i.e., would STEM major classes at the renowned MIT be noticeably more difficult than STEM classes at Temple University (average-tier public university)
In theory, I guess not. Technically, they’re both ABET accredited in EE which is supposed to regulate the program between colleges somewhat.
In practice, yes. I mean, consider that being in the 75th percentile at Temple would likely place you in the bottom 1% at MIT. The students at MIT are on a completely different level of academics. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that classes would be harder to accommodate them. It’s not definitive but I’m sure you could find anecdotal evidence to support this.
Very similar thread in Parent’s Forum
To your title question. No. Simple answer
To your single, unrepresentative example (MIT vs. Temple), Yes.
With respect to ABET-accredited engineering programs, there can only be rigorous and more rigorous.
Rankings and rigor, with a few exceptions, mainly due to happenstance, have no relationship. There are a very small handful of tech schools who are known to go the extra mile on theory. You could include Caltech and MIT in that group. They, particularly Caltech, primarily based on volume of material and the speed at which it’s taught, will then be more difficult.
As for the rest, they are all over the map. Some schools that are lower ranked have significant engineering attrition because they are hard and they don’t hand hold students to get them through. This in turn lowers their ranking.
Know this, no engineering program will be easy. Beyond that, it’s a crap shoot. You can’t infer anything about difficulty from ranking.
I’d go one step further, be careful about inferring ANYTHING from school rankings, especially USNWR.