My daughter is interested in Marist and their Computer Science major. However, we are concerned that does not have ABET certification. Can anyone comment on their program?
@greentravel This shouldn’t be in the chances directory - it should be in the College Search & Selection (I don’t think there is a Marist subforum). @skieurope can you move this?
Moved to Marist.
@greentravel I found this discussion on CC regarding lack of ABET accreditation for CS programs. Consensus is that it doesn’t matter. Apparently Harvard, Vanderbilt, Boston University and many other top schools have no ABET accreditation. ABET accreditation matters for Engineering, not CS:
Thank you for that link.
I am still a little uncertain about the importance of ABET in recruiting/hiring of Computer Science majors from mid level schools. If Marist is not ABET certified but Fairfield and Scranton are ABET ceritfied, would an employer prefer the Fairfield and Scranton over Marist?
CS employers do not care at all (a single bit, in any way, every other way you can say zero care) about ABET accreditation - they care about your skills and what classes you have taken, which affects your skills. If Fairfield or Scranton offer more courses or have a better local reputation, that would have much more of an effect.
As none of these schools are known for CS, and all located in different areas that are not tech hubs, none of these schools are going to carry any reputation over the other. The best way to evaluate a CS program is to look at how extensive its course offerings are. Marist seems to have extensive requirements that cover most topics in CS and seems to offers a good number of electives. I would have no concerns about Marist CS in terms of learning what you will need and the employer view.
Thanks so much! This gives us some perspective and guidance in our decision making. Since our family has no background in this field, we really don’t know how to judge the programs we are looking at.