Engineering Technology school under $30k for 3.89 gpa student?

EconPop
Wed, 23 Aug 2023 10:50:52 +0000

Hi @scritch ,

I’m from NC and my son attends U of Dayton. My son is not an Engineering student, but he knows several and he says all are very pleased with their education and experience at U Dayton. The Dayton area is crazy about the university basketball team and the arena is a great experience for the students, hard to match by 95% of other universities. Other sports have a much smaller but dedicated following. The campus has about 10K students, neither too small nor too large for most students.
EDIT: One thing to add about UDayton. I think almost no one pays the sticker. There are several merit scholarship opportunities. You should run the NPC to get a better idea of the cost for your family.

NCA&T, ECU and UNC Charlotte are all great options. I know recent (and not so recent) graduates of all three of those schools. I know current students at those schools. They’re all typically great places to learn and live for four (or five) years.

Flying into Charlotte and Greensboro would be straightforward. Greenville’s airport is a little smaller, so I’m not sure if that would affect cost. FWIW, flying into Dayton OH is also relatively easy.

If your student is looking for good school spirit around college athletic teams, he’ll find plenty at ECU and NCA&T. Charlotte has built some impressive facilities, and their crowds also seem enthusiastic.

You’d find less sports teams enthusiasm at a place like Western Carolina, but I the students I know there mostly all love it. It’s a beautiful place … but it is remote. Even for North Carolinians, driving there feels like driving to another state - I live in NC and I can get to Washington DC in less time than it takes for me to get to WCU. While it would be less expensive than the other NC options listed, if your budget can stretch, NCA&T, ECU and UNC-Charlotte would all offer broader engineering/tech options than WCU. But for a country kid who wants to avoid cities, this is a good option to explore.

Greensboro (NCA&T) is a great city with several other universities nearby. UNC-Greensboro (14K undergrads) is only five minutes from A&T; Guilford College and Greensboro College (both small LACs) are also relatively close - making the area feel like a college hub to me (and maybe just me.) The downtown is adding a lot of fun things and city/region has several F500 headquarters. There is a new performing arts center for Broadway Plays and other events. Major music acts tour the area regularly. There is a minor league baseball team and an NBA G-league team. I know many people my age and my son’s age who attend(ed) universities in the city and all had a great time. The Engineering program at A&T has great outcomes for graduates and provides a lot of hands-on experience for students. I don’t know if it’s still in place but the school once had an agreement/partnership with NASA to provide access for students in the program. I know a couple of recent Engineering grads and they both landed fantastic high-paying jobs.
EDIT: I found this about A&T’s partnership with Space Force “A&T is one of 11 universities – including Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Purdue University – initially selected to join the UPP.”

Charlotte is NC’s largest city and you probably don’t need me to say much about it. Needless to say, it should have everything a college student might seek. UNC-Charlotte’s campus feels new and like it is steadily growing, and a train provides free access to downtown Charlotte where your son will find NFL and NBA teams, minor league baseball and hockey, and professional soccer.

Greenville is a great college town. It’s not nearly as large as Greensboro and Charlotte, but it has tremendous school spirit. The campus has everything a student would need, and a very good engineering department, though with fewer Engineering disciplines than A&T and Charlotte. There are a couple of very nice student-oriented commercial areas bordering different sides of campus. Greenville is only an hour from the beach. It also has a minor league baseball team, but no other pro sports. But ECU sports is much more important to the locals than in Greensboro and Charlotte. Game day/night is a community event in Greenville. Every student I know personally who attended ECU has nothing but great things to say about their time there. 100% of them.