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 Jones County Junior College, University of Mississippi, Holmes Community College, and Mississippi State.
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 Pearl River Community College, Jackson State, University of Mississippi, and University of Southern Mississippi.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Rust College, Mississippi Delta Community College, Mississippi Valley State, and Jackson State.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Mississippi Valley State, Jackson State, Alcorn State, and Itawamba Community College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Millsaps College, Rust College, University of Mississippi, and Mississippi College.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Rust College, Millsaps College, Mississippi Valley State, and Alcorn State.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Millsaps College.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Mississippi Valley State, Alcorn State, Jackson State, and University of Southern Mississippi.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Rust College, Pearl River Community College, Millsaps College, and Alcorn State.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
Sort Reviews By:Sorting by: • Show All Details • Hide All Details
Jackson State University • Jackson, MS
Studying Music Performance (completion in 2011)
• 9/28/2011
"I was allowed the chance to learn in class and outside. I was also fortunate to work in my field outside of class."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It is a great environment to learn. It made me appreciate all the things that I worked for. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | The program just went through accreditation. It is also having difficulty with the department chair. |
| Program Quality | 6 | I learned a lot. I had some very good instructors who helped me along the way. |
| Instruction | 6 | Teachers gave me opportunities to work in my field. I was allowed the chance to audition and participate in professional programs. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Its was very time consuming and required lots of studying. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I had private instruction from teachers, but there were classes that required much study on my own time. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Some classes are only offered at one specific time. Other classes had several offerings. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | The teachers were great. The equipment left much to be desired. |
| Social Life | 8 | I learned a lot in class and had a lot of fun outside of academics |
| Placement Services | 1 | My old school did not offer a job placement program. They offered some jobs as they came but not a specific network. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | My alumni network helped me get acclimated when I moved to a new city. |
University Of Mississippi • University, MS
Studying Liberal Arts (completion in 2006)
• 11/29/2011
"Not worth what I'm paying in late fees and interest on student loans. Not even worth the low in-state, public university tuition costs."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | I wouldn't recommend college at all. A bachelor's degree is worthless. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | Statewide, it's good. Nationally, it's poor. |
| Program Quality | 5 | For liberal arts, it was ok. It is the top public liberal arts school in the state. |
| Instruction | 5 | I learned a lot. I wasn't really prepared for work life. |
| How Difficult | 8 | I was in a special, small sub-college within the university. This gave me more challenging work. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | In liberal arts, you do more reading. My engineering classes had some hands on. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | They have online courses. They have summer classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | Good library and computer resources. Poor options for access to professors and tutoring. |
| Social Life | 1 | Most of the college is Greek. I wasn't in the Greek system. |
| Placement Services | 1 | I've never gotten any career support from my university. They don't provide or offer any services. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | I've never gotten any career connection support from my university. They don't provide or offer any services. |
Jones County Junior College • Jones, MS
Studying Pre-Computer Science (completion in 2010)
• 12/14/2011
"I had a really good time attending JCJC and I would recommend it to anyone in the local area, but I know there have to be better schools out there. I loved my instructors, for the most part; they were really fun to be around and they were helpful when needed."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend JCJC to anyone pursuing my career in this area. I would recommend going to a bigger and better college if you live elsewhere, though. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | Considering I live in Mississippi, it's decent, I guess. I wouldn't say it's very good, though, because there really isn't much to it. |
| Program Quality | 5 | I didn't learn a lot about programming in school. I taught myself pretty much everything I know, because the school doesn't really teach you much, as far as programming is concerned. |
| Instruction | 5 | I didn't really learn much about programming that was relevant to anything I have ever worked on from the school. Most of the languages we looked at were really old and most small companies don't use them. |
| How Difficult | 1 | I taught myself most of the programming concepts I know today. The school doesn't have a huge amount of students, so it was really easy to get a teacher to help if you ever needed it. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was a bit more book learning than hands-on learning, due to them not having very good teachers, so a lot of the teaching was straight from the book. I did have a few homework projects that were decently fun. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | If the classes are available to work around your schedule, they will. I had pretty bad schedules my whole time there, though, so obviously, it's not that good. |
| Academic Facilities | 3 | The library had really old books that didn't help me at all. The classrooms taught outdated material and weren't very helpful in the real world. |
| Social Life | 10 | I had plenty of friends when I was going to school, and it provided a really nice atmosphere. The school has tons of events and they spend a bit more of their time than they should in this area. |
| Placement Services | 8 | I received my first internship through the school and it was really beneficial, so I would have to say they did pretty good there. Realistically, though, if I would not have been lucky, I don't think they would have been very helpful. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | I don't even know if my school has one. |
Jones County Junior College • Jones, MS
Studying Pre-Computer Science (completion in 2010)
• 12/14/2011
"I had a really good time attending JCJC and would recommend it to anyone local, but I know there have to be better schools out there. I loved my instructors for the most part; they were really fun to be around and helpful when needed."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend JCJC to anyone pursuing my career in this area. I would recommend going to a bigger and better college if you live elsewhere though. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | It's decent for Mississippi. I wouldn't say it's very good because there isn't much to it. |
| Program Quality | 5 | I didn't learn a lot about programming in school. I taught myself pretty much everything I know because the school doesn't really teach you much as far as programming is concerned. |
| Instruction | 5 | I didn't really learn much about programming that was relevant to anything I have ever worked on from the school. Most of the languages we looked at were really old and most small companies don't use them. |
| How Difficult | 1 | I taught myself most of the programming concepts I know today. The school doesn't have a huge number of students so it was really easy to get a teacher to help if you ever needed it. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was a bit more book learning than hands on learning due to not having very good teachers, so a lot of the teaching was straight from the book. I did have a few homework projects that were fun. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | If the classes are available to work around your schedule they will. I had pretty bad schedules my whole time there though so obviously it's not that good. |
| Academic Facilities | 3 | The library had really old books that didn't help me at all. The classrooms taught outdated material and weren't very helpful in the real world. |
| Social Life | 10 | I had plenty of friends going to school and it provided a really nice atmosphere. The school has tons of events and they obviously spend a bit more of their time than they should in this area. |
| Placement Services | 8 | I received my first internship through the school so they did pretty well there. Realistically, if I hadn't been so lucky, I don't think they would have been very helpful. |
| Alumni Network | I don't even know if my school has one. |
Mississippi State University • Mississippi State, MS
Studying Computer Engineering (completion in 2010)
• 1/31/2012
"I am very satisfied with my school. I feel that the quality of my education in relation to the cost was superb. I enjoyed the time that I spent there and feel prepared with the education I received."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would and have recommended my school to others that are interested in pursuing my career. I feel that I am more prepared than colleagues from other schools I could have chosen. I think that my school provides a quality education. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | My school has a fairly good reputation for its engineering program, especially the electrical and computer engineering department. I believe it is in the top 100 schools for computer engineering. |
| Program Quality | 9 | I would rate the computer engineering program at my school as excellent. The program covered a wide range of subjects while providing detailed explanation of everything. |
| Instruction | 10 | I am very satisfied with the quality of instruction I received. I feel that I was very prepared to start my career, and I have been able to accomplish all tasks. The subjects that I learned were extremely relevant to the career that I have chosen, and the quality instruction that I received made me very prepared. |
| How Difficult | 7 | My program was somewhat difficult. The workload (homework and studying for tests) required several hours each night. There were also individual and group projects that required >10 hours per week. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I would estimate that my education consisted of approximately half hands on learning and half book learning. My program required many lab experiments in addition to book study, and classes outside of my program utilized online homework assignments for practicing skills. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | Although I only participated as an on-campus student, I would rate the class offerings as better than average. Online classes are available, as well as summer classes. Some evening classes exist, but not all classes are available as evening classes. As far as I know, weekend classes are not available. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | My school's facilities were very good. The library contained relevant and up-to-date books and information, as well as computer resources. The laboratories contained the proper amount of equipment for the most part, and the classroom size was adequate. I did not use tutors or study groups, but my professors usually had >5 hours of office time available. |
| Social Life | 9 | The social experience at my school was very good. I was a spectator for many of the sporting events and enjoyed the atmosphere. There was also a wide variety of music and organized social events happening nearly every day on campus. |
| Placement Services | 6 | My school's job placement services were slightly better than average. A career fair was held every year, but the job offerings were very few and usually located in a small geographical area close to the school. |
| Alumni Network | 6 | I occasionally receive magazines from the alumni network. I would like to receive more emails/newsletters with information on how the program is progressing and research that is being done. |
Mississippi State • Starkville, MS
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2014)
• 2/20/2012
"I have been very happy here at State. I believe I made the best possible choice for me."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The environment is great for college life and learning. The town might be small, but you can always find something to do. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Most of the ratings I have seen have been good. Mississippi State usually places adequately on lists. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The classes have been moderately good, but not great. Overall, I feel we have a good program. |
| Instruction | 8 | The teachers seem to be very enthusiastic about their work. Sometimes, this doesn't translate to good exercises or explanations. |
| How Difficult | 3 | Computers have always come very naturally to me. The ways many of the structures and ideas work usually make sense to me. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Some of my classes have been very book oriented, while others have been very hands on. It really just depends on the class you are in. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | I have always gotten a very flexible schedule. My classes have always been times I have picked. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | Most of the facilities are adequate and some are great. Overall, none of the rooms are really spectacular. |
| Social Life | 8 | My social experience has been very good. I have found a good group of friends and we manage to keep entertained on the weekends. |
| Placement Services | 8 | The job placement here is very good. Most people graduating get job offers somewhere. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | I see many devoted alumni around campus. I have also met many of them out of state in Tennessee. |
Mississippi State University • Starkville, MS
Studying Business Information Systems (completion in 2011)
• 2/20/2012
"I loved Mississippi State. I learned a lot through the process of earning my degree and I feel like I was prepared for finding a job."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | If a full-blown engineering degree isn't what you're looking for, I would fully suggest a degree in Business Information Systems. I was taught so much about the programming of information systems across different business structures. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | I originally wanted to go to school for Computer Science, because the school's Computer Security program in the School of Engineering is decently renowned. After hearing that BIS was in the same area as the CS curriculum, I decided to make the switch. |
| Program Quality | 7 | I would say that after attaining my degree, I was adequately prepared to find a job. I learned a lot and it led me to get a job right after college. |
| Instruction | 8 | I decided on web development after taking a few courses in web design and programming for the web. What I learned at school gave me the experience to find a job right after school. |
| How Difficult | 6 | Business Information Systems was a hybrid of programming classes and business classes. The degree wasn't exactly easy to attain, but it was certainly not as hard as getting a degree in Computer Science or other School of Engineering-based degrees. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | In my field, there was a decent mix of both book learning and hands on. For most of my business classes, the only type of learning was through a book, but for my programming classes, almost all of it was hands on. Every week, we would have a new program due. In multiple classes, this became very strenuous, as I was spending most of my time in the lab. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | My class schedule was perfect. During my final senior semester, I was even able to work a part-time job. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | There were many nights that I spent in the computer lab, trying to finish up projects and assignments. Throughout my college experience, I never had a problem finding anywhere to study or being able to use a computer in the lab. |
| Social Life | 8 | I never really got involved much with the different social aspects of college, besides football games. However, the friends that I did make have become the best friends I could ask for. Around campus, there's almost always something going on. |
| Placement Services | 7 | I got my job after two weeks of submitting applications through the school's career center program. It was incredibly beneficial in finding me a job that I was qualified for and pertained to my area of study. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I haven't sought out many alumni networks after graduation, but I know they exist. When I start graduate school in the fall, I'm sure I'll become more acquainted with the alumni. |
Mississippi State • Starkville, MS
Studying Computer Engineering (completion in 2009)
• 3/10/2012
"Considering the above facts, I would say I was satisfied to a good extent."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would suggest my school to any individual who is serious about his career and wants to specialize in his field of interest. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | It is ranked as one of the top 50 universities in the USA. |
| Program Quality | 10 | My school provided a variety of courses with good resources. |
| Instruction | 7 | Could be better. |
| How Difficult | 8 | It all depends on the courses you select. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Both lab and theory work were given equal importance and graded accordingly. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | We had courses all around the year, so if the schedule was a problem in one semester, we could take a missed class in the next semester, or request the professor to change, if possible. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | We had a very good library called Michelle Memorial. Each student had a committee of 3 professors who guided us according to our interests. |
| Social Life | 8 | We had cultural festivals involving people from all around the world. |
| Placement Services | 8 | We have career fairs every semester and a lot students were picked and placed in jobs from these. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I'm not very sure about this. I do get some emails from the alumni association, but I never pay attention. |
Online Course Finder
Find the path to your
education in 3 easy steps.