<p>So i'm currently attending Penn State Harrisburg because it is close to home and is cheaper than UP. I am going for Electrical Engineering and was planning to transfer to UP after two years, but i realized how much more UP will cost compared to Harrisburg. They both offer a Bachelor for EE so i was wondering if it matters if i would get my BS from Harrisburg instead. Do employers look down on branch campus degrees compared to degrees from UP? I feel like the education would be better at UP but I'm not sure. Any help would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I am not incredibly familiar with Harrisburg’s program, but I am a UP EE grad. I think you have three big issues with staying at Harrisburg.</p>
<p>First is course selection. Harrisburg is offering 10 400-level and 2 500-level electives this fall, compared to 17 400-level and 15 400-level electives at UP. It looks like Harrisburg only offers significant depth in a couple of areas, and even then you have little or no options for grad-level courses. If you have aspirations in other areas (or are not sure about your specialty yet), if you change your mind about specialties, or if you are interested in grad school, this could be a big problem.</p>
<p>Second is the actual faculty. I have nothing bad to say about the Harrisburg faculty as teachers, but I strongly suspect that they were considered to be weaker researchers than their UP colleagues. If your intent is to go straight into industry, this is probably not a big deal, but it becomes a very big deal for grad school - UP will offer stronger research and “growth” activities, and stronger letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>Third, there is usually a bit of a stigma with branch campuses - most employers will prefer a main campus graduate, although there will be some (usually branch-campus grads themselves) who will feel the opposite. Will this stigma keep you out of jobs? Hard to say, but I would say that in a weak economy, little issues like this become tie-breakers.</p>
<p>Yeah i was thinking that people would prefer a UP degree over a branch campus. I’ll just stick with my plans to go up to UP. Thanks.</p>