Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Computer Programmers
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Normandale Community College, Anoka - Ramsey, University of Minnesota, and Inver Hills Community College.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Globe University, Metropolitan State, Dunwoody College of Technology, and Minnesota State Moorhead.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider College of Saint Benedict.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Saint Paul College and MCTC.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider White Earth Tribal and Community College, The College of Saint Scholastica, and University of St Thomas.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of MacAlester, Carleton, St. Olaf College, and Minnesota State Moorhead.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Carleton, St. Olaf College, Gustavus Adolphus College, and Saint Johns University.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Carleton, MacAlester, St. Olaf College, and Gustavus Adolphus College.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Carleton, MacAlester, University of Minnesota, and Augsburg.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Carleton, Gustavus Adolphus College, MacAlester, and White Earth Tribal and Community College.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
Sort Reviews By:Sorting by: • Show All Details • Hide All Details
University Of Minnesota Twin Cities • Minneapolis, MN
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2009)
• 5/7/2011
"I feel comfortable with my undergraduate preparation for my current employment. There are some small gaps in my experience, but they hardly detract from my opinion of the school. The community atmosphere made it a pleasant and fun four years."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I find software research and development to be a nice mix of creative thought and technical challenge. I believe many other computer science majors would enjoy my work, provided they receive a strong undergraduate preparation. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | The program has a lower reputation than it deserves. In some areas of computer science, the faculty are largely inactive in their research communities, which likely brings down the department's reputation. |
| Program Quality | 9 | I received adequate preparations for software development skills. I sought out and was given opportunities to gain research experience, which helped better prepare me for my current job. |
| Instruction | 8 | A majority of instructors were good or excellent. Some instructors were below average. |
| How Difficult | 7 | Most assignments were easy. Only a few courses required a significant investment of time during the entire course. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | My program had a balanced program in terms of hands-on versus book-based learning. I was adequately prepared to think abstractly about problems, but I also have the skills to work effectively in software development. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | I was able to take morning, afternoon, or evening classes for many required courses. Introductory courses are often available at several times of day and different days of the week. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | The computer resources, libraries, classrooms, and advisors were all excellent. Professors and TAs were always open to meeting with students. |
| Social Life | 9 | My school promoted a strong community atmosphere, despite being a large campus with many commuters. Athletics, events within my college or department, housing-related events, and school sponsored activities were common for all four years. |
| Placement Services | 8 | My department helped me to find my current job. I was also helped by individual faculty members with applications, preparation, and letters of reference. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | I am frequently contacted with alumni events. There are good opportunities and activities available to alumni across the country. |
University Of Minnesota - Twin Cities • Minneapolis, MN
Studying Chemical Engineering (completion in 2001)
• 5/5/2011
"The education was excellent. However, job placement was poor, which was why I ended up working in the computer programming field rather than chemical engineering."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | While job placement wasn't the best, chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota is still worthwhile. The faculty and facilities are excellent. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | The faculty is recognized as world class. The program is consistently rated in the top 5 in most rankings. |
| Program Quality | 9 | The school's reputation in the field is excellent, consistently ranking near the top in most listings. The faculty is also top-notch, and do world class research. |
| Instruction | More than 5 years ago | |
| How Difficult | 9 | The caliber of research being done was excellent, but required maximum effort. My peers in the program were among the top in the world, and I had to work hard to keep up with them. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The program required about 5 semesters of course work, as well as four to five years of research. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 2 | There were no online, weekend or evening options. But this was more than ten years ago, and may have changed. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | The professors are recognized as among the best in the world in the field. Because the program attracts some of the best students as well, the TAs are also excellent. Since the department partners with big names in industry, there has been plenty of money for facilities and to stock labs. |
| Social Life | 4 | UMN-TC is a commuter campus that's spread out over three locations, so it doesn't have a lot of atmosphere. Plus, with the weather being what it is in Minnesota, there's not a lot of outdoor activity during the academic year. |
| Placement Services | 5 | They bring in lots of companies to interview. However, not much beyond that is done, as the department seems to think the reputation alone will be enough. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | The network and support are excellent. However, if you are outside of the upper Great Lakes region, it isn't as available. |
Pine Technical College • Pine City, MN
Studying Computer Programming (completion in 2010)
• 8/14/2011
"I got the program done in two years. There were hurdles to jump over with their system, but I liked the online classes and night classes they offered. I got a quality education at a fraction of the price."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | It depends on what the person needs from the school. If they have needs similar to mine, then sure. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | I think the school is known as one of the few schools where you don't have to choose a specific language to study. This is good for students who want an AAS but don't want to only have experience in Java and C++. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The school itself lacked a lot of things I would have liked to have seen. The program did a great job with what it did have though, and my instructors were above par. |
| Instruction | 10 | My instructors offered current material and taught through a lot of on-hands experience. I didn't always feel very challenged and I felt like we could cover more, but overall their help with learning was amazing! They were always available for extra help. |
| How Difficult | 8 | For an average person, I could see this being a hard field to break into. I don't think everyone can handle hours of computer theory and essays or coding up a few programs a week. However, you have a lot of resources available, group projects, and teams to go to for assistance. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The first class I took was a hardware class. I built a computer the very first night! Forget about books there. The programming classes took assignment programs out of the book and tests had questions from said book, but the learning involved watching our instructor code or doing so ourselves. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | Tech schools are known for flexibility. I had a job and 23 or so credits a semester because they offered such flexibility. I had a lot of night courses, 6PM - 10PM, which were great! |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The library was a joke, however we did get the chance to have our own lab computers. This was a great lab available to IT students only which was great! |
| Social Life | 6 | The school had a few things going on per semester which I didn't expect at a tech school. Some of the IT students would meet up together as well. |
| Placement Services | 4 | I really didn't receive a lot of help in this area. I guess in the rural area I live in computer jobs aren't the norm, but it'd be nice to have a few options, even if it means commuting. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | I haven't heard anything from my school since graduation (no alumni events or anything). The school overall seems a little disconnected with alumni, but I guess a lot of technical colleges are the same way. |
Winona State University • Winona, MN
Studying Computer Science (completion in 1992)
• 10/11/2011
"WSU provided a curriculum which gave me a broad spectrum of classes required for me to do my job well. It was near enough to my home to enable me easy access to school. I was well prepared to be a programmer once I completed my college courses."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | WSU was a good school when I went. Instructors were well qualified and classes were varied. Today, they provide a wider variety of classes and they have adjusted to the times by providing classes that are current in today's programming environment. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | WSU is now including such areas as digital image processing, game technology, and networking and security in their curriculum. These areas serve to provide skills for today and the future for many young folks. |
| Program Quality | 9 | The variety of computer science classes was great and varied. Although Winona State was still a rather small school, it rivaled some larger universities in terms of classes offered and quality of instructors. |
| Instruction | 9 | I found the instructors to be of very high quality and they challenged the students with effective, thoughtful projects. I was exposed to many topics in my classes that enabled me to be much more effective in my career. |
| How Difficult | 9 | Working through the computer science classes was somewhat difficult as many of the concepts were completely foreign to me. Classes such as artificial intelligence offered plenty of challenge. Overall, the workload of most of my computer science classes was much greater than other classes I took over my 4 year degree effort. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It was truly a mix of the two. Most classes required reading and lecture from the text as well as projects which required the use of what you learned in the course. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | The schedule was not as flexible when I attended as it is now. I could go daytimes or evenings which provided enough flexibility for me. Today, the school offers a very flexible schedule, including online opportunities. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | Since it has been nearly 20 years since I graduated, things have changed drastically in these areas. There were, however, in my time laboratories, good classroom space, and great accessibility of professors. I never had any reason to look for academic advisors, but I expect they were available as well. |
| Social Life | 5 | I was a married student living off campus so I can't talk to this topic well. My reading has indicated that WSU has a very active athletic department and they have had significant success with their sports teams. Their football team has been particularly successful over the years. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I believe them to be effective because I have had several letters from them. I have not taken advantage of the alumni network, though, so I cannot say with certainty what its effectiveness would be. |
Capella University • Minneapolis, MN
Studying Business Administration (completion in 2011)
• 12/31/2011
"I love the flexibility of the school schedule. However, I do recognize the benefits of a more traditional school campus and somewhat regret not having that experience."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I would recommend this type of schooling for those who need the flexibility of an online program. However, those who need a more interactive face-to-face program would not prosper with this type of schooling. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | Capella is convenient to my full-time work and family schedule as it offers the option to take classes online. It is also fully accredited which makes me feel more confident in my choice, however, it is different than a typical four-year on-site traditional program that most people feel is more legitimate. |
| Program Quality | 6 | As a business major I found that Capella did a good job at preparing me for a management roll in the business environment. However, as a programmer by trade and training (before school) I find that this degree is useful only in understanding the processes that I implement on a lower level. |
| Instruction | 6 | The instruction quality was fair compared to the experience in the field that was learned by trial and error. I feel that the instruction I received was important to lay a base knowledge but direct experience in the field was by far a better teacher for me. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The workload in school is different than that of the work experience. The school environment is highly simulated, whereas the work environment requires that one be more agile and result oriented. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Most of my online training included case studies from books. there was some hands-on learning with case studies where the professors provided their insights into their real world business experiences. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | Capella's class schedule basically consists of commenting on other classmate's posts online after a power point lecture. This makes it easy for me to be an active participant in class at a time that is most convenient to me. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | They provide full access to an online library and other resources that are convenient to a remote student. These resources include research databases like Lexus Nexus and ProQuest, etc. |
| Social Life | My program is conducted online and therefore there is no typical "school spirit" activities. However, there is interaction among classmates through a school sponsored online social networking site. | |
| Placement Services | I have not had to use this service. However, I have heard positive things and would not hesitate to use it in the case of future necessity. | |
| Alumni Network | 5 | So far, I have not had to utilize this service. If I were to need it in the future, I believe it would be of a better rating because the school is online and has a campus so there are many network connections available at this time. |
Metropolitan State University • St. Paul, MN
Studying System Administrator (completion in 2010)
• 1/12/2012
"They go out of their way to help you. Most instructors were willing to stay after class to help out."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The instructors are the best and the facilities are fantastic. |
| Program Reputation | I have never heard much of their reputation. I know the school as a whole is good for business, and is the only state university in St. Paul. | |
| Program Quality | 8 | Great instructors, and hands on experience. They taught several different coding languages. |
| Instruction | 8 | The adjunct faculty rocks. Having people who work in the industry teaching the classes helps. |
| How Difficult | 7 | I am lucky, it comes pretty easily to me. The instructors encouraged me to help other students. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | You can get the full hands-on learning from home. I did attend several classes, and the computer labs are fantastic. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | Several of the courses are available online. Some students don't ever step on campus. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | There are several class locations. They are where you are. |
| Social Life | I didn't participate in any of that. I was working full time while going to college. | |
| Placement Services | I didn't use it. I already had a job lined up. | |
| Alumni Network | I haven't really used it yet. They haven't contacted me either. |
Online Course Finder
Find the path to your
education in 3 easy steps.