In terms of a comparison, even some liberal arts colleges of fewer than 2000 students support separate departments for mathematics and CS. Those that do this generally will be stronger in CS compared those that do not, with “stronger” defined as greater breadth and depth of courses and greater research opportunities.
Yes.
Regarding early career earnings disparities between Rutgers and SCU CS graduates, has this been supported factually on this thread (an honest question)?
Well, SCU is weird – it has both a CSE department and a Math+CS department, so it does support a separate CS(E) department as well as part of the Math+CS department.
Here are the CS course offerings at SCU:
CSE (COEN): https://www.scu.edu/engineering/academic-programs/department-of-computer-engineering/undergraduate/course-descriptions/
CS in Math+CS (CSCI): Upper Division Course Schedule - College of Arts and Sciences - Santa Clara University
For recent bachelor’s graduates who received federal financial aid, the pay levels listed on College Scorecard are:
| Median Pay | # Grads | School | Major (as listed in College Scorecard) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $71,778 | 382 | Rutgers | “Computer and information sciences, general” |
| NA | 4 | SCU | “Computer software and media applications” |
| $103,449 | 87 | SCU | “Computer engineering” |
| NA | 54 | SCU | “Mathematics and computer science” |
Two cautions with College Scorecard here:
My preference is the Bay Area, so I am heavily leaning towards Santa Clara, but it would change my mind if Rutgers had a much better program.
You can compare the SCU CS and CSE courses linked above with the Rutgers CS courses found here:
CS covers a wide range of topics and different programs have different emphasis. A CS department that is primarily housed in an A&S division, or affiliated with a math department, is likely to have its origin in the math department. It tends to be more theoretical, leans more heavily toward subfields that require greater mathematical sophistication, and focuses less on the “software engineering” aspect of CS.
Would it be relevant that some of the courses required for the CS major in A&S were actually courses in the engineering dept?
Yes.
There is a checklist indicating that certain courses for the A&S BS are in COEN - looks like three, plus additional courses within the various areas of emphasis. https://www.scu.edu/media/offices/drahmann/check-sheets-core-requirements/arts-and-sciences/CSCheckList2018-1-1.pdf (A&S courses are “CSCI” and engineering courses are “COEN”)
Do you want to live in Santa Clara CA, or do you want to live in New Brunswick NJ?
My kid is an SCU grad. She absolutely loved her four years there. Engineering major.
I think you need to think about the other qualities of the colleges when making your decision.
Re: businesses returning to a more normal in person format? Do you think that will happen more on the east coast…because it’s not. My DHs engineering firm in the east will not have everyone in the office at least through the end of 2021…if ever.
How would you define “better”?
I have a recent CSE grad from SCU, and two SCU grads at our house currently (other is web design and engineering). Were strong programs for both. Top notch and demanding. Several high-end high pay internship offers with great help from SCU (sent students to tech career fairs around the country) and mine landed at one of the many who’s who companies in SV (other chose start up after big co internship to start with). We have several in tech currently all living together at our house riding out the pandemic together, and they haven’t missed a beat this past year. They plan to be back in office in Aug/Sept and can’t wait!
I don’t know anything about Rutgers so can’t compare. But SCU is a personal edcation at a gorgeous campus. It is smaller and quieter than some for sure (compared to say a USC, I have a CS grad from there as well), depends on what you are looking for there. But the CS and the Web program were great in our case. The CSE program is definitely more math/engineering demanding than the web program, just depends what you want to do. Obviously moving between engineering at SCU is easy if you choose to change direction. Adding a minor easy as well, if you have time for it. Good luck with your decision!
I would recommend Santa Clara then, these are comparable programs!
Rutgers’ data show that Computer Science majors from class of 2019 class had a mean salary of $92K. Students & Alumni | Career Exploration and Success
Another level of salary analysis would consider regional cost of living differences
As a side note, if you choose SCU, I hope you choose to live on campus - they have some very nice dorms! That campus is like Disneyland, it is kept meticulous, including the dorms (inside the rooms vary of course). The landscaping is phenomenal - there must be a little elf waiting to catch leaves as they fall from the tree - there is nothing out of place! One of mine lost their keys on campus and they were so easy to find sitting atop the perfectly coiffed grass. 
The numbers from College Scorecard are medians, so the comparable numbers from that Rutgers page would be $79,000 for the class of 2018 and $90,000 for the class of 2019.
Note that the samples are different, so that could account for the difference. College Scorecard includes those graduates who received federal financial aid, while Rutgers presumably includes those graduates who returned its survey.
They’re both in high-cost areas. NYC use to be more expensive than the Bay Area but it’s about the same now.
The people I know with CS (or any) degrees out of Santa Clara are very competent and don’t seem to have problems finding work. I don’t know anyone who has a CS degree from Rutgers, so can’t comment on them.
Look at the programs themselves rather than what department they’re run out of. The latter is irrelevant. I also wouldn’t get wrapped up in salary surveys. They’re mostly based on what part of the country people work in, and I don’t trust people to give out honest and accurate salary information in the first place.
The College Scorecard numbers are from the IRS, but are only available for graduates who received federal financial aid. See page 27 of https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/assets/FullDataDocumentation.pdf .
That’s another reason not to trust salary surveys. Limited data on top of lying!
On the other hand, they are likely more accurate than opinions that have no data behind them, such as the common “all STEM majors are well paid” opinion from those who have apparently not looked at the pay prospects for biology BA/BS graduates.
Regarding cost of living, I have worked for over ten years in a large company that has offices in numerous locations, including Princeton and Santa Clara and the HR policy regarding salaries was that Princeton = US baseline + 15% and Santa Clara = US baseline + 25%.
Jobs in NYC pay definitively better than in Princeton, but one has to trade a 30-minute drive to work for a 2-hour public transportation commute. The consensus in the Princeton office was that it made no sense to accept a job in NYC if it did not pay at least 20K more per year. Turnover for software engineers in the Princeton office was pretty low.
In Santa Clara conversely, the turnover for software engineers was quite high. Motivated people would basically keep practicing the coding tests for the Internet companies until they received offers and we could not (would not) match them.