Educated Quest.com

2012-13 Edition

First Impressions:Stevens Institute of Technology

1 Introduction to (school)

Background

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Stevens Institute of Technology is named for a distinguished American family that was highly engaged in engineering from the founding of the United States through the Institute’s founding nearly a century later.

According to the Institute’s history, John Stevens, a colonel in the Revolu-tionary War, purchased the site of the present-day 55-acre campus in Ho-boken in 1784 from the newly American state of New Jersey. Col. Ste-vens became a pioneer in the development of the steamboat, and by 1825 he had also designed the first American-built steam locomotive. His sons, Edwin, John and Robert also played pivotal roles in the advance-ment of rail and water transportation in America through the later half of the 19th century. When Edwin Stevens died in 1868, his will provided for the establishment of the Institute which opened its doors two years later. The original trustees determined that Stevens should offer a single rigor-ous engineering curriculum leading to baccalaureate degree they desig-nated "Mechanical Engineer," a course of study firmly grounded in scien-tific principles and the humanities. Today, Mechanical Engineering is still one of the most popular majors. The global Society of Mechanical Engi-neers was founded on this campus.

In 1907, all classes at Stevens adopted an Honor System while in 1971, the Institute became co-ed. In 1982 Stevens became the first major edu-cational institution in the U.S. to implement a personal computer require-ment for its students. In addition, a pioneering technology project re-sulted in the networking of the entire Stevens campus, creating one of the nation’s first Intranets.

While Stevens is largely a science-engineering school--over 80 percent of the undergraduate student body majors in these subjects--it also has a greater share of students in business subjects than comparable

Background

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schools such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) or Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) that are highly specialized in Science, Tech-nology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. Like these schools, Stevens is also a National Research University that grants mas-ters and doctoral degrees. However, Stevens, with approximately 2,400 undergraduates, actually has a smaller student body than either RPI (5,300 undergraduates) or WPI (around 3,700 undergraduates). Stevens is one of the smallest research universities in the country; only Cal Tech (CA) is smaller among private STEM-focused schools.

Stevens attracts and manages to retain excellent students. The mean SATs are around 1300 (out of 1600) for the Math and Critical Reading sections of the test. The Institute has successfully retained 90 percent or more of each freshman class that has entered since 2008, excellent con-sidering the technical focus of the institution. In 2013, 96 percent of the first-year students returned for their second year. Six-year graduation rates have approached 80 percent; the graduation rates for student-athletes have actually been better than this. However, the four-year graduation rate has been lower than either RPI’s or WPI’s. The four-year graduation rate for the class than entered in 2008 was 38 percent, com-pared to 60 percent at RPI and 74 percent at WPI. The Institute offers several joint degree programs as well as cooperative education, both of which keep students around longer than four years. Currently, 40 percent of Stevens’ students participate in cooperative education while 20 per-cent graduate with a bachelors and a masters degree within five years.

But students who consider Stevens also look at public schools in the New Jersey-New York Metropolitan area that also have large STEM pro-grams such as Rutgers-New Brunswick, New Jersey Institute of Technol-ogy Binghamton University (NY), Stony Brook (NY) and City College of

New York. There have also been cross applications between Stevens and Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. The major difference between Ste-vens and these schools, outside of student body size, location and costs is the “design spine,” a series of small-group cross-disciplinary projects that are done each semester from the first year through the last. These projects are much harder to do within the larger student bodies at the public engineering schools. Nor is it likely that engineers, science majors and business students will work together on such projects at a much larger institutions.

Aside from academics and exposure to careers, Stevens most important advantage is location. Hoboken is less than a half hour by light rail to Wall Street, a slightly longer ride into Midtown Manhattan, but only eight minutes from the Big Apple by ferry. At Stevens students are close to New York--and have the best views of the city--but not consumed by it. Further, they can work in internships or co-op assignments during the school year, as opposed to having to wait until the summer. This is ad-vantageous for every pre-professional major at the Institute, business and STEM alike.

Famous Stevens alumni include Frederick Winslow Taylor, developer of business operations management principles known as Scientific Manage-ment, Frederick Reines, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Charles Stewart Mott, co-founder of the General Motors Corporation, Samuel Bush, patriarch of the Bush political family, Alexander Calder, creator of the Calder mobile (hung on many ceilings and over baby cribs), and Bea-trice Hicks, founding president of the Society of Women Engineers, among many others.

2 What does it take to get in?Who decides to go?What other schools do applicants consider?

Competition

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Stevens gets very bright students. In 2013 there were nearly 5,000 appli-cants for 620 seats in the freshman class. Slightly less than 40 percent were accepted. The middle 50 percent of the freshman class had SAT scores ranging from 1220 to 1380; the mean is around 1300. Sixty percent ranked in the top ten percent of their class, with an average GPA of close to 3.8.

Stevens uses the Common Application, with two Early Decision periods, one with a deadline of November 15th, the other January 15th. Students who apply Early Decision can expect a reply within 4 weeks. Those who are accepted have three weeks to decide (they can back out if they believe the financial aid award is insufficient to enable them to come). Approxi-mately half of the most recent class was filled through Early Decision, mak-ing Regular Admission (deadline February 1st) exceptionally competitive. However, it is easy to apply undecided within the Business, Humanities and Arts and Engineering programs; each has a common core.

The Institute will request senior year to date grades before making an ad-missions decision and asks for two recommendations, one from their coun-selor, the other from a teacher. All applicants must complete the FAFSA and the CSS Profile to be considered for need-based financial aid. Students who apply for Early Decision in the first cycle will have their financial aid de-cision based on only the CSS Profile.

Students who are interested in the Accelerated seven-year BS/MD program must also take SAT II tests in Math and one science and have a personal interview. Those selected pursue a major in Chemical Biology at Stevens and spend their fourth year in medical school courses. Approximately 200 students apply for this program, but only a handful gain admission.

Competition

3 Tuition and FeesScholarshipsDebt

Costs

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Stevens is very expensive. Tuition and fees run approximately $44,700, room and board for the freshman year will be just over $14,200. Add in costs for books and supplies, clothes, transportation home and other inci-dentals and the experience can cost over $64,000 for the first year.

The Institute reports that over 90 percent of all undergraduates receive scholarship aid. in 2012-13, according to College Navigator, the U.S De-partment of Education’s college search site, the average need-based scholarship from institutional funds was just over $24,000 for a first-year student, and just over $22,000 for all undergraduates. This represented more than half of tuition and fees. Stevens has kept these charges around the same for the past two academic years, going into the current one as well. Stevens also participates in Air Force and Army ROTC schol-arship programs though it offers no athletic scholarships as a NCAA Divi-sion III school. Need-based and merit-based scholarships are meant to carry forward from the first year into subsequent years.

Students who qualify for need-based or merit-based scholarships this generous will find that their tuition and fees will be attractive compared with out-of-state charges imposed by public institutions, though costs are not likely to be brought down to the charges for in-state students at Rut-gers, New Jersey Institute of Technology, SUNY or CUNY schools for all but the students in the upper quarter (1400+ SAT) of the applicant pool. The same would apply for students considering other leading publicly-supported STEM schools such as Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

While Stevens is cross-shopped against a variety of private schools, in-cluding Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Lehigh and New York University, it is most similar to RPI and WPI because the academic mix is so heavily weighted towards STEM subjects. However, when using College Naviga-

Costs

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tor for 2012-13, the latest year all cost and financial aid data is available, Stevens is the most generous of these three schools when it comes to

using its own funds to aid first-year students, as shown below.

The Institute reports on its Financial Aid page that student borrowers owes, on average, $31,000 at graduation. Coincidentally, that was the same that RPI graduates owed in 2012, according to the Project on Stu-dent Debt. Stevens tries to justify the higher level of indebtedness through starting salary data, which RPI would, too. In fact, considering the interest in co-op and Bachelor-Masters programs among Stevens’ students, both of which take five years, the level of debt could be consid-ered reasonable for a STEM or business (especially information system or quantitative finance) graduate who finds employment before or shortly after graduation.

In addition, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education Parent PLUS Loan database, Stevens asked Parent PLUS Loan borrowers, on aver-age, to take on less debt in 2011 than parents of students at RPI or WPI.

The average parent borrower of a Stevens student took on approxi-mately $17,000 in Parent PLUS loan debt, compared to more than $19,000 for the average parent borrower at either RPI or WPI.

Interestingly, compared with these schools, Stevens by far has the low-est endowment. In 2013, according to the National Association of Col-lege and University Business Officers, Stevens’ endowment was approxi-mately $153 million compared to $389 million for WPI and $617 million for RPI. Granted these two technically-oriented schools have larger stu-dent bodies, but the smaller school is actually, on average, the more gen-erous one.

One caution with co-op. While students pay no tuition while employed in a co-op position, they pay a co-op fee of approximately $300 during the co-op semester. In addition, unless they live at home while on co-op or in employer-subsidized housing, they must pay for an additional year of room and board. Hoboken, being so close to New York, is a high-cost area. Students considering co-op must consider the added costs in fees and room and board as well as lost income from not being in a full-time position during that fifth year. Co-op wages, while not counted on a FAFSA to help calculate need-based aid, are considered on a family’s tax return, and possibly the CSS Profile. The Institute compensates for some of the higher costs by allowing students to take one class for no charge while on co-op. This could allow them to gain credits towards an advanced degree, provided they entered Stevens with AP or IB credits or to take a lighter course load during the fifth year to work or devote more time to finding a full-time job.

School

Sticker Price 2012-13 (Tuition and Fees, Room

and Board)

Average Institutional Need-Based Scholarship,

Freshman entering in

2012-13

% of Sticker Price Covered by

Institutional Need-Based Aid

Stevens $58,880 $24,314 41%

RPI $56,925 $22,226 39%

WPI $54,030 $17,752 33%

4 On-Campus HousingLocal Housing Market

Comforts

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There are seven residence halls on the Stevens campus, of which three: Davis, Hayden and Humphreys are reserved exclusively for freshmen while Castle Point houses fresh-men and upper-class students together. Davis, Hayden and Humphreys halls are corridor-style where several double rooms share a common bathroom while Castle Point rooms are triples, each with their own bathroom. Davis and Hay-den offer the benefit of waterfront views of New York City, as does Castle Point, though none are exceptionally attrac-tive structures from the outside. All of the halls on campus are within easy walking distance to classes and the dining hall.

In addition to the possibility of waterfront views, the fresh-man halls have air conditioning and laundry charges in-cluded with room and board. Students may also live in the halls between semesters; they are not forced to go home. All freshmen are also required to carry the unlimited meal plan, another reason for the high room and board charges.

Upper-class students have the option of pledging fraterni-ties or sororities, living in a larger selection of residence halls, in special interest housing in the all-female Lore-El Center or the community service-oriented C.A.R.E House or in University-owned leased apartments near campus in

Comforts

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brownstones or one of four modern apartment complexes near the waterfront and light rail transit into New York.

Students who choose to live in a leased apartment may live is as much luxury as Hoboken residents who work in highly lucrative careers in the Big Apple. If the desire is to manage costs, Greek life or special interest housing on campus will be the way to go because both allow students to carry smaller meal plans than the residence halls (except for the River Terrace suites where residents may drop down to the minimal plan). While living in Lore-El or C.A.R.E will cost no more than $9,600 a year, rates in the apartment communi-ties have charges that approach $13,000 a year for a dou-ble room while also requiring a minimal ($300) meal plan. The apartments also require a 12-month commitment, while residence halls and special interest housing are paid for by semester. Fortunately, Stevens guarantees housing for four years.

Stevens also has an off-campus housing office to help stu-dents find apartments in Hoboken. Market rents for two-bedroom apartments near campus can range between $2,200 and $2,700 per month depending on the distance be-tween the unit, the waterfront, the downtown and the rail ter-minal. While it might be possible to find a less expensive apartment off campus, students will be obligated to security

deposits as well as 12-month leases. This might work fine for seniors who would like to live in Hoboken after gradua-tion or plan to stay during the summers between academic years.

There is absolutely no reason to bring a car to Stevens. The Institute provides shuttles to mass transit and shopping op-portunities. There is no reason to drive to New York when the light rail fare is only $5 round trip. A discounted fare (only $1.90 per trip) is available to students who need a monthly pass to commute to their co-op or internship.

5 CampusEnvironsSchool Spirit

Community

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Stevens campus is located on the highest point in Hoboken, with some of the best views of the New York skyline that can be seen from anywhere. The campus itself is a mix of 19th century, 1960s era and 21st century structures, with red brick becoming a more common theme. The Babbio Center for Technology Man-agement is the “showpiece” or “signature” building for the cam-pus though the Institute has also done an excellent job of pre-serving its historically-significant buildings.

The campus is a very short walk to light rail service to Manhat-tan as well as NJ TRANSIT trains to points west, including the Jersey Shore. The same light rail service that goes to New York also stops in Newark, connecting with Newark Liberty Interna-tional Airport as well as Amtrak trains to Philadelphia and Wash-ington D.C. The Institute is a far better “connected” school than peers such as RPI and WPI in terms of access to a major metro-politan area.

Considered part of New Jersey’s Gold Coast, Hoboken’s popu-lation rose from just over 38,000 people in 2000 to more than 50,000 today within a tight (one square mile) space. The city’s brownstones as well as modern condominium apartments as well as the access to mass transit have attracted young high net worth professionals who work in New York as well as North-ern New Jersey. The retail mix from the Stevens campus to the train station caters to this crowd, though there are also many less expensive dining and drinking places nearby. It would be a

Community

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stretch to call Hoboken a college town--Stevens is a small school and the establishments cater more to working people--but students have the opportunity to be exposed to a lifestyle they might enjoy after they have finished college.

Incidents of crime are fairly low on the Stevens campus. The compactness of the campus as well as the city contributes posi-tively to this, and possibly a requirement that parties be ap-proved by campus police. From 2006 through 2012 there were only only four reported arrests--total--on campus for a drug law violation, according to the Institute’s 2013 Clery Report and no more than 22 reported drug-related disciplinary referrals during any one of those years. During this same period there were also only four reported arrests--total--on campus for liquor law violations and no more than 38 alcohol-related disciplinary refer-rals during any one of those years. Reported burglaries on cam-pus dropped from 17 in 2006 to only one in 2012 while there have been only two reported Forcible Sex Offense since 2007, and none since 2008.

Stevens competes in 24 Division III (non-scholarship) sports. It is a member of the Empire 8 Conference along with eight up-state New York colleges: Alfred University, Elmira College, Hartwick College, Houghton College, Ithaca College, Nazareth College, St. John Fisher College and Utica College. The Insti-tute is also a member of the Eastern College Athletic Confer-ence (ECAC). Stevens was named ECAC Institution of the Year

in 2008 and again in 2013. It is one of only three institutions to win the award multiple times. Stevens athletic teams have col-lectively won 22 Empire 8 championships since joining the con-ference in 2007.

6 AcademicsHonors ProgramsExperiential Learning

Curriculum

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Approximately 80 percent of Stevens’ students are enrolled in STEM degree programs, while 10 percent major in one of the business disciplines. An additional 10 percent take a major in the humanities, though some of these subjects are science and technology-related as well.

All incoming freshmen must take two Freshman Experience courses, one in Writing and Communication, the other called Knowledge, Nature, Culture. Both of these courses have chal-lenging reading and writing requirements including works by Ar-istotle, Nietzsche, Descartes and T.S. Eliot, among others.

Unlike many school that grant a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering disciplines, the Stevens degree is a Bachelor of En-gineering. All engineering students take a common core includ-ing Calculus, Chemistry and Physics as well as Mechanics and Solids, then enter their major field. Engineering students have a cross-disciplinary Design Spine classes during their first two se-mesters followed by team-based design courses in the major. All engineers take a Capstone course during their last two se-mesters. While this can be student or faculty-driven, some Cap-stones have been employer sponsored, and some have occa-sionally resulted in patents. There are nine engineering majors at Stevens, Mechanical Engineering being the most popular, Na-val Engineering the most unique and Computer Engineering of-fering the highest entry-level pay.

Curriculum

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Stevens offers seven business majors, the more unique being in Quantitative Finance, it’s core built around courses in Fi-nance, Computer Science and Mathematics, and Business & Technology, which combines business with a concentration in a STEM subject outside of the business school. A Center for Deci-sion Technologies helps marketing students learn social media and crowdsourcing strategies. The business program also has an annual Pitch Olympics and Business Plan competitions where student ideas are presented to potential investors. Fi-nance and economics students may compete in the national CME Group Commodity Trading Competition or the College Fed Challenge.

Stevens also offers unique programs in Technology and the Arts for students interested in science, computing and either mu-sic or visual arts. The Computer Science program offers three minors in Cybersecurity and Game Development as well as seven concentrations. The Institute also offers four Humanities and Social Science majors, the most unique being a History ma-jor that focuses on the history of science and innovation and a Social Sciences major that covers the political, sociological and psychological impacts of engineering, science and technology on society.

There are also a surprising number of joint degree programs for a small school, including the B.S in Chemical Biology/MD pro-gram and an Accelerated six-year Bachelors/JD program to-

wards a law degree as well as several bachelor’s-masters pro-grams.

While Stevens is a small undergraduate school, and has a student-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 for the undergraduate courses, it is also a doctoral degree-granting institution. As is the case with larger schools, teaching assistants may be used in lab or recita-tion sections of the introductory courses. In later years, how-ever, advanced coursework is conducted in smaller classes.

Stevens’ students gave their faculty a rating of 3.53 on RateMyProfessors.com, about the same as their peers at RPI rated their faculty (3.54) and WPI (3.51) rated theirs. They also rated their faculty about the same as their peers at the public New Jersey Institute of Technology (3,54) but lower than their peers at Carnegie Mellon (3.76) and Lehigh (3.67) among larger private schools that have strong business, engineering and science programs.

7 Alumni RelationsCareer Services

Connections

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Among the nearly 29,000 Stevens alumni registered on LinkedIn.com, approximately 6,900 work in engineering while just under 4,500 work in information technology. There are also more than 1,200 entrepreneurs as well as just over 1,000 fi-nance professionals. AT&T is the largest employer of registered alumni, followed by Citigroup and Verizon Wireless, among a who’s who of corporations, consulting firms and financial institu-tions. Slightly more than 18,000 registered alumni live in the New York area; the Philadelphia metropolitan area ranks a dis-tant second with just over 1,000. The Institute’s location and the location of alumni make networking easier than it might be for students and graduates of other similar schools.

The Institute’s alumni association, however, is not totally tied to the New York area. There are 14 regional clubs, with locations in Northern California, Atlanta, Boston, Raleigh-Durham and Washington D.C., among other places. The Institute’s alumni giving rate in 2011 and 2012 was 16 percent according to the most recent U.S. News college guide. This is better than many larger schools in the area, including New Jersey Institute of Technology, NYU and Rutgers-New Brunswick, and even better than RPI or WPI which appear higher in the magazine’s rank-ings.

Going to Stevens is, in part, about gaining valuable work experi-ence while still in college. This starts with one-day externships for first-year students over winter break where they shadow a

Connections

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recent graduate on the job. Three quarters of Stevens students participate in experiential learning whether it be co-op (for Com-puter Science and Engineering), internships (all other majors) or research with faculty. Co-op salaries are high, averaging $17 per hour for a semester of full-time work. Those eligible for co-op may begin their first assignment during the summer after their freshman year or during the fall semester of their sopho-more year. An added advantage of Steven’s location is that stu-dents may be placed in highly-coveted co-op and internship po-sitions during the school year that might be continued, at the employer’s option, into semester breaks and summers. The In-stitute tries to arrange co-op assignments with a single em-ployer, when possible.

The Career Development Center runs programs tailored to un-dergraduates in each academic year to help with job search, in-terviewing and resume writing skills. The Center runs three ca-reer fairs each year in September, December and March. each attracts over 100 employers, some participate in more than one. In addition there are career fairs sponsored by student or-ganizations on campus. Over 2,100 jobs were posted on the In-stitute’s online job board in 2013, up from just over 1,500 in 2012. These jobs were posted by more than 900 employers. In addition, the Career Development Center hosted more than 30 corporate information sessions and hosted nearly 700 on-campus interviews.

The Career Development Center reported that 93 percent of the Class of 2013 had secured full-time employment (including mili-tary service) or was enrolled in a graduate program full-time. The average salary for those who accepted positions was ap-proximately $64,700, though a few entry-level positions paid salaries in excess of $100,000. Major employers of recent graduates include Barclays Bank, ExxonMobil, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Parsons-Brinkerhoff and Verizon. Pharma-ceutical manufacturers hired the largest share of graduates, fol-lowed by Engineering Services, Telecommunications and Finan-cial Services firms.

8 Summing up

Conclusions

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The choice of a school to learn a STEM subject depends on academic interests outside of STEM, learning style and fi-nances. The student who wants a more personal learning expe-rience, and can pay more (even with a scholarship) than s/he would pay to attend their home state university might find the perfect home at Stevens.

The Institute’s location is practically unbeatable, outside of Stan-ford’s proximity to Silicon Valley and MIT’s access to the Route 128 Corridor. Students who are interested in the quantitative business subjects also benefit tremendously from the school’s location. Stevens offers the requisite education and can ar-range the appropriate work experiences that will enable any graduate to find gainful employment after graduation..

The Stevens experience, however, is extremely expensive. Ho-boken’s housing market is quite attractive to young high-net worth professionals. While Stevens students can enjoy a taste of this lifestyle while still in college, they must be careful to man-age their costs. The Institute appears willing to help keep tuition and fee increases to a minimum and to cover a fair percentage of these charges through institutional aid. But it cannot force personal responsibility on its students once they live off cam-pus. Trying to live in a lap of luxury while a student could lead to life in squalor for years if that student is not careful.

Conclusions

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There are less expensive options than Stevens for students who are interested in business or STEM. They may be more at-tractive for the student who has more limited funds and can take charge of their education. A less expensive education at a larger school might deliver a better return on investment than Stevens could--but only if you can master the introductory sub-jects in the large-lecture setting and wait for the hands-on in-struction to happen later in the degree program.

Employers appear to like what Stevens has to offer and they re-cruit the Institute aggressively. Those students who like the aca-demics and can cover the costs might find their perfect educa-tional marriage on the Hoboken waterfront.

Ed Quest’s Report Card

Stevens Institute of Technology

Four-Year/Six-Year

Grad Rates

Freshman Retention

Costs Comforts Community Curriculum Connections

C/A A B B A A A

Strengths Weaknesses

Can’t beat the location if you love New York--and you can’t beat the view from campus

The experience is very expensive if you don’t have a scholarship

Design Spine in all undergraduate years for engineering

Freshman residence halls nothing to write home about, though you get A/C and laundry

Co-op and Career Services are strong. You’ll get a good job from here, if you can do the work

On-campus and off-campus apartment living is very expensive compared to similar schools

More personal experience in the upper-class years than most STEM and business programs

The Hoboken lifestyle can break a student who does not manage expenses carefully.

Academic strengths not only in STEM, but also quantitative business subjects

Grad rates not as high as comparable schools such as RPI and WPI

Athletes work as hard as the rest of the student body

You’ll still see the big gatekeeper classes in Calc, Chem and Physics as well as Bio for the

pre-meds, and be taught by TAs

More scholarship help possible from here than RPI or WPI

Co-op has some extra costs in fees and housing over five years

Very safe campus, especially since you’re living in a small city

Impressive number of joint degree options for a small school

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