First-year track · Fall 2027
A one-year track in career preparation and entrepreneurship
Starting in Fall 2027, we invite every student admitted to a Lally major to join Industry & Innovation in the first year.
Students work in teams on a year-long project with an outside organization, manage real money in the James Fund, build an AI product in 30 days, and start meeting employers and alumni in their first semester.
There is a short application and no participation fee.
Who
Students in a Lally major
When
The first year, beginning Fall 2027
Cost
No participation fee
How to join
By invitation and a short application
The industry project
Every student in the track joins a team in the fall and works with it through the spring on a co-curricular project with an outside organization, which we arrange. Several teams may take on the same project, and each team develops its own solution.
The rest of the first year
The track benefits from Lally’s advising, courses, student programs, unique labs, technology, student-managed fund, and data resources, as well as co-curricular opportunities. Each student meets with a Lally advisor in the summer, before classes start, and makes a plan for the year, which can include the following.
Employers, alumni, and a mentor
Students go to Lally’s Career Networking Event in their first fall semester to begin networking with employers and alumni for their internship. They can also sign up for Lally’s mentorship program to begin networking with an alum industry mentor.
Lally AI Academy
Students can apply with a team of three or more, an idea, and a faculty or staff mentor to the Lally AI Academy, in which teams design, build, and launch a working AI product in a 30-day sprint with state-of-the-art tools, including an additional $500 budget for tools of their choice. No coding experience is needed, and a sprint can be separate from the industry project or build on it. The track includes guaranteed funding for AI Academy participation.
James Student-Managed Investment Fund
Students manage real funds in the James Student-Managed Investment Fund, with a portfolio of more than $250,000 in capital, and take part through the Rensselaer Finance Club, where they research companies and pitch investment ideas.
Financial Markets Research Lab
Students can complete the Bloomberg Market Concepts course, a self-paced course of about eight hours, at one of many Bloomberg terminals in the lab, which banks and trading desks use for market data and news, and add the certificate to a résumé.
Behavioral Decision Research Lab
Students generate data with eye tracking and related equipment, the same methods that companies use to test advertisements, products, and apps.
Lally Media Innovation Studio
In the student-led Lally Media Innovation Studio in the Pittsburgh Building, students record and analyze media, such as a podcast conversation with an alum, an employer, or a founder.
Clubs and pitch competitions
Students can join our student clubs in finance, consulting, marketing, and real estate, as well as Women in Business. They can also enter the Problem Pitch Competition of RPI’s Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship, in which a student has a few minutes to pitch a problem worth solving and competes for a cash prize, and its Change the World Innovation Challenge, in which teams develop an idea and pitch it over one weekend.
Courses
The plan includes courses such as Management in the Digital Age (MGMT 1100), or an analogous offering for non-management majors, in the first semester. Professional development and leadership courses in the Lally core and a required internship (MGMT 4800) come later in the degree.
A first-year calendar
Every student takes part in the industry project in both semesters, and the rest of the calendar is a suggestion.
Before arrival
Summer
- Meeting with a Lally advisor
- Fall course registration
- The first-year plan
Fall semester
August to December
- The industry project
- Management in the Digital Age (MGMT 1100), or an analogous offering for non-management majors
- Bloomberg Market Concepts at a terminal
- Lally’s Career Networking Event
- Sign-up for Lally’s mentorship program
- Problem Pitch Competition
- Student clubs: finance, consulting, marketing, real estate, Women in Business
Spring semester
January to May
- The industry project
- Application with a team to the Lally AI Academy
- The James Student-Managed Investment Fund
- A data session in the Behavioral Decision Research Lab
- Recording in the Lally Media Innovation Studio
- RPI’s Spring Career Fair
After the first year
Sophomore year and later
- Professional development and leadership courses in the Lally core
- The required internship (MGMT 4800)
- The entrepreneurship concentration or minor
- A Lally AI Academy sprint
- The Severino Center’s Catalyst Incubator
Entrepreneurship at Lally
A team that completes a sprint in the Lally AI Academy can be referred to the Severino Center to take its product further. The two pitch competitions are Severino Center programs, and Management in the Digital Age is the first course of the entrepreneurship minor.
After the first year, students can add the entrepreneurship concentration or minor, apply to the Severino Center’s Catalyst Incubator, or spend a summer at a startup through its Venture Internship Prize program.
A professional network from day 1
RPI offers one of the best professional networks and ratios of living alumni to current students, and Lally enables students to build their professional network with brilliant peers and RPI alumni from day 1. These professional networks can support them in their careers for a lifetime.
How to join
01
Application to RPI
Students apply to RPI through the Common Application and choose a Lally major: Business Analytics; Business and Management; Finance, Markets, and Emerging Technologies; Marketing and Advanced Computing; or Information Technology and Web Science.
02
Invitation
Those admitted receive an invitation after the offer of admission and complete a short application to join.
03
Summer advising
Students in the track meet with a Lally advisor in the summer before the first semester and join a team for the industry project in the fall.
Earnings of Lally graduates
The track starts with the class entering in Fall 2027, so these figures describe Lally graduates in general.
$83,429
Average reported starting salary, Lally undergraduate programs combined, Class of 2025 (preliminary)
$99,713
Median earnings four years after graduation, B.S. in Business and Management: first of 80 business programs in New York State, 29th of 1,123 nationwide
$115,100
Median earnings four years after graduation, B.S. in Information Technology and Web Science: 46th of 407 computer and information sciences programs nationwide
Sources: Lally Student Exit Survey, Class of 2025; U.S. Department of Education program-level earnings data for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates who received federal aid, in 2024 dollars, compiled by the HEA Group and published by The New York Times on October 7, 2026; ranks are by median earnings in these data.
Interested in Studying at Lally?
Explore Lally’s undergraduate and graduate admissions options, application requirements, and next steps.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The track is available to students in a Lally major, domestic or international, and we invite every student admitted to a Lally major for Fall 2027.
No. There is a short application and no participation fee, and the track includes guaranteed funding for AI Academy participation. Scholarships and financial aid are awarded by RPI.
No. The industry project is co-curricular, and students work on it with their team through both semesters.
No. The Lally AI Academy requires no coding experience, and a student enters the Problem Pitch Competition with a problem, without a company or a product.
Lally students complete a required internship later in the degree, and they begin working toward it in the first year through the industry project, Lally’s Career Networking Event, and an alum industry mentor. Lally Student Services and RPI’s Center for Career and Professional Development help students as they find their own positions.
Each student takes part in one of RPI’s three first-year tracks, so a student invited to more than one chooses among Industry & Innovation, the RPI Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and the RPI Discovery Scholar Program.
The Lally Scholars Program is a selective distinction that continues through graduation, when a Lally Scholar receives a verified Achievement Record. Industry & Innovation is a one-year track available to students in a Lally major. A sprint in the Lally AI Academy and a professional certification are part of both.
Yes. Employment in an internship or a co-op depends on each student’s visa status.
For questions, write to Lally Student Services at lallyug@rpi.edu or call (518) 276-2812.
