Was he able to use his Zell Miller at Auburn, @threeofthree?
@LucieTheLake - no, Zell Miller is the Hope Scholarship, the top end…Hope is Georgia only, unfortunately.
Here’s some more info to consider. This list is from Payscale and is sorted based on mid-career salaries for graduates with undergraduate engineering degrees. On this metric, AU is ranked #60 and UA is #94 but the $ amounts aren’t off by a lot so not sure it is worth getting too hung up on the ranking numbers.
Also, I suspect that the current class of UA undergrads likely have higher stats/credentials versus those that have been out of the workforce for a number of years (based on the significant increase in ACT scores for engineering students at UA) so maybe their job prospects are even better for the future? (there are a few surprises in this list such as U of Michigan ranked #68 when I suspect most people would think they would be ranked higher).
Tough to know how to translate all of this to your specific student/situation. Seems like as long as the kid graduates with an engineering degree from a top 100 or so school they should be on a pretty good path.
http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/best-schools-by-majors/engineering
(select “See Full List” at the bottom of page)
^ US Naval Academy (#4) vs Embry-Riddle (#179)…who knew?!
Honestly, if all you can afford is a school in the 100+ range, as long as it’s ABET accredited, I think the student will be just fine. Especially if they are aggressive about getting research/coop/internship experience.
(There are some very good schools that don’t show up in the top 100 on that list!)
Keep in mind that some of the data sampling sizes are very small. For example, UA’s data only includes 5 mechanical engineers, 3 electrical engineers, 4 civil engineers, 3 chemical engineers and 3 “engineers”(BS of Engineering a degree that’s no longer offered). That’s not a large sampling.
Also, I don’t think the data corrects for cost of living. So a school who’s graduates cluster in the NE or California, will have, on average, higher salaries than those graduates who cluster in the south east.
@Gator88NE Good point about sample size as I was wondering that. Also depends on industry or if consulting, i.e. Northwestern.
How did you get the sample size for UA?
@CyclonesGrad I selected UA and then sorted by “major/degree”.
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/School=University_of_Alabama_-_Main_Campus/Salary/by_Degree
@Gator88NE Sample size may be bigger than what you see in the detail. Se attached.
@CyclonesGrad Or not, based on some of the numbers I"m seeing. 
For example, sticking with engineering at UA, a BS in Mechanical Engineering average salary is $54,750, while a Masters in ME is $93K, the premium for a MS isn’t going to be $40K
BS in Civil Engineering is $90,750. Civil isn’t one of the highest paying engineering majors and no way should it be the equivalent of a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. On average, a BS in Mechanical should earn a bit more than Civil.
BS in Chemical Engineering is $113,580? That’s way too high. Even when compared to other schools on Payscale, such as UC-Berkeley at $66,406 - $110,856.
Anyway, it’s useful data, but take it with a grain of salt.
Agreed. The data really just confirms to me that almost all engineers get paid the same regardless of school. That means do not go broke for the name school.
Engineering major has always determined the premium from the time I graduated in '82 (don’t want to reveal what century :)) . Chem E was paid the most, followed by Aero, and then Met E. ME was middle and CE was lowest. All were good starting salaries especially vs. business majors.
Not much has changed since I graduated. My starting salary in '82 was $24.5K and using the inflation multiplier from BLS that would be $60.2 in 2015. I graduated with a degree in Met E. So not much has changed in 33 years!!!
:)>-
BTW, I graduated from ISU. A good school but certainly not top of the heap.
FWIW, Chemical Engineering Progress had a good article on salaries last year that covered several factors:
http://www.aiche.org/resources/publications/cep/2015/june
Thanks for that, @ccforlife!
Not to hijack the thread, but what do chem-e’s do? Who do they usually work for?
“What do Chemical Engineers Do?”
A lot of chemical engineers are premed at Bama, too.
As we speak, I’m sitting with a Chem E who’s now an actuary. Poker game, I just folded, he’s cleaning up.
Thank you @LucieTheLakie and @Chardo.
@LucieTheLakie A lot of Chem E students start as Pre-Med at UA. According to the Chem E department head I spoke to only about 5% even apply to Med School. Most students drop the pre-Med curriculum as they move through the program.
Maybe Chem E is very difficult to keep up a high GPA to get into Med School?
nt
@ConcertoinD What does nt mean?