Any insight on going to a small college for a engineering degree vs a larger state school?
One issue is what if the student changes his/her mind about engineering (many do!) A larger school such as MSU may offer more technical/math- engineering-related majors that may still fit that particular student. In general, the bigger the school, the more majors and options.
Have you visited both schools? There is definitely a different feel to each school. If both have the engineering program you are looking for then you should be considering the other issues- cost of attendance, whether you want a smaller, LAC environment vs a larger research university; D1 vs D3 sports; Helena vs Bozeman.
For an aspiring engineer, of course, a large state school would be the click. But @katliamom has a point there would be a backfire once the student changes his/her mind about courses. So, try to weigh in the curriculum if you can so you’d know what you could lose if you apply on that large state school or a community college.