curb activism in higher education and reorient Georgia Tech toward merit-based standards rather than identity-driven policies. Under the new guidelines, DEI statements are no longer required for faculty job applications, and the school’s DEI bureaucracy is being dismantled in stages. Georgia Tech also continues to require SAT or ACT scores for admission—underscoring its renewed emphasis on academic achievement over diversity targets.

The school’s leadership has taken steps to strengthen free-speech protections. In its 2024 rankings, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) moved Georgia Tech from 27th to fifth place. Students now generally report confidence that the administration supports free expression. FIRE has awarded the school its highest “green” rating for campus speech policies. Still, Georgia Tech retains a bias-response system—a mechanism that can chill speech and undermines its broader free-speech commitments.

Georgia Tech’s student body is more ideologically balanced than that of many peer institutions. According to FIRE, the number of conservative and liberal student groups is roughly equal, and the liberal-to-conservative student ratio is 2.6 to 1—less skewed than at most universities. Few students feel compelled to self-censor: just 7 percent say that they are “very” or “fairly” often offended by classmates’ views. Georgia Tech ranks in the top 10 on our student free speech index.

Professors at Georgia Tech represent a broader range of views than is typical on many campuses. When students are asked to place their instructors on an ideological spectrum, they tend to rate them closer to the moderate center. Still, a majority of faculty campaign donations go to liberal or Democratic causes.

Georgia Tech’s curriculum performs well on our metrics. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) gives the school a B in its What Will They Learn? ratings, which assign letter grades based on how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program. Students must complete coursework in basic U.S. history to graduate, and there is not a DEI course requirement. We place the quality of Georgia Tech’s curriculum in the top 10 percent nationally.

Georgia Tech graduates fare well financially. On average, it takes slightly less than a year to recoup the cost of their education—well below our overall average of 2.3 years. The school exceeds expectations in both retention and six-year graduation rates, based on incoming students’ SAT scores and Pell Grant eligibility. Median earnings ten years after initial enrollment exceed expectations by over $18,000, making Georgia Tech a strong investment for ambitious students.