Written by: Pavita Singh

Whatever your areas of interest and your goals in life are, having a solid knowledge of Stem subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) can go a long way. For example, if you’re interested in politics, STEM knowledge is helpful with all the environmental and scientific issues on the political horizon today. All the technological innovations of our time, no matter the industry, rely on STEM. In our increasingly globalized world, STEM is required for creating and enhancing connections among people across places, whether that be through communication, transportation, financial transactions, or something else entirely. STEM subjects teach you a way of thinking that is useful in any field, and having STEM-based skills gives you a competitive edge in today’s job market. Most colleges and universities require undergraduates to take some STEM-based classes in order to graduate. If you’re interested in digging deeper into the STEM subjects during your undergraduate career, check out these 16 colleges that have a strong STEM reputation.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA: MIT probably needs very little, if any, description. It is consistently ranked #1 by US News and World Report for undergraduate engineering, and many of its faculty are Fulbright scholars and Nobel Prize winners. MIT students have a blast on Pi Day (March 14), and alumni even have a Pi Reunion (a 3.14-year reunion). Even the social sororities and fraternities on campus can’t escape the STEM nerdiness. For students who are interested in writing and the arts, MIT has concentrations in scientific writing and journalism and digital art—a demonstration of the versatility of STEM. MIT is home to the famous MIT Museum, where students and non-students alike can spend hours immersing themselves in STEM fun. The university also offers summer STEM workshops for middle school and high school students.

Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL: As a historically black institution, Tuskegee University is well-known for empowering minorities and is committed to narrowing the racial and gender gap in STEM fields. Big names associated with Tuskegee include Booker T. Washington (the founder) and George Washington Carver. One of the school’s most popular STEM majors is veterinary medicine. Other popular programs include agriculture, environmental studies, engineering, and nursing. It is the number-one producer of African American aerospace engineers in the nation, and is one of two centers funded by NASA to develop technology for food growth in space during space missions. The school has partnerships with large STEM-based businesses, including Hewlett-Packard and Xerox, where many Tuskegee students pursue summer internships and careers.

Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA: Harvey Mudd offers majors in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, math, and physics. Students can also pursue joint degrees in any of these programs. Liberal arts courses are also mixed into the core curriculum so that the humanities and social sciences are not neglected. Students also have the opportunity to take part in Harvey Mudd’s Clinic Program, which involves working on projects with corporations, laboratories, or agencies off campus. Harvey Mudd’s president, Maria Klawe, has spearheaded efforts to increase the number of women in STEM. Since her tenure as president, the school has seen an increase in female STEM majors and graduates.

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA: CMU’s STEM-based schools and colleges include the College of Engineering, Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, Mellon College of Science, and the School of Computer Science. The remaining schools, namely the College of Fine Arts, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Tepper School of Business, also have STEM components in their curricula. CMU’s STEM programs are consistently ranked among the top in the nation. In terms of diversity, over 40% of computer science students are female. The increase in the number of women who enroll in and graduate from CMU’s computer science programs is largely due to active recruitment of women and changes in department culture that are more likely to retain women.

Colby College, Waterville, ME: Some of Colby’s most popular STEM majors include biology, chemistry, environmental studies, physics, science and society, and geology. Real-world research and problem-based learning are integral parts of the STEM curricula at Colby. Colby also participates in engineering dual-degree programs with Columbia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering. Colby students have a chance at the SMART (Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation) scholarship, which is a program in partnership with Department of Defense laboratories. Every year, Colby hosts a Forum for Women in Science, a career development program for women in STEM.

Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA: Westminster encourages students to pursue a balance of STEM subjects and liberal arts subjects. One of its newest majors is engineering physics, which gives students a solid knowledge of contemporary physics, math, computer science, and chemistry. Pre-med is among the most popular tracks at Westminster. In fact, the college claims that graduates who apply to med school are admitted at double the rate of the national average. The college has numerous laboratories, including a 100-acre outdoor lab.

Williams College, Williamstown, MA: STEM majors make up over a third of Williams College students. Williams’ curriculum is unique in that students have the option of pursuing a concentration in which they can take courses from various disciplines. One such concentration is cognitive sciences. Popular STEM degrees at Williams include geosciences, statistics, and science and technology studies. About 70-80 seniors per year engage in a year-long thesis collaboration with faculty members, which often results in publication in reputable scientific journals and participation in professional conferences.

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA: Caltech has consistently ranked one of the best colleges in the country for science and engineering. Thirty-five Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Caltech faculty and alumni. Other claims to fame include the Seismological Laboratory, the Palomar and WM Keck Observatories, and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. The academic divisions at Caltech are Biology & Biological Engineering; Chemistry & Chemical Engineering; Engineering & Applied Science; Geological & Planetary Sciences; Humanities & Social Sciences; and Physics, Math, & Astronomy.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA: WPI has been home to breakthroughs in such areas as biotechnology, fuel cells, nanotechnology, and information security. Popular majors include math, aerospace engineering, bioinformatics and computational biology, robotics, systems dynamics, and manufacturing engineering. The school has a partnership with Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Moracco, where students can take on such projects as clean water, advanced aircraft, and cutting-edge robotics and video games. What’s more, WPI has a Global Projects Program in which science, engineering, and business students receive $5000 and tackle global problems using their scientific knowledge and skills in any of WPI’s 40 project centers across 6 continents. WPI has also developed outreach programs to get young girls interested in STEM from an early age.

Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC: Pre-medis a common track at Wofford. Other popular fields of study are biology, chemistry, computer science, math, physics, pre-engineering, pre-dentistry, pre-pharmaceutical, and pre-vet. Environmental studies is also huge at Wofford, which led to the creation of the Thinking Like a River Initiative. The mission of this initiative is to shape a culture of sustainability centered on local waters by bringing together perspectives from natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and arts. Wofford students can apply their scientific knowledge and skills at one of the college’s 70 study abroad sites.

Rockford University, Rockford, IL: Rockford offers an interdisciplinary STEM program. The College of Science, Math, and Nursing includes concentrations in math, computer science, physics, nursing, and psychology. Other popular concentrations include biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and biological anthropology. One of Rockford’s claims to fame is the Starr Science Center, which has advanced computer lab facilities and other educational tools that benefit STEM and non-STEM majors alike.

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO: At Mines, students can get the benefits of personalized education and small class sizes along with state-of-the-art facilities similar to those one would find at a bigger school. Some of the strongest programs at Mines include environmental sciences, and resource engineering and geological sciences, which makes sense given its location. The school has strong partnerships with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the United States Geological Survey. Mines also has the second-largest Society of Women Engineers chapter in the country.

Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, CT:STEM majors at Albertus receive the STEM award, a renewable scholarship that provides $7500 tuition reduction. The college also sponsors such organizations as the Science Club, which fosters scientific interest and initiatives on campus. STEM degrees at Albertus are biology, chemistry, computer information systems, mathematics, and pre-med. Students have the opportunity to get hands-on STEM experience through participation in internships and faculty-directed research.

Davidson College, Davidson, NC: Popular STEM degrees at Davidson include pre-engineering, archaeology, astrophysics, computer science, digital studies, experimental physics, medical humanities, and neuroscience. The college also has one of the few genomics programs in the country. Wendy Raymond, the academic dean at Davidson and a professor of biology, was recently appointed Chair of the National Science Foundation. She has created a number of STEM initiatives on campus, including RISE (Research in Science Experience)—a month-long research opportunity offered to select first-year students.

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM: Almost all professors at New Mexico Tech are actively involved in research projects, and they happily take on undergraduates and graduate students to work with them. Popular STEM majors include engineering, computer science, earth and environmental sciences, math, mineral engineering, and petroleum engineering. The school has partnerships with the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and the Petroleum Recovery Research Center, where students can intern and work. All seniors are required to complete a capstone project, which can entail working with national labs or companies such as NASA, Yates Petroleum, and General Electric.

Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, MI: Environmental science is the most popular STEM major at Aquinas. All STEM majors receive 4 years of professional development guidance, which includes assistance in assessing their strengths, developing goals, building leadership skills, writing a resume, creating a portfolio, and networking. Aquinas is home to the Albertus Magnus Hall of Science, which features high-end science labs, a greenhouse, and a scaled model of the solar system called Foster Planet Walk. The college has scholarship opportunities for students in the life sciences and for women who excel in STEM classes.

Do any of these colleges or programs sound interesting to you? If so and you’re looking for an easy way to connect with current students and alumni, check out Konversai(another innovation that wouldn’t exist without STEM)! Konversai is the first-ever global knowledge platform that allows for one-on-one live video conversations between anyone, anywhere, about anything. Knowledge providers have the opportunity to teach others what they know and share their experiences, all while making money. Knowledge seekers can use the platform to delve into any topic of interest and get catered, personalized knowledge whenever they wish. Any and all knowledge, skills, and experiences have a place on Konversai, whether it be about college applications, career counseling, coding, marketing, social media use, etiquette, cooking, languages, travel, opera singing, or something else entirely. The only limit is your imagination. With Konversai, you literally have a whole world of opportunities at your disposal. Join Konversai today and be part of our mission to democratize knowledge, put the human connection back into the heart of technology, and facilitating meaningful connections and conversations that improve lives.

Sources:

1. Best Colleges Online. The 10 Best Colleges for Females in STEM Fields.
2. Eisenberg, Tracy. (2016). 20 Best Deals on Small Colleges for STEM. Great College Deals.
3. Fox, Kelsey. (2015). 30 Great Small Colleges for STEM Degrees. Best Degree Programs.
4. The Best Colleges. The Best Colleges for STEM Degrees.

SaveSave

SaveSave

The post The 16 Best Colleges for STEM appeared first on The Social Movement.