Embry Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott Campus:
- ~3250 undergrads
- located in Prescott, AZ, about a 2 hr drive from the Phoenix airport
We live in the Phoenix metro area, drove up for the day. From the looks of it, a lot of other families did the same. Must be college tour season for juniors! 
Large tour group. Tour guide was very informative, really nice, very approachable, thought he represented his school well. Tour guide was a sophomore aviation-something major from CO.
We must have picked, like, one of the few days this year in which there’s weather in AZ because it rained the entire tour. So because of the rain (and dumb dumb here didn’t check the weather report, so didn’t bring an umbrella) and walking distance from visitor center to dorms & dining hall, the tour skipped both of those so everybody wouldn’t be drenched.
Saw lots of engineering labs. Those were pretty cool. My kid is interested in their cybersecurity and intelligence majors.
Small class sizes. Biggest lecture hall sits ~60-ish students. Average classes are ~ 20 students, according to what the tour guide said.
PROS:
- this is an awesome school if you’re a serious student, are into STEM, and are interested in pursuing a career in aerospace, aviation, engineering, and/or fed gov’t/defense industry sorts of companies & jobs.
- If you want to get a job as a commercial airline pilot, you should seriously consider this school. Major airlines hire students for internships which turn into job offers before graduation. You can also get your commercial pilot’s license while attending. Part of the tour went to the local airport because they have a training center there. We skipped that part because my kid isn’t interested in becoming a pilot.
- If you want a career as an air traffic controller, this is also an excellent place to go. Lots of opportunity.
- All of the professors have industry experience.
- Career center has fall & spring job fairs with >150 employers
- Great school if you’re not into Greek life. There are no frat or sorority houses.
- great location if you’re an outdoorsy person. Tour guide said he’s gone on trips hosted by the college to various parks in northern AZ and southern UT, where everybody signs up and the college provides a big van for everybody to pile into, and away you go.
- first college tour I’ve been on where there were actually a boatload of students actually in the library. Both studying and just hanging out and chatting. Like…the library was a hub of social activity.
- lots of nerdy, serious students, but vibe felt…how do I put it…grounded, kind of down to earth & goal-oriented.
- ROTC available on campus if that’s your thing.
- students from all over. Cars in the parking lot from CA, NV, CO, TX, Montana, Vermont. Literally all over the place.
- there’s grocery stores, Walmart, etc. not that far away.
- lots of student clubs which are career focused.
- the engineering labs & equipment on campus is pretty great.
- hallways in all of the major instructional buildings featured undergrad students’ senior projects. Lots of big posters of graduated students featuring their bachelor’s degree & what type of job they’re currently in.
- decent amount of diversity
- when our tour was starting, there was a Native American robotics team finishing up their tour. Looked like the college had coordinated a special tour for them. I really liked that. Northern AZ has a good amount of Native American residents. Nice to see that the college is being supportive of encouraging Native American students to pursue STEM careers.
- 99% of undergrads have a job offer at graduation or go straight to grad school. Lots of focus & support at this school for getting a job at graduation. There were TV monitors in many campus buildings advertising internship & job-related events on campus.
NEUTRAL THINGS:
- campus vibe is a little right of center. Pro-military, so if you’re uncomfortable with that, you shouldn’t go here.
- If you’re into the arts, don’t come here.
- campus is sort of on a hill, feels removed from rest of Prescott.
- scenic location
- lots of parking
- Prescott & Prescott Valley have a combined population of ~85,000, but there’s a Costco in town. And even an “At Home” store, which I didn’t expect.
- 1st floor of library has a gaming lab. Was full of students. College has a game design major.
- there’s no football team, I think, so don’t attend here if you want football & basketball games that are the center of campus life.
- there’s definitely LGBTQ+ club(s) on campus, but if I had a trans kid, I’d probably want to steer my child elsewhere unless a career in aeronautics/aviation and/or space-related stuff was really their jam.
- this is not a college where you are going to see a lot of student protests because everybody’s busy studying and doing HW.
CONs:
- definitely need a car
- limited dining options on campus, would get pretty old quickly if you have no wheels
- although grocery store, Walmart, etc. are not that far away, you need a car to get to it.
- driving route from our house to the college was a pain. So much road construction on I-17 and there’s still lots of sections where the freeway’s roadway is barely holding it together. Found that to be stressful and annoying.
- Weather was a huge no from D26. The rain during the tour didn’t bother us, but on the drive home, the rain turned into a mix of rain and snow, like accumulating on the car and here it is almost the 3rd week of April. However, we were at 5000 ft elevation.
- D26 doesn’t give a rip about outdoorsy activities, so none of the proximity to hiking and outdoor recreation mattered.
- D26 thought there would be nothing to do on weekends. Did not like how it felt like nothing was near campus. Did not like the feel of Prescott area. Although downtown Prescott is lovely…but it’s frequented a lot on weekends by older adults/non-college students.
- So although my kid wants to major in cybersecurity and intelligence, she felt like the campus was a little ‘off’ for her. I think it might have been the tour guide mentioning briefly about the Christian student group he participates in and D26 has a really close friend who identifies as non-binary, so D26 leans a little left of center in terms of social issues/topics. She really liked the vibe on campus at University of Arizona instead, so that school is still at the top of the list after the Embry Riddle school.
Prior to the drive home, even though D26 was sort of “meh” on the college after the tour, once it started to half-rain/half-snow, she said, “Nope! That’s it for me! Not gonna happen!” Prior to that, she was like, “I’ll probably still apply anyway. I mean, I want to keep my options open.” My kid is definitely a delicate desert flower. 
** edited to add **
After the tour before heading home, we ate at an Italian restaurant in downtown Prescott called Limoncello. Out of this world authentic Italian pizza. Had some amazing gelato there, too. Food was phenomenal.