<p>1 factor/criteria, especially now, that makes or break a university is MONEY.</p>
<p>Why West Point is better than Cal? West Point is funded by the Federal Government. The Feds didn’t cut West Point’s budget to the bone, even with the current debt crisis. </p>
<p>Cal is funded by State of CA, and the state government just slashed Cal’s budget like a serial killer. Cal used to be a top 10 university (public + private) and a top 5 research institution, but over the course of last 10 years of budget cuts, it fell out of top 20. Case in point, the golden rule in education as in life is the same, whoever has the gold rules. </p>
<p>Also, it is a lot tougher to get into West Point than Cal. So if West Point is better than Cal, then how can the other UCs compare?</p>
<p>Undergraduate engineering education is not rocket science. The same basic physics, math, engineering theories are required to be covered in order to be an ABET engineering school. The primary differences between universities come into play through elective engineering classes. So if you argue that UCSB has more engineering electives that emphasize theories, entirely possible. Just like Cal Poly would have numerous more engineering lab classes than UCSB. To me, since engineering is NOT pure research, I think labs that allow students to put theories into action are a lot more essential to a good engineering education.</p>