I work in a NYC firm where we have hired Stevens graduates, and pay them same
as grads of other top colleges from which we recruit. The other schools on your list are poorly represented
in my field, Stony Brook being 2nd after Stevens. Bing I find business and liberal arts grads in non tech positions,
but not their engineering grads, small alumni network and not recruited in my firm. Never met a Rowan graduate in my decades of IT work in NYC.
Yes, well, like I said, Payscale’s survey for only engineering graduates and their survey for all majors puts Stevens fifth and twelfth of all schools in the US, respectively. The fact that Stevens receives six times as many applicants as it has seats in its first year class- in spite of the “sticker” (which again, almost none of the students actually pay) tuition being higher than a public university and that Stevens can reject almost two thirds of the applicants means that those students know they are getting a degree that will open many more doors. If the public colleges really offered the same opportunities as Stevens (and its private technological university peers) this would not be the case. Incidentally, most of the Ivy League schools are not particularly well known for engineering. Basing one’s choice heavily upon “sticker price” is unwise.
@blevine- UC Berkeley is a great school- probably the best of public engineering and science schools, the only one on ucbalumnus’ list that compares to Stevens.
“the only one on ucbalumnus’ list that compares to Stevens.” That is just not true. For undergraduate engineering rankings for programs with doctorates, US News puts Berkeley at #3, GT at #4, VT at #16 and Stevens at # 75. Stony Brook(63) and Rutgers(53) are ranked higher than Stevens. These are all good programs, including Stevens.
So you really put credence in USNWR? I sincerely hope that you aren’t advising your children to seriously use USNWR in selecting a college. USNWR is in business to sell magazines and advertising not to provide educational advice or guidance. The methodology and validity of USNWR’s “ranking” has been heavily criticized and rebuked by the leadership of many schools, including some of those that USNWR ranks highly. That Stevens graduates are recruited as enthusiastically and compensated as well as they are is really the measure of the value that the professional marketplace accords them. That is the bottom line not a nebulous ranking largely based upon subjective criteria and opinion. By the way, the professor and director of UC-Berkeley’s Sensor Research Lab in their EE department is a Stevens alumnus.
I certainly understand US News has flaws. As do some of the things you’ve cited that are favorable to Stevens, like Payscale.
Payscale is a quantitative survey that uses hard numerical data and has a stated valid statistical method of analyzing the data. USNWR is largely-by their own statement- based upon subjective opinions of college administrators when asked whom they believe has a good engineering (science, medicine, law, education, et al) program. This type of non-quantitative subjective opinion gathering suffers from a form of selection bias in that larger schools with more name recognition tend to rise to the top of mind of those being queried. This is the flaw of USNWR that has been cited by many schools (including as I say some that have been highly ranked by USNWR). As one trained in statistics and design of experiments I know that such surveys have little real world validity. I have worked with graduates of all the big name schools and have seen good and bad ones from all of them, the same from not as big name schools. I can tell you however that the depth and breadth of Stevens’ curriculum which is unique among US engineering schools makes the problem solvers that are highly prized by industry. USNWR- I believe- doesn’t even consider the outcomes of the graduates in its ranking as does Payscale, which arguably is one of the most important criteria. That won’t be reflected in USNWR’s methodology.
If you are going by average pay of graduates, here is the comparison (from the links in reply #39):
Major Stevens SJSU Alabama Berkeley
Biomedical Engineering 62650 68333 NA 70614
Chemical Engineering 73550 62500 67100 77151
Civil Engineering 61500 63538 56142 63703
Computer Engineering 74750 79995 NA 107703 (EECS)
Computer Science 83100 82375 71286 103963 (L&S CS)
Electrical Engineering 68300 78157 68345 NA (EECS is mostly CS/E)
Mechanical Engineering 63000 67315 64708 75772
Looks like from average pay levels of graduates, Stevens is more comparable to San Jose State and Alabama (and Alabama graduates are more likely to find work in low cost of living areas), rather than Berkeley.
“Almost nobody pays full freight at Stevens.” The OP says his son only got a small scholarship from them for a $60,000 school. That they would have to take out $80,000 in loans. Rowan or Stony Brook sound like better bets to me but it is not my money.
Payscale as I say is a superset of those data garnered by querying the graduates. Since that is a study independent of the schools themselves that is who I give weight to. Secondly, all private universities are going to have higher tuition than
public ones, yet, Stevens and its (few) peers still have many times the number of applicants than they can admlt despite the higher cost and more stringent standards of admission. This says that those students feel the higher tuition, greater difficulty of admission, and tougher curriculum is worth the far greater added value. New Jersey’s public colleges by the way aren’t particularly good values considering their relatively high tuition compared to their peers in other states. In fact, NJ has the highest rate of outmigration of high school graduates entering college despite the “low” instate tuition. Except for Stevens, Princeton, and a few divisions of Rutgers and TCNJ to which NJ students clamor to attend, NJ students are running away from NJ colleges to attend higher cost out of state public and private institutions which means that NJ students as a group do not consider most of the instate colleges to be particularly good values. While in an ideal world it would be great to graduate with zero debt, one can certainly pay off their student loans considering the salary they will command as a Stevens graduate (of course that also applies to peer institutions). I graduated with (constant dollar equivalent) of $42k in student loans. I paid them off in 7 years. Of course, I didn’t have a BMW, $500k house, et al but one has plenty of time to establish his or her career. Finally, this conversation reminds me of an old saying I learned in business- “People know the price of everything and the value of nothing”.
@Engineer80
I don’t know how UCB came up,OP said “my son has gotten Accepted to Binghamton, Stony Brook, ROwan University” Does not seem UCB is an option for this kid, so why is this relevant ?
My own son applied to all these schools except Rowan. Don’t get that this is anything but a safety school, which is something one would consider for financial reasons at this point, if at all. The rest are fine choices. As a NYS resident, I was reluctant to give up offers to SB as a top engineering school that only costs $20k/year. Bing is a tiny poorly funded Engineering school (good for liberal arts but not as much for engineering, but certainly good enough). Stevens is one of the oldest engineering schools in the country, a very pretty campus, but yes very expensive. For the top applicants they make it affordable, if you are not one of those applicants, then may not be a viable choice. If not a NYS resident, then the SUNY schools are still affordable but not as big a bargain.
My son’s merit at Stevens made the cost higher than OOS SUNY but the difference made it a worthwhile consideration. For in state not comparable in cost at all. But we loved Stevens and if one can afford it, wonderful place to attend. Stony Brook has crowded dorms, many commuters, and not a fun place to attend college, but academically/financially very good. Personally of the choices available SB seemed best overall.
Well, its been a while since i have posted. I see the arguments going back and forth between pro Stevens and pro Rowan people. In the end my son chose BINGHAMTON. His decision was based on the following thoughts. He will get his bachelors and then attend Stevens for his Masters. If his grades are good at Binghamton maybe they will give him a decent scholarship to attend.
The only debt he will have will be from his post graduate work…Smart kid
Thanks for the thoughtful insight, its on him now. The cord has been cut
Just curious, why choose Binghamton over Rowan? Rowan engineering program certainly much higher ranked than Binghamton. Not only that it’s far less expensive to go in state New Jersey then out of state.