Why do LACs have no engineering majors?

<p>Just like the title says. This has been bothering me for quite some time. I want to attend a LAC but problem is, I can't find one with engineering as a major.</p>

<p>Harvey Mudd College has a general engineering major, but you can choose a focus later on. </p>

<p>I don't really know of any others.</p>

<p>You can go to any of these liberal arts colleges and an engineering degree through a 3/2 program with columbia.</p>

<pre><code>* Adelphi University, Garden City, NY
* Albertson College, Caldwell, ID
* Albion College, Albion, MI
* Alfred University, Alfred, NY
* Allegheny College, Meadville, PA
* Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
* Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD
* Austin College, Sherman, TX
* Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, OH
* Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
* Barnard College, New York, NY
* Bates College, Lewiston, ME
* Beloit College, Beloit, WI
* Bethany College, Bethany, WV
* Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, AL
* Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME
* Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
* Carleton College, Northfield, MN
* Carroll College, Helena, MT
* Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport, LA
* Centre College, Danville, KY
* Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA
* Clark University, Worcester, MA
* Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
* College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, MD
* College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
* College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA
* Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
* Columbia College, New York, NY
* Davidson College, Davidson, NC
* Denison University, Granville, OH
* DePauw University, Greencastle, IN
* Dillard University, New Orleans, LO
* Doane College, Crete, NE
* Drew University, Madison, NJ
* Earlham College, Richmond, IN
* Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL
* Elon College, NC
* Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT
* Fordham University, Bronx, NY
* Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA
* Georgetown University, Washington, DC
* Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA
* Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA
* Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
* Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY
* Hastings College, Hastings, NE
* Hendrix College, Conway, AR
* Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY
* Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
* Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL
* Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, FL
* Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA
* Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina, KS
* Knox College, Galeburg, IL
* Lawrence University, Appleton, WI
* Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR
* Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL
* Marietta College, Marietta, OH
* Miami University, Oxford, OH
* Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
* Millsaps College, Jackson, MI
* Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA
* Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
* Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE
* Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
* Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA
* Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA
* Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
* Providence College, Providence, RI
* Queens College, Flushing, NY
* Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, VA
* Reed College, Portland, OR
* Rollins College, Winter Park, FL
* St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY
* St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY
* Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
* School of General Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY
* Scripps College, Claremont, CA
* Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA
* Simon’s Rock College of Bard, Great Barrington, MA
* Spelman College, Atlanta, GA
* State University of New York, Fredonia, NY
* State University of New York, Geneseo, NY
* State University of New York, Binghamton, NY
* Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA
* University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
* University of Richmond, Richmond, VA
* University of the South, Sewanee, TN
* University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, VI
* Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA
* Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN
* Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, PA
* Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
* Wells College, Aurora, NY
* Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
* Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
* Whitworth College, Spokane, WA
* Willamette University, Salem, OR
* William Jewell College, Liberty, MO
* Williams College, Williamstown, MA
* Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH
* Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC
* Yeshiva University, New York, NY
</code></pre>

<p>Because they are liberal art colleges</p>

<p>Engineering is a conservative science</p>

<p>There are others that have engineering majors without a 3/2 program as well. Union College in Schenectady, NY is one. For women, Smith College has a new engineering program. Swarthmore College too. University of Rochester is considered a LAC or "LAC-like" and has extensive engineering programs.</p>

<p>LACs with engineering: Harvey Mudd, Smith College, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley/MIT(Engineering).</p>

<p>Tufts has an excellent undergraduate program in engineering</p>

<p>[url=<a href="http://www.centre.edu/web/academic/majors/engineering.html%5DCentre's"&gt;http://www.centre.edu/web/academic/majors/engineering.html]Centre's&lt;/a> 3/2 program<a href="noted%20above">/url</a> has cooperative dual-degree agreements with four engineering schools: University of Kentucky, Vanderbilt University, Washington University, and Columbia University. </p>

<p>I will be at the visiting the school next week and will post a CC visit report shortly thereafter.</p>

<p>Because engineering is kind of the antithesis of liberal arts.</p>

<p>That said some of them do, and you can do a 3/2 program.</p>

<p>Doesn't Lafayette have an engineering program?</p>

<p>what exactly is the 3/2 program?? Do you still get a degree in engineering?</p>

<p>3 years at LAC and 2 years at engineering school. 1 BA degree and 1 BS in Engr degree.</p>

<p>Villanova, Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Tufts, Union are all LAC type schools with engineering programs. </p>

<p>Re: 3-2 programs - ypically you must still apply to the engineering program at the end of 3 years and/or you must meet certain requirements to be accepted. Thus, you may intend to do a 3-2 program when you apply as a freshman but you may not have the stats to gain admission at the end of 3 years. As I understand it, also, you will leave the first college after junior year (for your senior year when everyone else is completing and graduating). When we looked at statistics, we found that very few students actually complete the 3-2 option. Of course, I am not an expert on this and hopefully others can offer their experiences with 3-2 programs.</p>

<p>What actually defines a LAC? I had always been under the impression that schools like Lehigh, Lafayette, and Harvey Mudd were more technically oriented. Is it just that they have a really small student body, or is there some other sort of requirement to go along with it?</p>

<p>Note: Fordham in Bronx, NY on the above list, has added a 4 year Engineering Degree program. This is in addition to their 3/2 program with Columbia or Case Western, depending on Engineering specialty. Fordham also has a 4/2 program which enables you to stay at your undergrad school all 4 years.</p>

<p>I think a LAC is defined as a college (as opposed to a university, which has advanced degrees) that offers its students a broad focus of learning. Mudd, though it's engineer-y and math-y and science-y, has its humanities requirements for its students, which is why I suppose it counts... But I think the no-grad-students plus the well-rounded-undergrads thing is where it's at.</p>

<p>Someone correct me if I'm off base, but that's my understanding (partially based upon some very recent google searches).</p>

<p>There is no rigid definition of a "liberal arts college". In general, LACs are small (< 3000 students), emphasize undergraduate education, have few or no advanced degree programs, and stress broad education in traditional liberal arts disciplines, as opposed to professional education. </p>

<p>In practice, engineering programs don't fit well with most LACs because they are perceived as too narrow. A traditional ABET-accredited engineering BS degree has rigorous course requirements in math, physical sciences, and engineering. Unfortunately, this leaves relatively little room for academic exploration in other areas, which LACs value.</p>

<p>However, some well-known LACs do offer ABET BS degrees. Examples in the collegeconfidential "Top LAC" list include Swarthmore, Smith, and Trinity.</p>

<p>Most LACs offer 3/2 BA/BS programs in conjunction with universities (most often Columbia). But in practice, the 3/2 option is not very popular; most LAC students are reluctant to bid farewell to their school and their friends after junior year. An increasingly accepted alternative is the "4/2" option: graduate with a BA degree in math or physical sciences from a LAC, then go to a university for an engineering MS.</p>

<p>Bucknell University, a well respected LAC in Pennsylvania has an excellent engineering program.</p>

<p>Harvey Mudd is very good.</p>

<p>And there are several very good small engineering colleges,but I don't know whether they count LACs. Olin college,cooper union.</p>

<p>Lafayette College in PA is a very well respected LAC, and it has an outstanding four year engineering program.</p>

<p>Lafayette or Bucknell may be better for some students. Opportunities for undergrad research and mentoring are more prevalent. My child is a senior and is going through the grad school process and has been admitted for PhD programs at MIT, Stanford, and several other top schools. Graduating from an engineering program at an LAC is definitely not a disadvantage.</p>