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Are you just interested in the lowest up front cost in dollars? I went to the US Military Academy. Tuition, room and board are free, you get a small stipend ea

Are you just interested in the lowest up front cost in dollars? I went to the US Military Academy. Tuition, room and board are free, you get a small stipend each month and you have a guaranteed job at graduation. You pay for school with 5 years of service as an Army officer. I was a Mechanical Engineering major, but they have a decent EECS department also. The military academies have an interesting setup where they are officially an engineering school, and everyone, even the history or law majors have to take an "engineering track". The engineering majors also have more humanities courses than their peers at most schools.

pc86 8y ago
I'd be interested in a comparison of your earnings over those five years of service compared to the median income for the first five years after graduating from public/private/Top-10 schools. I still think you'd be getting the best deal overall but the community college + state school route may seem more competitive in terms of cost after factoring in the relatively low pay of O1-O3s.
- spilk 8y ago
  I think after 5 years of military service as an officer and a military academy EE degree you could easily obtain very lucrative military contractor work, but of course this is generally going to be in the weapons/electronic warfare sphere which may or may not be ethically compatible to some folks.
  - brettgriffin 8y ago
    The two aren't mutually exclusive; you could easily get contractor work with five years of EE after going to another school (provided you can pass the background and security checks).
    - pc86 8y ago
      Absolutely, but if they're hiring for the last slot and you're up against a USMA grad former O3 (probably still in the reserves, too) that's very tall hurdle to clear.
limeblack 8y ago
The national guard requires less intense long term commitment and let's you pick your school. It may not cover everything(you still qualify for parts of the GI bill)[0] but a couple weekends a month is generally much easier for most to agree with. [0]: http://www.militaryspot.com/national-guard/pay-for-school http://www.militaryspot.com/national-guard/pay-for-school

pc86 8y ago

I'd be interested in a comparison of your earnings over those five years of service compared to the median income for the first five years after graduating from public/private/Top-10 schools. I still think you'd be getting the best deal overall but the community college + state school route may seem more competitive in terms of cost after factoring in the relatively low pay of O1-O3s.

spilk 8y ago
I think after 5 years of military service as an officer and a military academy EE degree you could easily obtain very lucrative military contractor work, but of course this is generally going to be in the weapons/electronic warfare sphere which may or may not be ethically compatible to some folks.
- brettgriffin 8y ago
  The two aren't mutually exclusive; you could easily get contractor work with five years of EE after going to another school (provided you can pass the background and security checks).
  - pc86 8y ago
    Absolutely, but if they're hiring for the last slot and you're up against a USMA grad former O3 (probably still in the reserves, too) that's very tall hurdle to clear.

limeblack 8y ago

The national guard requires less intense long term commitment and let's you pick your school. It may not cover everything(you still qualify for parts of the GI bill)[0] but a couple weekends a month is generally much easier for most to agree with. [0]: http://www.militaryspot.com/national-guard/pay-for-school http://www.militaryspot.com/national-guard/pay-for-school