Academic Resources

DROP IN TUTORING

• Access & Neurodiverse Student Success (Formerly Disability Services for Students -DSS)
  We recommend that students utilize similar accommodations as they did in high school. To receive accommodations, you must register with  Access & Neurodiverse Student Success and provide documentation. Mental health conditions, like depression, are eligible for accommodations. For a listing of resources in the capital district for comprehensive psychological evaluations click here.

• The Arch at Rensselaer
  Offers a unique approach to education that provides flexibility in the semester schedule, allowing students to pursue professional and personal development opportunities that prepare them to meet the multifaceted challenges of the 21st century.

• Academic Advising
  Each school has an Academic Advising Hub that is available to help you develop your four-year plan, change majors, add minors, and ask detailed questions about your program of study and degree. The HASS and Science Hubs can also answer questions about general HASS and Science requirements. The Engineering Hub works with first-year students only. To learn more about each Hub, visit:
  • Engineering (MANE, ECSE)
  • Science (ITWS)
  • Lally
  • HASS - Don't forget to pick your HASS Pathway!

Personal Resources

• Counseling Services
  Our largest referral, which is free and confidential, offers students with a space to maximize their sense of well-being as well as their academic, personal, and social growth. A staff psychiatrist is available to assist with medication and provide online resources to offer a great starting point. Keep in mind that if you go in with specific goals, you are likely to save yourself some time. For example, saying, "I have severe avoidance behaviors and I want to work on that," is clearer than a general statement of "I feel overwhelmed." Counseling Services staff are also available evenings and weekends. If you or a friend are struggling, reach out for help. You can speak with the On-Call Counselor by calling (518) 276-8888.
• Supplemental Mental Health Support Now Available Through Mantra Health
  • RPI has partnered with Mantra Health to offer students free, school-sponsored mental health care through the Mantra Care Hub. Services include therapy, psychiatry (up to 9 sessions per year), coaching, self-guided wellness tools, and on-demand support via phone or video. All enrolled students can sign up using their RPI email address.
    • Take a free online, mental-health screening.
    • Drop In Counseling (no appointment needed): ECAV 2634, Wednesdays, 2-4 p.m.; Union in Mother's, Wednesdays, 1-3 p.m.

• Off-Campus Provider Directories
  • Zencare: Includes videos and allows you to filter by availability.
  • Innopsych (Therapists of Color): You can filter by ethnicity and specialty.
• For non clinical support, join the Wellness Student Committee every Wednesday from noon to 1 in the Mueller Center Classroom to talk in a safe space about the highs and lows of student life.
• NAMI Capital Region Support Groups. Peer Support Groups are led Mondays from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. sign up here>>
• It's not unusual to experience loss while in college of many kinds. This podcast series is not affiliated with Rensselaer, but is an excellent resource.

• Student Success Labs
• Success Labs are an excellent resource for you with live workshops and recording and self-guided labs you can do at your own pace. There are resources on meditation, sleep, time management and a host of other topics that affect college student success.
• Student Experience has created a larger resource page which includes other offices you may be interested in.

Financial Resources

• Financial Aid
  If your ability to pay has changed because of your own or a family member's job loss or other losses in revenue you can request a review of your package by completing the Change in Family Circumstance form and you will need to upload it to their document upload page. On their page you can also apply for funding for you through the Parent Plus Loan or begin the alternative loan application process.
• When emergency situations arise like unexpected medical bills, the need to travel home for a family emergency which jeopardize your ability to continue at Rensselaer, you may be eligible for the Student Relief Fund.  Contact the Student Support Deans in the Dean of Student's Office (DOSO) to discuss this option.