In 1990, RIT started its first Ph.D. program, in Imaging Science, which is also the first Ph.D. program of its kind in the U.S.[13] RIT subsequently established Ph.D programs in six other fields, comprising Astrophysical Sciences and Technology, Computing and Information Sciences, Color Science, Microsystems Engineering, Sustainability, and Engineering.[14] In 1996, RIT also became the first college in the U.S to offer a Software Engineering degree at the undergraduate level.[15]