University of Oregon is super good for geology! I feel like when I hear about UO on the east coast, it’s only for sports but it’s a beautiful campus and seems to have a good journalism program as well.
Thanks, MYOS. Those are really good insights.
Good catch. I guess my source was wrong. College Factual and Niche both report even lower 11:1 ratio, but UM themselves reports 15:1.
I like the SUNY ESF suggestion. Thanks.
There are probably a number of general classes. For example:
Public liberal arts colleges.
Engineering-focused schools:
- Colorado School of Mines
- Michigan Technological University
- Missouri University of Science and Technology
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
- South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Maritime academies:
- California State University Maritime Academy
- Great Lakes Maritime Academy
- Maine Maritime Academy
- Massachusetts Maritime Academy
- State University of New York Maritime College
Schools with uncommonly-offered majors or programs:
- Nuclear engineering (less well known schools listed below):
- Idaho State University
- University of Massachusetts, Lowell
- Missouri University of Science and Technology
- University of New Mexico
- South Carolina State University
- University of Tennessee
- Architecture BArch degree
- About 27 public schools, many less well known.
This is a really great list. Thank you.
If one class has 55 students, and nine classes have 5 students each, then the average class size that students see is 32.5, even though the student:instructor ratio is 10:1.
And the school will trumpet “90% of our classes have 5 or fewer students!”.
There are certainly hidden gems in terms of specific programs at specific schools. I wouldn’t use student:faculty ratio as a criteria.
And the
SUNY Oswego. Excellent for broadcasting. Sits in the shadow of Syracuse’s Newhouse school but Oswego students have the opportunity to get involved in TV & radio broadcasting opportunities as freshmen. Alumni include Steve Levy, Linda Cohn & Al Roker.
Also excellent for a elementary & secondary education. Oswego originally was a teacher’s college.
Alfred University is part public, has some really good art programs in the SUNY College of Ceramics, as well as glass engineering and ceramic engineering majors.
Montclair State in NJ offers a strong product design major.
This one isn’t public…but its cost is modest and I do think that for the right student, it’s a hidden gem. Flagler College in Florida. Full cost of attendance is modest and merit aid is given.
@eyemgh Do you second Portland State just for the language program or for additional qualities?
I think Portland State is the most underrated campus in the Oregon system. They have a very broad offering of majors, including engineering and architecture, the campus is very pretty with giant trees, and it’s right in Portland, accessible to the city, but it feels like an enclave.
It sounds like it has much to offer. I had looked at Portland State as a possible safety for my class of 22. My student would love the location, my concern is that my kid would be coming from Southern California and having a good residential life/community is very important.
Portland State is a bit different from typical universities: the average age skews older (only about 30% are “traditional age”, ie., 18-22), with 25% having children of their own already.
1/3 students are part time (which is high) and 90% students live off campus.
my concern is that my kid would be coming from Southern California and having a good residential life/community is very important.
Portland State’s common data set (F1) says that 50% of frosh live in the campus dorms. This suggests that about half of the frosh are residential and the other half are commuter. 9% of all students live in the campus dorms, probably because its transfer intake (which is larger than its frosh intake) skews heavily toward non-traditional and commuter students and because residential students tend to live off-campus after frosh year.
I think it also depends on the field you’re interested in. In Ohio I would consider U of Toledo a hidden gem for engineering, U of Akron for Chemical Engineering, Kent State for Fashion Design, Shawnee State for Gaming. Ohio University has already been mentioned and it’s also a hidden gem for being a beautiful university with a very classic university feel to it.