I’m not sure how tech companies do entry-level recruiting for the business side of things, but most of the marketing & accounting people that I’ve worked with in Silicon Valley/SF Bay Area tech companies came from a wide variety of schools, most of which would not be considered tippy-top schools.
I’ve run into a fair number of people with business degrees from Santa Clara. Also, surprisingly, from Brigham Young.
If you really need school names to add to your list, you could add USC (the one in LA), UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara.
Another vote here for Santa Clara. The UC campuses dominate the higher education scene in California, because they are a great deal for CA residents. However, out-of-staters (like you) should think twice about the UCs, because they charge very high tuition to out-of-staters, with zero financial aid.
Santa Clara is private, but their tuition is no higher than UC out-of-state rates, and they do offer financial aid. So for an out-of-stater, the cost of attendance at Santa Clara would likely be lower than at a UC. SCU’s test scores now match or beat most UCs, and their Silicon Valley location has obvious professional advantages.
Also, consider the ever-expanding Silicon Beach area in Los Angeles (Playa Vista area)! So look into schools such as Loyola Marymount University! Other nearby schools include Santa Monica College, California State University Long Beach, UCLA, USC, etc.
I worked in LA for a tech company there and frankly unless you’re in the gaming industry, “Silicon Beach” seems to be mostly an LA city marketing push. UCLA and USC are known everywhere, and they valley isn’t really giving preference to LMU, SMC, CSU-LB, etc. Even though they are in California, recruiting would have to fly to them realistically and at that point they might as well go to bigger recruiting hubs. At the big companies in LA, USC and UCLA are the only two you see commonly, and then the big CS names nationally and “no names” from all over. The smaller tech companies aren’t common enough yet really from what I saw and I’m not sure how much of an increase I’d expect. Really the only abnormal X factor there is Musk, but I wouldn’t put all my eggs in that basket. I’d go to NYC, Seattle, or Boston for tech before LA.
To be fair, I also didn’t generally enjoy LA as a city as much either, but I think that too is shared by tech workers generally (those who like cities, as OP’s son appears to) and is also holding the push back.
I think SCU has figured out that their future lies with out-of-state students. The Class of 2021 was 49% out-of-state. It wouldn’t surprise me if out-of-staters outnumber in-staters for the first time in school history in the Class of 2022.
SCU may or may not give big points for geographic diversity. But even if they don’t, they won’t penalize out-of-staters like the UCs do. The UCs cap OOS enrollment slots, require higher stats from OOS applicants, charge higher OOS tuition, and offer no OOS financial aid. From an OOS perspective, private universities like SCU – which don’t do any of these things – are increasingly attractive alternatives.
Keep in mind that internships can be an excellent gateway to full-time employment (not only with FANG companies but with many other firms and agencies.) You can seek out colleges that seem to have good internship programs (https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/internship-programs) or locations where IT opportunities are especially rich. The latter includes Silicon Valley, of course, but also the NC research triangle, Boston/Route 128, Baltimore-Washington-NoVA, and many other urban centers (although school location isn’t necessarily a huge factor if you arrange to do internships between terms.)
SCU engineering, business, and law students graduating are getting placed with great internships and post graduate jobs in SV. Besides, their law school has always been for the who’s who of SV. Their engineering program is strong and they maintain lots of connections with tech industry. SJ State has a great engineering reputation, just typical struggle getting in then getting out in less than 5 or 6 years. Same with CPO.
There are a lot of schools out there that have really become a force in the last twenty years, but older people’s (parents and particularly grandparents) opinions can’t seem to move ahead with the times. They see it for what it was to them versus what it is today.