brand new university.....is that a good or bad thing?

[ktgrok]

We have a new state university opening up next year, and it is only a county over. It's Florida Polytechnic. It will be STEM oriented, with lot of subspecialties that my son would be interested in I think...thinks like information security, machine intelligence, computer engineering, etc. (my 14 year old currently runs his own server, build computers for family members, etc and my husband is a Security Engineer dealing with information security). I think my son would love this and may seriously consider it. And, it is so close to home that he could come by and see his much much younger siblings from time to time. My question is....is it good to attend a fairly new school like this? It will only have been open for 4 years when he is ready to go to college. (and yes, I know I'm getting way ahead of myself here, but I am very curious about this)

 

this is the school: http://floridapolytechnic.org/

 

 

[Lanny]

If, when he is ready for university, their Engineering courses are accredited by ABET, yes, give it strong consideration. If no ABET accrediation, I would forget it. Here's a link to ABET:

http://www.abet.org/accreditation/

 

I was a member of IEEE for many years and they have been very active with evaluations of engineering programs.

 

Years ago, the first time I went to work in the NW, for a large aerospace corporation, under contract,  I was told that they had a list (of approximately 50 universities as I recall) and if someone had graduated from a unversity that was not on their list, they would NOT have the title of "Engineer" in that company. I do not have a university degree, but I had "Engineer" on my badge.

 

GL to your DS!

 

 

[bettyandbob]

This school looks great. I'm sending a link to my ds, hoping he will get focused for next year. 

 

I don't think new is a bad thing in a school focusing on technology. I'd look at accreditation. And I'd have the student focus on getting internship opportunities to apply his studies. 

[OrganicAnn]

I would also look at the acceditation.   Since there are not many classes of graduates to prove the school's worth, you need something else. 

 

Also I would consider whether your DS wants a job in Florida or elsewhere.   If he wants to work locally, then a school that is locally known would be fine.   If he wants to work for a company that is out of state, he needs to be more aware of what schools they typically hire from.

[skimomma]

As has been said, make sure it is ABET accredited.  Or at least in the "successful review" process.  If so, you are good.  The ABET accreditation process is very thorough and takes 6 full years and a minimum number of graduates, so a new school will not be able to get it officially for several years.  But if the school is in the process they should be able to provide you with its ABET status.  They will have to have their ducks in a row to be considered successfully progressing.  I would feel confident enough with that standing.

[Cera]

Definitely look at accreditation.  One of my SILs went to a new state university with a stem focus and after three years found out they would not be receiving the accreditation they needed for her to actually be an engineer when she graduated.  She had to transfer to an older university in the same state system to ensure she got her degree from a school that was accredited.

[Susan C.]

My ds attended (graduated) and dd attends a newer local university. My son had to deal with no food the first year (cafeteria being built, he ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches and I had to run food out to him more than once) and fewer major choices. But other than that, it was nice being a part of it. Its small, professors teach all classes and wander around campus and interact with students.

[Venia]

One thing to consider too, is that a newer school will be hungry for students. I am not sure what the situation is in Florida, but in my state, colleges and universities have been flooded with applications. They have been turning away many qualified students and the slots available are more and more competitive. The terrible part is, even if a student gets one of the slots, there is no guarantee there will be seats available in the classes needed. I would hope that a newer university would be very eager to gain accreditation and therefor provide more to its students.