NC State was recently ranked No. 20 on Forbes’ 2016 Top 21 STEM Schools in the nation. 

Among the other schools listed were Massachusetts Institute of Technology (No. 1), Cornell University (No. 3), Johns Hopkins (no. 9) and Georgia Institute of Technology (no. 10).  NC State was one of four schools public, non-military universities that are ranked.

NC State’s STEM program prides itself in offering flexible options to students, so that it is easier for STEM students to acquire more than one degree, according to the program’s website.  

Assistant dean for undergraduate affairs for the College of Engineering, David Parish, addressed his reasons for thinking NC State’s STEM, particularly engineering, is so highly ranked.

“In regards to engineering, we consider ourselves good at teaching students, and once they finish their degree, jobs look at them very highly,” Parish said.

NC State has also been ranked No. 1 in best value among North Carolina public universities and No. 10 best value of public universities nationally.

Engineering is the largest branch of NC State’s STEM program. 

Jerome Lavelle, associate dean of academic affairs for the College of Engineering, expressed his belief in why NC State is being ranked top in the nation.

“Our university was chartered with an emphasis toward STEM disciplines, and thus, it has been in our DNA for 129 years,” Lavelle said. “We are now the ninth largest state in the U.S. and many students see the opportunities that STEM fields at NC State provide for jobs and working on problems that make the world a better place.”

Lavelle also discussed where he sees the program in the coming decade.

“Our vision is to become, and be perceived as, the leading public college of engineering in the country and one of the preeminent colleges of engineering in the world,” Lavell said. “One important step toward that vision is completion of the new Engineering Building Oval facility on Centennial Campus, which will house the Fitts Department of Industrial Engineering, the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering and the engineering dean. This project, due for completion in the 2019-2020 time frame, gets us very close to completing the college’s move from Main Campus.”