“Pennsylvania State University awarded the most undergraduate degrees in STEM fields (6,473) in 2019-20…”

[BobPSU92]

See the link below. From the article:

“Pennsylvania State University awarded the most undergraduate degrees in STEM fields (6,473) in 2019-20, the latest year for which relatively complete data are available. Rounding out the top 5 were the University of California (Berkeley), Texas A and M University, Arizona State University and Purdue University, all of which graduated more than 4,000 STEM majors that year.

Those results are based on recent Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) figures as summarized in Higher Ed Data Stories, a blog written by Jon Boeckenstedt, the Vice Provost of Enrollment at Oregon State University.”

These American Universities Graduate The Most STEM Majors

Pennsylvania State University awarded the most undergraduate degrees in STEM fields (6,473) in 2019-20, the most recent year for which relatively complete data are available.

www.forbes.com

The article failed to mention that PSU turned our 6,473 stupid, well-heeled, out-of-state kids.

DIPLOMA. MILL.

 

[psuro]

In a related story, any student who did not get their degree in a STEM field received a participation trophy and a letter stating they are just as good as everyone else.

 

[bdgan]

In a related story, any student who did not get their degree in a STEM field received a participation trophy and a letter stating they are just as good as everyone else.

Some of those other students are pushing for a union at Starbucks

 

[PSU Mike]

The funny thing is that so many here pump up engineering degrees. They have nice initial salaries, but it’s not usually the best path to high incomes down the road. I was a royal screwup at PSU, starting in AERSP, but later did an ECON degree in Liberal Arts in a year just to get out.

 

[psuro]

The funny thing is that so many here pump up engineering degrees. They have nice initial salaries, but it’s not usually the best path to high incomes down the road. I was a royal screwup at PSU, starting in AERSP, but later did an ECON degree in Liberal Arts in a year just to get out.

There are no guarantees in life, but having an Engineering/STEM degree is probably a safer bet than most degrees, just to get your career started. From there, you can choose to stay in the sciences, or move towards a management career, or even look at something like Law. And you personal history is just one data point - it does not speak for everyone else's experience.

 

[PSUFTG]

Of course they do. Penn State awards more undergraduate degrees - of all types - than any other University (ie, they are very, very big).
I doubt if anyone is not aware of the fact that Penn State, when including all campuses, has more undergraduates - and undergraduate degrees awarded - than anyone.

Of course, the same source that noted the "largest number of STEM degrees awarded" (Forbes) also ranked Penn State 12th among the 14 Big Ten Universities in quality of education.

 

[PSU Mike]

There are no guarantees in life, but having an Engineering/STEM degree is probably a safer bet than most degrees, just to get your career started. From there, you can choose to stay in the sciences, or move towards a management career, or even look at something like Law. And you personal history is just one data point - it does not speak for everyone else's experience.

Yeah, my unstated point is that it’s the person and not necessarily the degree.

 

[psuro]

Yeah, my unstated point is that it’s the person and not necessarily the degree.

OK - but the person has to have the skills to obtain the degree.

 

[Midnighter]

The wealthiest people I know are in finance (or pro sports) .

 

[Nitwit]

Plastics

 

[CF Lion]

The wealthiest people I know are in finance (or pro sports) .

The wealthiest person in the world (Bezos) has a degree in electrical engineering (same as me). He did a little better than me financially, however.

 

[Midnighter]

The wealthiest person in the world (Bezos) has a degree in electrical engineering (same as me). He did a little better than me financially, however.

All the brilliant STEM people I know work for the government (USACE, NASA, EPA, State). Health policy is another major doing well.

 

[Bertrand]

Plenty of stem majors outside of engineering.

 

[bdgan]

Of course they do. Penn State awards more undergraduate degrees - of all types - than any other University (ie, they are very, very big).
I doubt if anyone is not aware of the fact that Penn State, when including all campuses, has more undergraduates - and undergraduate degrees awarded - than anyone.

Of course, the same source that noted the "largest number of STEM degrees awarded" (Forbes) also ranked Penn State 12th among the 14 Big Ten Universities in quality of education.

There are other good majors like business, healthcare, and agriculture. My only hope is that those majors remain strong at PSU and they aren't overtaken by the majors like music, art, philosophy, gender studies, or African American studies.

I used to read articles in the Penn Stater that talked about success in areas like science. Now it's dominated by articles about equity, compassion, and caring.

 

[Catch1lion]

The wealthiest people I know are in finance (or pro sports) .

I have two kids in engineering. Both have had professors tell the class if you want an easier major and make more money go into the Business college.
Off the cuff on the richest guys I know--- 3 finance, 1 health policy, and 1 engineer who went on to own his own company. Quality of life and happiness is varied and not tied to any one major. A lot of that has to do with significant other, and personality traits. Choose wisely .
I know we have touched on this before, but another in a long run of articles on debt and graduate degrees signaling out NYU in today's WSJ. Prospective students really need to minimize their debt service.

 

[PSUFTG]

There are other good majors like business, healthcare, and agriculture.

Absolutely.

There are so many layers to the onion, that it would be impossible to really delve into them all via social media.
The keys, I believe, with regard to universities are to emphasize the correct mission-critical goals - from a long-range standpoint.
Assemble high quality faculty. Assemble high quality students. Provide them with high quality academic resources by directing limited resources and funding into meaningful areas. Hold people accountable. And the rest will largely take care of itself.

 

[bdgan]

I have two kids in engineering. Both have had professors tell the class if you want an easier major and make more money go into the Business college.

Engineering can be grueling but certainly rewarding. Starting salaries average $65k and experienced engineers earn 6 figures. Many become eligible for stock options that could ultimately be worth as much as their salary. But if you want to go from $100k to $250k your best bet it to combine your technical expertise with business knowledge. That's why there are so many executive MBA programs.

Starting pay for graduates from business school depends on the major. Accounting is very good. Every company has accountants or accounting consultants. International business, logistics, and finance are also good.

 

[bdgan]

I have two kids in engineering. Both have had professors tell the class if you want an easier major and make more money go into the Business college.

The professors sound bitter. The CPA exam is one of the most difficult professional exams to pass. The pass rate is much lower than it is for the bar exam.

 

[Nitwit]

Engineering can be grueling but certainly rewarding. Starting salaries average $65k and experienced engineers earn 6 figures. Many become eligible for stock options that could ultimately be worth as much as their salary. But if you want to go from $100k to $250k your best bet it to combine your technical expertise with business knowledge. That's why there are so many executive MBA programs.

Starting pay for graduates from business school depends on the major. Accounting is very good. Every company has accountants or accounting consultants. International business, logistics, and finance are also good.

Ageee with all of above. The other very hot field right now is data systems security. You can write your own ticket. You should do whatever you enjoy though and not just whatever pays well. The one thing my father taught me was that you don’t get rich working for someone else. You should own your own business. Make sure to get stock options or some form of company ownership wherever you go, even if it’s a large corporation. That can be much more valuable over time than your 401k, or other form of compensation. Don’t just be an employee, be a shareholder, or work in a profession like law or accounting where you can make partner. The best way to make money is to let others do the work for you. If you are just billing your own time you’re limiting your income. You want to acquire the skills to sit on top of the pyramid. Strive to be the CEO, CFO, CIO, or one of the other Board Members or corporate officers , and if you don’t get there by age 40, leave and go someplace you can. Often those skills have nothing to do with STEM, they have lots to do with MBAs, Law, Masters or PHDs in Economics, Communications, or other Advanced business degrees in logistics, strategic development, leadership development, etc.

 

[psuro]

The professors sound bitter. The CPA exam is one of the most difficult professional exams to pass. The pass rate is much lower than it is for the bar exam.

That's because being a CPA requires more brains than being a lawyer.

 

[PSU Mike]

OK - but the person has to have the skills to obtain the degree.

Do you know the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions?

Among my PSU engineering friends I actually see an appalling lack of mid-upper management skills. From my own academic experience it did seem to me that the engineering curriculum was narrower, and almost discouraged as broad a range of thought via a vis, say my Econ/Liberal Arts major. Frankly, many in the ENGR majors thought they were by default the smartest, which may have been true in very narrow areas, but sort of makes me laugh now. You’re right though, ‘ro, my situation is not representative. I actually provide value in my current role by re-focusing the PhD (math, physics) Decision Scientists’ work toward solving the right problems, because they tend to miss the point way too often. They give great answers to the wrong questions …

 

[Catch1lion]

The professors sound bitter. The CPA exam is one of the most difficult professional exams to pass. The pass rate is much lower than it is for the bar exam.

I don't know if the PSU professors were bitter or factual. I think bitter is probably in there.

 

[Bertrand]

Average starting salary of graduating Smeal students is nearly $64,000 with an average signing bonus of $7,000. 49% receive a signing bonus. 97.5% have employment post 3 months of graduating.

 

[OaktonDave]

There are other good majors like business, healthcare, and agriculture. My only hope is that those majors remain strong at PSU and they aren't overtaken by the majors like music, art, philosophy, gender studies, or African American studies.

I used to read articles in the Penn Stater that talked about success in areas like science. Now it's dominated by articles about equity, compassion, and caring.

A "good" major is somewhat subjective in the sense that it has to fit the student. An engineering degree sounds great on paper, but there's little point in pursuing it if you don't enjoy it. That path only leads to being miserable in a career until you quit and move on to something you enjoy spending a large portion of your waking life doing. (Interestingly, my wife has an engineering degree for a prestigious techie geek school in SoCal that she never used. She owed the USAF a few years after graduating, and they made her a logistician. She enjoyed it and never looked back.) I would strongly advise anyone against pursing some of the obscure majors that seem only to lead to only graduate school where one eventually becomes a professor of said obscure major, but I wouldn't recommend anyone pursue a degree in something they may or may not be interested in just because the job prospects for graduates are good, either.

 

[bdgan]

A "good" major is somewhat subjective in the sense that it has to fit the student. An engineering degree sounds great on paper, but there's little point in pursuing it if you don't enjoy it. That path only leads to being miserable in a career until you quit and move on to something you enjoy spending a large portion of your waking life doing. (Interestingly, my wife has an engineering degree for a prestigious techie geek school in SoCal that she never used. She owed the USAF a few years after graduating, and they made her a logistician. She enjoyed it and never looked back.) I would strongly advise anyone against pursing some of the obscure majors that seem only to lead to only graduate school where one eventually becomes a professor of said obscure major, but I wouldn't recommend anyone pursue a degree in something they may or may not be interested in just because the job prospects for graduates are good, either.

I agree that it's important to like what you do but it's also important that you can pay off your loans and support yourself.

Way too many kids run up debt doing something the enjoy but there's not much of a career path.

 

[91Joe95]

See the link below. From the article:

“Pennsylvania State University awarded the most undergraduate degrees in STEM fields (6,473) in 2019-20, the latest year for which relatively complete data are available. Rounding out the top 5 were the University of California (Berkeley), Texas A and M University, Arizona State University and Purdue University, all of which graduated more than 4,000 STEM majors that year.

Those results are based on recent Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) figures as summarized in Higher Ed Data Stories, a blog written by Jon Boeckenstedt, the Vice Provost of Enrollment at Oregon State University.”

These American Universities Graduate The Most STEM Majors

Pennsylvania State University awarded the most undergraduate degrees in STEM fields (6,473) in 2019-20, the most recent year for which relatively complete data are available.

www.forbes.com

The article failed to mention that PSU turned our 6,473 stupid, well-heeled, out-of-state kids.

DIPLOMA. MILL.

For the last time, Industrial Engineering does not count.

 

[BobPSU92]

For the last time, Industrial Engineering does not count.

What’s wrong with building industries?

 

[EddyS]

Please don’t forget human skills and the inverse pyramid (I.e. skills you need to go higher).

 

[Midnighter]

Please don’t forget human skills and the inverse pyramid (I.e. skills you need to go higher).

 

[CyphaPSU]

That’s cool. I mean, I have a STEM degree from the institution. So, good stuff.