Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Network And Systems Administrators
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Community College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Abington, Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks, and PSU Brandywine.
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 Harcum, University of Pittsburgh-Titusville, Keystone, and Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Shenango.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider Cedar Crest, Cambria-Rowe Business College, Harcum, and Wilson College.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, Community College of Philadelphia, Peirce College, and Keystone.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Peirce College, Eastern University, Westmoreland County Community College, and Cedar Crest.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of UPenn, Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh, and Muhlenberg College.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Washington & Jefferson College, Wilson College, Thiel College, and Juniata.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at UPenn, Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh, and University of Pittsburgh.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at UPenn, Johnson College, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, and Lehigh.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Carnegie Mellon, Du Bois Business College, Wilson College, and Washington & Jefferson College.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Penn State University • University Park, PA
Studying Information Sciences And Technology (completion in 2007)
• 5/3/2011
"I'm employed! I also feel connected to the program and other students in it."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It's a great program that doesn't focus on current technologies. Those will change over time. It helps to to learn how to work with others, learn for yourself, and get into the workplace. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | The school has a good reputation among employers. Students get good paying jobs when they leave here. |
| Program Quality | 7 | I completed my bachelor's while working, so I had quite a bit of skill prior to starting school. The program helped fill in my knowledge with some organizational theory and other information, but I had all of the technical knowledge that I needed. |
| How Difficult | 3 | As indicted before, the technical part of my program was something I already had experience in. I did not find courses related to that very challenging. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | My college's program was very theory driven. It was not hands-on enough. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 3 | It's getting better now than when I was there. The upper division courses were only offered in residence. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | There were plenty of classrooms with computers as well as virtual labs for some of the courses as appropriate. |
| Social Life | 7 | Athletics = football! Greek life is prominent. If you want to party, there's plenty of that to go around. |
| Placement Services | 8 | I didn't use them. However, some friends did and they got good paying jobs. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | There are social events that the alumni association invites me to. I also feel as connected as I want to be with my individual college's alumni group. I hear from them via email and electronic communication periodically. |
Drexel • Philadelphia, PA
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2010)
• 6/24/2011
"I was very satisfied, as I had a great time and really learned a lot. I also had a lot of fun with all the parties, and I loved going around Philly on weekends."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It was truly a great experience, and I learned a lot. Also, there was so much to do, and that made it a great school to go to. |
| Program Reputation | 4 | There are many institutions that are better than Drexel that are more accredited and have more well-known professors. |
| Program Quality | The computers were brand new, and really fast. However, the professor was a little bit boring. | |
| Instruction | 6 | My professor was a great teacher who knew a lot about computers. However, his class got boring at times. |
| How Difficult | 8 | There was a lot of self-teaching, because that was what my professor wanted us to do. However, when he taught, we learned a lot. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The professor let us use spend a lot of time on the computers. We rarely read out of books. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | There were three classes: on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I usually went on Monday and Wednesday. Also, they offered online classes, and I took on of these over the Summer. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | As I mentioned before, we got new computers every 2 years. Also, there were always tutors available, and my professor was very approachable. |
| Social Life | 8 | It was a great atmosphere, and we always went to go watch basketball games. Also, there were always parties and several great night clubs, so we had a great time. |
| Placement Services | 7 | It's in Philly, so jobs were plentiful. Also, my professor recommended a few places to interview at. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | Every two years the department got new computers (via alumni). So, we always had the latest and greatest technology. |
Penn College Of Technology • Williamsport, PA
Studying Information Technology: Network Specialist (completion in 2011)
• 6/26/2011
"I am satisfied with my school because I had a very good time. I feel as though I learned a good amount, and that will hopefully get my foot in the door."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend my school to others because it did prepare me in a way. Although most of it centered around book work, you get to understand the concepts, and I can pretty much understand what most IT professionals are talking about. You may not come out knowing entirely how to setup devices, but you get a basic knowledge of configuring switches, routers, and servers. One of my favorite classes was network defense were you also get to touch on some security and hacking. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | Our school has a great reputation because it is affiliated with Penn State. Penn State is a well known school, so it makes ours stand out a lot more. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The school was great for learning text book items. However, I wish they offered more hands on activities, because a lot of the stuff I had to try and learn on my own. |
| Instruction | 6 | Like I said, you learn a lot of text book material. I can state the seven layers of the OSI model, and some information about each of them. However, we did limited hands on labs with network devices. |
| How Difficult | 9 | The work is extremely difficult because IT involves so much information. You need to learn all the networking acronyms, and juggle all the different fields including programming, networking, and web design. There is just a lot on the plate for you to take in, but it's a great way to get a background in everything. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Most of the learning is through book work. You have very limited hands on work. I had to take the Cisco Networking Academy as an open elective just to get some hands on experience with network devices. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | They have classes at all times when it comes to general education. Most classes for the IT major are only Monday through Thursday, so it's nice have the three day weekend. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | The library is one of our biggest attractions. It has state of the art computers, including both PCs and Macs. The classroom space is great because the classes are typically limited to 30 people. The advisers are good and make sure you schedule the correct classes and are on time. You get to become friends with your advisers because they are also your major teachers over the years. |
| Social Life | 9 | There are tons of social events going on each week. Although I didn't really participate in many, the ones I did go to were a great time. They have plenty of baseball events seeing how the Little league world series is right next to the college. |
| Placement Services | 4 | They do have a career center where they help you find potential employers, but they do not help you get placed into a job. Right now I am just an intern working in networking, but I am still searching for a full time job. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | I am a recent college graduate so I don't have much experience with the alumni yet, but so far its been great. They allow us to keep a .edu email address, and provide us with updates on the school. |
Shippensburg University • Shippensburg, PA
Studying History (completion in 1992)
• 6/24/2011
"Shippensburg is a quality university. It provided a great opportunity to learn and grow socially."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I do not know where their program for IT stands at this time. I graduated with a minor in computers, but having to do it over I would be looking for a school/curriculum tailored to IT. I have pursued extensive training post graduation: MSCE certification and CCNA certifications by attending classes, book learning, and self paced online study. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | I have no knowledge of Shippensburg's reputation. I attended there because it was a solid school close to my hometown. |
| Program Quality | 7 | My college education was done before making the decision to work in IT. I studied Russian History in college, and only minored in computers. |
| Instruction | 8 | I had very good instructors. The class sizes were small, and I had a good rapport with them. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The professors demanded a high volume of high quality work. This kept things interesting. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The computer classes I took had very rudimentary hands on training. Computers were still in their infancy at the time. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | I never had a problem scheduling at Shippensburg. I did take summer classes as needed. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Class sizes were small. The library was well stocked. |
| Social Life | 10 | The best people I have ever had the pleasure of being friends with I met at Shippensburg. I had more fun in the time I spent there than at any other time of my life. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I did not avail myself of job placement. Thus, I really am not qualified to rate. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I have had no interaction with the alumni organization. I have sought no services from Shippensburg post graduation. |
Temple University • Philadelphia, PA
Studying Computer Science (completion in 1995)
• 6/24/2011
"The university gave me a good background to get my first job. I learned a lot at Temple."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The school has a good computer science program. The tuition is reasonable. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Temple University is one of the largest public universities in Pennsylvania. Its business school and computer science program are highly rated. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The program was challenging. I learned a lot in the computer science major. |
| Instruction | 8 | The professors were outstanding. They had good business experience. |
| How Difficult | 6 | The coursework was thorough and challenging. It was very hands on. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The program was much more hands on than book driven. the professors used real world experience to teach. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | The university had many course offerings and you could take classes at different times. The school has a fall, spring, and two summer sessions. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The resources in the computer science program were very good. They had multiple computer labs. |
| Social Life | 7 | I enjoyed Temple University very much. The student body was diverse and I really liked my major. |
| Placement Services | 3 | The university did not help me with job placement. I found my own positions. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | The alumni network did not help me get a job. When I graduated the job market was difficult, like it is today. |
Millersville University • Millersville, PA
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2008)
• 7/8/2011
"My school provided me with a good education and helped me obtain a good job. I am satisfied the with broad exposure I had."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It has a top rated computer science program which is very marketable for IT and programming positions. There are many resources available to help you find an internship, which is extremely critical. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | We are rated as one of the best computer science programs in PA. We are an accredited university and have excellent job placement. |
| Program Quality | 10 | Millersville provided me with a robust array of exposure to computer and network technologies. They also had a web page with internship listings, which helped me gain professional experience before I finished my degree. |
| Instruction | 10 | My instructors were all former industry professionals who held doctorate degrees. They were able to provide real life examples of situations I could expect to face in the work place and taught me how to handle them. |
| How Difficult | 10 | I felt computer science was the hardest major offered at the university, mainly because of how abstract some of the computer networking and programming classes were. We were also required to take hard, upper level math and science classes. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Most of the studies were strictly book learning. Some of the network courses and biology lab classes offered hands on experiences with industry specific equipment. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | There were very few weekend or evening options. Sometimes it was hard to schedule classes, but I was always able to work out a reasonable schedule, although it was not always ideal. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | Our university always seems to be under renovation. A lot of buildings are old and outdated, but several have been remodeled. Once one is finished, they always seem to start working on a different building, so there is constant improvement. |
| Social Life | 5 | About half of the students, including myself, commuted, so there were a lot of people coming and going which made it hard to have a good social experience at times. There were minimal university activities available. |
| Placement Services | 10 | I was able to obtain an internship using university services. My professors helped put me in touch with companies who were looking for employees when I graduated. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | I am not aware of any alumni support offered. I do not maintain contact with any alumni aside from personal friends. |
Indiana University Of Pennsylvania • Indiana, PA
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2003)
• 8/7/2011
"The school provided a great overall education. The social environment and poor department of the major give me freedom to have a lot of fun but to make up my own learning experience for computers. If I wasn't able to do the latter, I would have a much different impression."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | If they are like me and love computers and will spend a good portion of their free time learning them despite the poor department, I would strongly recommend it. You'd get the BS in Computer Science that people are looking for from the school, but you'd decide what you actually learned and how. The school isn't very well known (many people think the name is a joke), so nobody has a positive or negative view of a degree from there. If you are going to rely on the professors to teach you what you need to know to get job, then absolutely not, they simply don't have the knowledge to pass on. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | The reputation is relatively neutral. Those that are familiar with the program think poorly of it. An alumnus I spoke with about a possible job said that they try to avoid helping people from the school because their poor education reflected poorly upon him. Luckily for me, he was willing to recommend me for a job, but did his best not to mention the department. |
| Program Quality | 3 | The school's department was very outdated, and the faculty did not do anything beyond what textbooks said (if they had read them). While I learned a great deal during the time I was there, it wasn't from the classes, but from my own experimentation and learning. |
| Instruction | 2 | With little exception, professors in the department seemed to have crammed for lectures and had vague if extant lecture plans. Questions that went the slightest bit beyond the assignments were meet with vacant stares. In one case, a professor went so far as to sit in front the class during a lecture and flip through the textbook looking for something he understood to talk about. |
| How Difficult | 3 | The workload was about normal compared to people in other majors or schools. The difficulty of the individual assignments was very low. It was more a matter of tedious busy work than anything else. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | In general, computer science is very hands-on. While there is a large portion of it that is theoretical/book learning, few professors knew much of it. So pretty much every class involved hands-on exercises writing programs, implementing algorithms, or working on the school 1970s mainframe (that last is a very marketable skill, though it might not sound like it). | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Because of the type of school it was (a state school with a small town that had grown around it), weekend/evening options weren't important to the student body so they weren't offered. The school when I left was just working on getting the networking run to have the bandwidth to offer online options. Otherwise, during the week, 8am-7pm classes were the norm. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | Again, the size of school and the time is considered here - 15k students graduated with me in 2003. They had many computers and plenty of classroom space. They were still stuck with blackboards and computer projectors were rare. The library was very out of date. In terms of computer science, they had made 10 ft of shelves with a rare book published within 5 years. Extremely poor for a discipline that moves so fast. Study groups were common, professors were very accessible (though rarely helpful), and there were no tutoring services provided through the school, though there were always people trying to make a little money tutoring underclassmen. |
| Social Life | 9 | Quite simply the best time of my life. Wish I was still there. I'm not a party or alcohol person, or at least wasn't at the time, but still had a big social circle and a lot of friends. I was able to do my coursework in a relatively small amount of time, work a few hours a week for pizza money, and still have plenty of time to just hangout with people. The school was able to bring at least two major bands a semester (which considering the geography is impressive). |
| Placement Services | 7 | The school offered the stock career services stuff. I got a job through an alumnus unrelated to it. I did use their resume review and practice interview services. I can't say they helped improve either, but they gave me some degree of confidence. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | While a couple members of the faculty had some connections at nearby corporations, overall the alumni was not connected with students. In one class, we did an assignment where everyone in a class of 20 wrote a one page professional report (I can't remember the topic). In addition to peer review, it was traditional for this class to have alumni read the assignments and give feedback. The year I took the class they couldn't get enough alumni who were willing to spend 5 minutes reading a page and responding for half the class. |
Penn State University • State College, PA
Studying IST (completion in 2007)
• 1/10/2012
"I was very satisfied overall and am currently going back for my Master's."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The college is known world-wide. Also the range of available options is staggering. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | When I graduated the degree was brand new. Since then the reputation has grown but it didn't exist then. |
| Program Quality | 10 | Course structure was very good and I enjoyed my professors. Classmates were of various ages and fun to work with. |
| Instruction | 7 | Some classes were better than others. I noticed that I've used different levels of classes differently in the working world. |
| How Difficult | 8 | It varied year to year. My second year was far harder than my senior year. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | My program was very hands on. Some other required classes were book only. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | I have taken weekend, summer, and online classes. I prefer online classes now for my grad work. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | Labs related to my major were updated. Other parts were dated. |
| Social Life | 10 | Penn State isn't considered the #1 party school in the nation for nothing. |
| Placement Services | 8 | Pretty decent overall. There is a PSU-only career website I've used in the past. |
| Alumni Network | 6 | Pretty good overall. They don't throw too much support out to you, it requires effort to find everything. |
South University • Pittsburg, PA
Studying Business Administration (completion in 2011)
• 3/14/2012
"I don't think I could have had a better and more challenging experience anywhere else. I met some of the smartest and most knowledgeable individuals out there. There were no judgments made and I have grown my networking list exponentially."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Yes, for all the reasons I've given. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | The current reputation of SUO is average due to the fact they are still relatively new with their online process. Although, in my opinion, they came out as a strong finisher by the time I was near the end of my year and a half earning my Master's Degree. I would recommend SUO to others to fulfill higher education needs. |
| Program Quality | 9 | I learned a lot about Business Administration from my courses at South University. The quality of information taught was very beneficial and closely related to the course materials. The texts used were some of the better ones I have read in a very long time. |
| Instruction | 10 | The instructors at SUO were very informative and willing to help whenever needed. They even went as far as providing their home phone numbers in case there was a question or issue that really needed to be answered and/or addressed. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Since I took South University's Online program, it was considerably difficult. Online learning is very difficult because there is no face to face contact to ask questions and have them answered immediately. There were times when I had to wonder if I was teaching myself the correct material. But through conversations over email and over the phone with my instructor's, it was made clear to me that I was learning the correct material. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It is an online school, so there is more book learning than anything. I feel that book learning forces an individual to think more about the basic concepts and how they apply in the real world. I was able to retain more information by reading and re-reading sometimes. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | This was the most flexible school I have ever worked with. One of the top requirements was to be present in the class through feeds and by communicating thoughts and ideas to other classmates at least four days a week. I found it easier to go online daily and work from there. I could go on early in the morning or very late at night to correspond with the instructors and/or classmates. It was the most convenient way to achieve my Master's while still taking care of my family and job responsibilities. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | All information was conducted over the internet. But they have an extensive library and search engines to pull up almost any article or subject an individual needs. Online tutors and study groups were conducted through group meetings held within a private classroom in which everyone signed on basically at the same time to run ideas and suggestions by one another. |
| Social Life | 7 | Although I was not able to attend any mixers or parties, you were still able to experience the school spirit through written communications. There was much positive feedback and support from fellow classmates and I was able to develop friendships that I still have today, and these are individuals from all over the world. One of my friends lives in Las Vegas now and has invited me to stay at their house when I get there. Also, a friend in New York has offered to let me stay with them when I travel to New York. |
| Placement Services | 9 | The school's job placement and career service assistance, I have to say, is very good. Almost to the point of becoming annoying with the phone calls and emails I was receiving during my job hunt, mostly to ensure I was ale to make contacts and go on interviews and making sure I was happy with the choices I had and/or have. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | The school's alumni network is very extensive because of the many vehicles they have in which to network with each other. They are on social sites creating a massive networking vehicle which seems to operate very well. |
Butler County Community College • Butler, PA
Studying Computer Forensics (completion in 2004)
• 3/26/2012
"I got a decent education and a good job. Overall I can't complain."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | If they are looking for a PC repair or networking type job then the school would be fine. Don't fall for the hype about Computer forensic possibilities. |
| Program Reputation | Honestly I'm not sure what their current reputation is. I know a lot of my former classmates aren't really satisfied. | |
| Program Quality | 5 | The program was fine. The career paths available were a little misleading. |
| Instruction | 7 | For the most part the instruction was good. On occasion I had instructors who were clueless. |
| How Difficult | 5 | Some of the forensics classes were difficult. Others such as "internet practices and principles" and "networking and Data Com" were quite easy. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Some classes were all text book related. Many were more hands-on though. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | I was working full time when I got my degree. The schedule makes this easy to do. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | There were adequate resources. Not bad for a small school. |
| Social Life | 5 | I wasn't into a lot of these aspects as I was a returning adult student. |
| Placement Services | 1 | They weren't much help. I did it all on my own. |
| Alumni Network | There doesn't seem to be any. At least none that I'm aware of. |
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