Have you ever heard of Kettering University? Yeah, me neither. But apparently ‘US News and World Report’ magazine’s annual “America’s Best Colleges Guide for 2008” has ranked Kettering University as the best engineering school in the country. Who knew?
After a quick search, I found some great info about Kettering. They have engineering co-op programs in which the students alternate between three months of school and six weeks of actual engineering work. I think that’s fantastic – it totals half a year of schooling, and half a year of practical application, done over the course of 4 1/2 years. I think more colleges should take this route, especially for specialized majors. What a great way for a student to figure out if their chosen major is REALLY what they want to do for a career!! Even better? The students get paid for their work. It’s not a like a typical internship done for gratis – it’s a paying job throughout their college term.
I had an old boyfriend major in industrial engineering. Frankly, I was surprised that was his major since I didn’t think he was that bright. Of course, we broke up and I have no idea if he actually got the degree (I’d lean towards “NOT!”).
Kettering is based in Flint, Michigan. That’s not the best college area that I know of. But I guess those students are committed to being engineers and take the bad location in exchange for probably gaining permanent employment BEFORE they graduate. Not a lot of college co-eds get so lucky. I know I didn’t – I became a secretary. Didn’t use my major at all (but then, my major was Liberal Arts – kind of a fake degree, if you ask me). I’m not smrt like those Kettering kids.
