Clemson engineering program ranked 17th by recruiters

CLEMSON, SC – September 15, 2010 – Clemson University’s engineering program ranks 17th among those at the nation’s colleges in a new study by The Wall Street Journal.

The ranking is based on a survey of recruiters with the nation’s largest public and private companies, nonprofit organizations and federal agencies. A total of 479 recruiters, who hired more than 43,000 new college graduates in the previous year, responded to the survey, the results of which were published this week.

Recruiters were asked to identify, based on their experiences, schools whose bachelor’s degree graduates were the best-trained and educated and best able to succeed on the job.

It’s gratifying to see that our graduates are so well-regarded among employers, said Esin Gulari, dean of Clemson’s College of Engineering and Science. It won’t come as a surprise to those of us who work with them every day, but we’re pleased to have this vote of confidence from such a well-respected source.

Clemson’s ranking places it in distinguished company, ahead of such engineering schools as California Polytechnic State University, UCLA, Carnegie Mellon and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The Wall Street Journal chose to survey recruiters rather than relying on test scores, college admission rates or graduates’ starting salaries because recruiters’ perceptions matter all the more given that employers today are visiting fewer schools, partly due to the weak economy, the newspaper wrote. We wanted to identify the schools that are most likely to help students land a job in key careers and professions — areas that are growing, pay well and offer high levels of satisfaction.

The study stated that many companies turned to public universities for graduates with practical skills to serve as operations managers, product developers, business analysts and engineers.

Collaboration and teamwork are key elements of our curriculum and they provide a cross-disciplinary focus that is important in the work force, Gulari said. As a college, we also decided some time ago to keep the size of the student body relatively constant and concentrate on growing quality rather than enrollment.

The newspaper’s list of top engineering schools is dominated by major state universities rather than private colleges. Of the top 25 programs, 19 are public colleges and universities. Of the remainder, only one, Cornell University, comes from the Ivy League.

College of Engineering and Science
Clemson’s College of Engineering and Science enrolls more than 5,000 students in 24 majors. Its 15 academic departments span fields as diverse as bioengineering and automotive engineering.