Good university for Automotive Engineering?
Question:
I'm an international student and planing to do a bachelor's degree in Automotive Engineering Technology in USA. At the moment I have been going through certain universities such as Ferris State University (MI), Minnesota State University (Mankato) and Indiana University (IUPUI) which offers Motorsports Engineering. As you can see the two state universities are lower in overall costs than IUPUI. Also most other universities according to
Edmunds review (http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-10-automotive-coll eges-and-universities-in-the-us.html) and
ehow (http://www.ehow.co.uk/list_7229618_top-10-universities-automobil e-engineering.html)
such IUPUI are really expensive, but known to be the best in this sector- Automotive. Also people say that universities with "University of" are better than "State universities". I'm really confused with this whole thing as I'm not living in US and got no idea about this. I want to know what is right for me and please let me know about other universities other than the ones mentioned in the links which are good. Thank you!
Answer:
First, I would like to clear up a little confusion about IUPUI. IUPUI stands for Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. It started as branch colleges of two separate public (state) universities in Indiana: Indiana University and Purdue University. Eventually the two branches semi-merged and IUPUI started becoming more of an independent university on its own, rather than just a branch of the major universities. IUPUI's diplomas still say "Indiana University" or "Purdue University." Purdue is a highly-regarded engineering university. Indiana University does not teach engineering. A degree from IUPUI in Motorsports Engineering would be from Purdue's School of Engineering and Technology and the diploma would say "Purdue."
Ferris State, Minnesota State, and IUPUI are all public (state) universities in the USA. Where do you get your information on overall costs? State universities are less expensive for residents of the state where the university is located. Ferris State will be inexpensive for residents of Michigan, Minnesota State for residents of Minnesota, and IUPUI for residents of Indiana. The costs for international students for all three is likely to be in the $20,000-$30,000 range. IUPUI is probably at the high end of the range, but price is not to be considered an indication of educational quality.
The IUPUI program is intended for persons who want to specialize in the technical aspects of automobile racing (e.g. Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500, NASCAR, ...) If you are interested on working on normal passenger cars, this program might not be right for you.
Names for universities in the USA ARE confusing. Some states (e.g. California) have two or more university systems, each with many branches, the more prestigious "University of ____" system and the less prestigious "________State" system. However, this is not the case for all states. In Ohio, The Ohio State University is the largest, most prestigious of the public (state-supported) universities. In Pennsylvania, "University of Pennsylvania" is a private (not state-supported) university and Penn State is the major public (state-supported) university.
All of the colleges listed at the links you provided are good, reputable universities.
I have no way to tell which university in the USA is right for you. You will have to do your own research by looking at summary web sites (e.g. see the one below) and the websites of the universities themselves. Ask the universities to send you information. Consider costs, whether or not international students can get financial aid, climate, availability of internships or co-op opportunities, the focus of the program (racing, energy efficiency, safety, etc.), clubs and other student organization, housing options, whether or not you would need to own a car yourself while in the USA. Ask the universities what recent graduates of their automotive engineering or automotive engineering technology programs are doing now? By the way, engineering and engineering technology are NOT the same. Engineering is more theoretical and aimed more at developing new technology while engineering technology is more practical and focuses more on manufacture and repair of existing technology. See second link for a more lengthy explanation.
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