I was looking at the top ranked engineering universities on US news and I came across North Carolina State University which was ranked 28. But its overall rank was 89. Is it worth moving to North Carolina from Missouri to attend NCSU?
(Mechanical engineering major)
Yes, it is s good engineering school. Even an overall rank of 89 is really very good considering how many universities there are in this country (ignoring the issues inherent in objectively ranking schools). Even at that, in engineering circles, a school’s engineering reputation is far and away more important than its overall reputation.
The answer to your main question is yes, it is a good engineering school. Don’t fret over the rankings systems too much. I assume you mention moving so that you have access to in state tuition, but moving to NC has it’s own problems. The state is pretty tough on residency requirements so it would be difficult to move to NC for instate tuition. Read this - https://www.ncsu.edu/grad/tuition-residency/
Why not Mizzou?
You mean aside from the fact that Mizzou is only the second best engineering program in Missouri? 
Interesting, about MS&T. Learn something new everyday. Just shows how regional some of this can be, as my sum knowledge of engineering programs in Missouri comes from the Mizzou guy sitting across the room from me. Now I can hassle him about going to a ‘low-tier’ school 
Back to the OP, I will restate - “Why not MS&T?”
I always support hassling Mizzou friends. That’s basically my mantra in life.
Although @boneh3ad has the upper hand because the Illini won the bragging rights game, even as a Mizzou alum I have to agree that Rolla has a better engineering school. Is just…in Rolla. 
This is pretty important, and it’s why I didn’t even apply there as an undergraudate who grew up in the St. Louis area. It’s not for everyone. On the other hand, I have a cousin who went there and she loved it.
This year was really just a battle of who sucked more. Thankfully, the answer was the Tigers.
NCSU is located in a real city :). Why not the Kansas schools, next door and probably a break in tuition vs full OOS?
Oops! I didn’t know that Eyemeh is a Mizzou alum…awkWARD! LOL
Hey, Turbo93 has a point about the Kansas schools. Lake Jr. investigated the ChE and the Materials Engineering departments at KSU. The renewable energy research going on at KSU appealed to him, though ultimately he chose to apply for admission elsewhere. The Mechanical Engineering departments (particularly Aerospace) at Wichita State and U of Kansas have solid reputations. Just ask the Boeing Company.
Anyone have insights about St. Louis U and U Dayton Mechanical or Aerospace programs? I have doubts whether they are worth the extra cost of attending private college, but with merit aid I consider them options. Dayton promotes its Co-Op and a service learning program which both have some appeal. Also looking at KU as suggested above. It doesn’t seem to offer co-op, but I would assume internship opportunities are a good alternative if you can get them, agree? I also notice they emphasize competitive teams like SAE, which sounds interesting as well. Anyone familiar with these teams? Generally I’d like to look into engineering programs, generally east of the Rockies, that offer a lot of hands on opportunities for undergrads, smaller classes, access to professors. My oldest son went to WPI, which has many of these attributes, but younger son is less interested in an all-engineering/science school and probably wants to stay in the mid-west.
If CoOp is the objective look at University of Cincinnati… OOS $$ is not too bad, and Cinci is a great city. If the stats are right, Purdue has co-ops as well but not part of the curriculum the way Cinci has them.
I don’t think that a co-op integrated into the curriculum should be your most important criteria for selecting an engineering school. Yes, some schools require a co-op term but plenty of students from other STEM universities win co-ops and internships on their own. And schools that do not require a co-op term/semester nevertheless have been successful at attracting significant company recruiters to their campus to seek applicants for co-ops. In fact, that is how Lake Jr. got his co-op job. He had a job at a major high tech firm and he enjoyed it very much.
Literally any major engineering program will have co-op opportunities. Some require them and some leave it as optional, but the opportunity is pretty much always there for those who are interested. There’s also something to be said for having the choice to do a co-op. What if the student would rather do a series of summer internships? What if, by the time the student reaches the end of junior year, he/she has decided to pursue graduate school and just wants to finish up the remaining courses? For these kinds of students, flexibility is a real boon.
@4getit - I am sure that both Dayton nor St. Louis have perfectly acceptable, accredited, engineering programs and they will do fine in placing their graduates. You have to see if they are a good fit for your son. If he is interested in a more research oriented university that is on the smaller side then the technical universities are probably better or something like Washington University if it is financially feasible. another option in Ohio is Miami University which has a solid engineering program too.
I think there is a student here at Wichita state on a full ride? Studying aerospace engineering. @albert69 ?
@mommdc Yep, that’s me. OP, if you’re interested in WSU, PM me and I can give you some details about the place if you like.
If you do an ABET accredited program, you should be able to find an engineering job somewhere as long as you are able to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA.
Again, @umcoe16, very likely a high school senior, is spreading an untruth about the 3.0 myth. The better your grades, the more jobs will be open to you. So, do the very best you can. With that said, there are LOTS of 2.5 engineers out there and there forever will be. Good luck!