Quality Control

Others agree that more engineering schools today are adding hands-on instruction, such as team design projects.

I does make a more practical engineer.

But the question of:

What Makes a Great Engineering School?

I have to say, and that it always have been, "the student".

Appoint well experienced engineers as lecturers to teach what the students will need when they go to work and include site visits instead of lab work

Back in the days when I was hiring engineers, an undergraduate degree from MIT, Stanford or the other "big names" was worth far less than one from an institution that focused on teaching rather than research. "Teaching" universities generally tend to have smaller classes (especially the upper-level classes), which results in more student-instructor interaction.

When evaluating an engineering school, in my opinion, the critical questions to ask are:

1. What is the average class size?

2. What percentage of students have job offers at graduation?

3. How do the average salary offers for new grads compare with those of other schools?

4. What sort of senior projects are pursued?

The middle two questions, of course, reflect how industry perceives the school, not how academics perceive it. The criteria defined by academics are most likely informed by the need to raise money rather than by the quality of the education provided the students.

Some very good questions. I would continue on this line of thinking with:

5. What classes and labs are taught by tenured professors, associate professors, grad students, etc?

6. What jobs and at what companies are new grads getting? What companies actively recruit on campus?

7. What type of research projects/internships are available to undergraduates?

8. If there is a graduate program, are undergraduates accepted directly or is work experience required? If direct acceptance is allowed, does it shorten the total time to a graduate degree?

I forgot to mention one thing. While "hands on" programs are beneficial, you need to keep an eye out for "Engineering" versus "Engineering Technology" degrees. The degrees are often not seen as equal by many employers. If you go to engineering school, you want to end up working as an engineer and not as a technician. It will also have a huge impact if you want to continue on to graduate school or if you want/need to transfer to another school/degree program. One measure is to make sure that the program is accredited as an "Engineering" program. For example, by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) in the United States.

True, there are those who never think of that, (or reconize the difference).

It all depends on how you measure it.

Just like in politics, you can get any answer you want as long as you ask the right questions.

Personally, I think these rankings are a waste of time. Employers are probably the best indication of what constitutes a good engineering school.