<p>I am a full time Boeing engineer and am interested in obtaining a masters degree in astronautics and aeronautics. My company will pay for the education, and I can go to most any major school as long as they have a distance program. </p>
<p>Both Purdue University and Stanford University offer an astronautics and aeronautics degree via distance learning. Any opinions on which of the two would be better for me to attend?</p>
<p>I am leaning toward Stanford because I believe it is more prestigous and because the chance of having instructors with thick Indian accents may be less likely at Stanford than Purdue. </p>
<p>But what are your thoughts?</p>
<p>(I work in the flight test engineering group, so I think this degree will directly benefit me with my work.)</p>
<p>Stanford is overall a more prestigious school (and engineering school), but Purdue carries more weight in the aerospace community. I know US News has Stanford ranked higher in aerospace engineering, but honestly, there seems to be a greater amount of high profile research coming out of Purdue in aerospace engineering, especially in my area of expertise (aerodynamics). Then again, if you are doing distance learning, you would not be doing a theses (or at least not a traditional one based on research done at the school) so that isn’t really a huge issue.</p>
<p>Really, it doesn’t matter which one you go to. Both have absolutely exceptional aerospace schools, and both are respected in industry.</p>
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<p>I think that’s your bottom line. If it’s a professional master’s degree - especially a distance professional master’s degree - and they cost the same, you choice the school with the better name. Especially for someone that lives in Seattle, Stanford is the better name.</p>
<p>In aerospace engineering, both Stanford and Purdue are ranked in the top five by the US News & World Report, and both have world-class engineering colleges. On which program to pick, I would look at what courses are available and what your interests are.</p>
<p>I just looked at the faculty at Stanford’s and Purdue’s aero program web sites. Their faculty all look quite impressive and very accomplished. Thus, I wouldn’t worry about their accents. I am pretty sure that if they could be faculty members at Stanford or Purdue, then they are exceptional people, and communicating effectively in the English language shouldn’t be a problem.</p>