Matriculation Decision!

Friday, September 27, 2024

Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

As I write this note, our fall Career Fair just wrapped up, and more than 460 companies were on campus to recruit our students. The entire process of matriculation, graduation and employment, prompted me to reflect on two recent Wall Street Journal rankings: 1) Missouri S&T graduates command the highest starting salary over any other university in the state of Missouri, including private universities, and 2) Missouri S&T ranks among the top 10 national universities in starting salaries for graduates. That’s right; this month, in an article titled “The Top U.S. Colleges That Make New Graduates Rich,” the Wall Street Journal ranked S&T, along with MIT, Stanford, Princeton and Caltech. Here is the top ten list:

Salary Rank Institution Salary Score Tuition
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 99.3 $61,990
2 Stanford University                98.4 $86,836
3 Princeton University 97.9 $59,710
4 Georgia Institute of Technology 97.6 $10,512*
5 University of Pennsylvania 97.3 $60,920
6 California Institute of Technology 97.4 $63,402
7 Harvey Mudd College 96.6 $68,262
8 Babson College 96.2 $57,152
9 Missouri S&T          96 $13,650*
10 Carnegie Mellon University 95.1 $64,596
 
*in-state tuition (out-of-state tuition at Georgia Tech is higher than S&T's out-of-state tuition)

Not a bad neighborhood to be in for a public university — and with much lower tuition than the private universities — and that is before considering the substantial scholarship packages at S&T that further lower costs significantly.

So, you can imagine my reaction when parents nervously ask me, “Where should my daughter go to college?” This question and its variations are perhaps the most frequent question I get from concerned parents of bright or even brilliant college-bound students. “She has been admitted to such-and-such first-tier university but also to S&T!” Collecting myself after the unintended backhanded compliment, and after managing to garner relevant information about the student, I point to information similar to the WSJ and New York Times reports, and ask, “What is the purpose and the expectation of your child’s educational experience?”  Then, I tell them that I myself am a graduate of LSU, a terrific university very similar to S&T, and I have managed to establish a rewarding career for myself. I tell them about my fond memories of my college years and how my talented and dedicated professors masterfully cared for and nurtured my educational journey.

You see, some of the more infuriating conversations happen when, in search of decisive and career-assuring answers, inquisitive parents become fixated on institutional names and titles rather than focusing on the value proposition offered. They equate securing admission to reputable institutions with an indisputable passport to career success! In reality, every profession is filled with highly successful people who graduated from lesser-known but reputable and rigorous universities with high-value propositions, as well as those who attended renowned schools, whose reputation precedes them, but ended up, well, not doing so great. The question really is, what environment best nurtures the intellectual curiosity of the student regardless of any grandiose conceived early plans?

As I reflected on the list of high ROI schools above, I couldn’t help but notice the tuition price tag and could only imagine the average student loan debt after graduation. In fact, the national dialogue around the value of higher education has shifted in the last decade, as outlined in a New York Times article that describes the shift in terms of sentiment, costs, outcomes and more. As a result of the current value proposition of a college education, or lack of it, a recent Gallup poll shows that Americans are divided on whether college is worth it. A similar article in Forbes urges those of us in higher education to convey to the public why education and learning matter.

Fortunately, as the “top 10 ROI” rankings by NYT and WSJ articles highlight, here at S&T, students get more than just an education in a particular field. They participate in skills-enhancing research, internships and cooperative learning experiences. They learn how to communicate effectively and how to work collaboratively – two invaluable components of their repertoire. No wonder the Princeton Review ranks Missouri S&T in the top 20 for career placement, internships and ROI.

In my capacity here at S&T, I have noticed that matriculation angst peaks during the increasingly obligatory campus visits. I meet many of the parents, and I ask them what they look for during a campus visit. The responses are predictable and frankly, unclear. Then I assure them that they have arrived at a good point on their matriculation decision right here on our campus as we offer a great value proposition, and perhaps more importantly, a place where potential meets opportunity.

Warmly,

-Mo.

Share your thoughts!

Read previous Friday morning messages.

Check out the latest news from S&T:

Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu