Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a private polytechnic university founded in 1824. It is one of the oldest scientific research universities in the United States. The school is located in Troy, NY, near the capital Albany. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a leader in the United States in architecture, aerospace science, and more. In the 2014 USNEWS comprehensive ranking of American universities, it ranked 41st with Boston University, Lehigh University, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.