UCCS

[taks]

http://www.uccs.edu/~ur/2006/view_article.php?article_id=491

 

10th in the nation for public schools that offer bachelor's or master's degrees. not too shabby. we've been ranked every year for the past 4 or 5, as i recall, but we are shrinking. somebody needs to kick up the advertising.

 

taks

[Gorth]

Has anybody investigated why they are shrinking? Coloradians (what do you guys call yourselves?) not making enough babies? Inbreeding/lower IQ's? More people leaving the state than entering? Engineering has become "unfashionable"?

[taks]

Has anybody investigated why they are shrinking? Coloradians (what do you guys call yourselves?) not making enough babies? Inbreeding/lower IQ's? More people leaving the state than entering? Engineering has become "unfashionable"?

coloradans. we are shrinking because a large chunk of our technology base has left town. from what i understand, UCCS exists because hewlett-packard wanted a school in town. there used to be several semiconductor fabs here, most of them are empty buildings now. intel was the latest casualty. atmel is still here, but they aren't that big. there's a few others, all small as well. even HP is gone, with agilent remaining though they are laying off. i actually moved here right after the tech-bubble burst, and the part of town i worked in (right next to new life family church) was slated to be the new tech center (right now it is along garden of the gods road), but that plan sort of took an early dirt nap. the defense contractor sector is growing here, however, so that may help. in general, UCCS is still considered a "commuter" school, much like University of Missouri - St. Louis and Kansas City (UMSL, UMKC). as a result, we don't have many dorms for out of towners, nor do we have any fraternities/sororities (my first school, UMR, had over 1000 students in fraternities/sororities). kids still go up to boulder since it costs the same and their department is larger, though not necessarily better (larger just means more choices for electives).

 

taks

[Gromnir]

http://www.uccs.edu/~ur/2006/view_article.php?article_id=491

 

10th in the nation for public schools that offer bachelor's or master's degrees. not too shabby. we've been ranked every year for the past 4 or 5, as i recall, but we are shrinking. somebody needs to kick up the advertising.

 

taks

 

you know, there is a goodly number o' excellent educational institutions that not seem to have much o' a national reputation. the only drawback to attending such a school is that your initial job search post graduation will probably be limited to a relative small geographical area.

 

east coast folks seems to be much more impressed with university lineage. is strange that we gets far more respect from folks back east for our Cal degrees than we does from the natives. go figure.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[taks]

you know, there is a goodly number o' excellent educational institutions that not seem to have much o' a national reputation. the only drawback to attending such a school is that your initial job search post graduation will probably be limited to a relative small geographical area.

 

east coast folks seems to be much more impressed with university lineage. is strange that we gets far more respect from folks back east for our Cal degrees than we does from the natives. go figure.

 

HA! Good Fun!

very true, very true. UMR is the defacto standard in the midwest in terms of "quality," but outside that region few have even heard of it. even mizzou has a big engineering school, typically given similar ratings as UMR, but it is even less well known (heck, UMSL has an engineering extension program from UMR). SIU is well known in the midwest, too. down in melbourne, when i worked for harris, EVERYONE was from either Georgia Tech or UF. out here in CO... melting pot. i have worked with plenty of UCCS grads (none actually at the same experience level as i have), and they are no better/worse than the myriad other university grads i've worked with.

 

i think this is true with any university degree, a discussion we've had in here before, actually. just about any university is going to provide a good education, and the distinctions between them are more about who they let in, rather than how well they are teaching. in either case, the top performers will always rise to the top regardless of where they got their degree.

 

one area that prestige does play a role, i think, is research. not so much for undergraduate degrees, but for MS and PhD degrees. it is very difficult to pick a topic when you don't attend a big research school. likewise, there isn't much chance of getting a research assistance-ship when the professors in your area are writing text books, not doing research. trust me on this one...

 

taks