<p>My son has received great financial aid, including a great scholarship, from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. It essentially makes the cost equivalent to that of Cal Poly, which is great since Lafayette is a private school and kids graduate in 4 years. Would everyone familiar with Lafayette’s engineering department and reputation give their advice? My son’s major is electrical engineering. Thanks.</p>
<p>Congratulations - both are great schools! However, CPSLO is rated somewhat higher than Lafayette for EE and other engineering majors. The schools are really quite different. Lafayette is much smaller - and is pretty typical of a small eastern private college. While this past winter wasn’t that bad, they are usually pretty miserable compared to sunny CA. Also, Lafayette doesn’t have the span of engineering disciplines compared to CPSLO (but does a excellent job on the liberal arts/humanities courses that even engineering students take). Accordingly, it enjoys a fine reputation and has a great student body. I tried to get my NJ son interested in it (as it’s only just across the Delaware river from Jersey) but with no success. As of now, he’s actually leaning towards CPSLO.</p>