Grad students at Penn State choose from an array of programs

Penn State offers fourteen majors. Women make up 20 percent of the graduate engineering students

“You are a rare commodity,” Dr Amy Freeman reminds diverse engineers.

As one of the largest engineering colleges in the nation, Penn State offers many opportunities for research. If you can think of a technical topic, there’s a good chance that it is being studied at Penn State.

If you’re thinking about graduate school, Penn State has a lot to offer there too. The 360 Penn State faculty and more than 1,400 graduate students conduct collaborative research across fifteen departments and fifty college centers, and through research partnerships across the country and around the globe. Penn State grad students are encouraged to publish and present research findings at conferences both in the U.S. and internationally.

High rankings for Penn State
Penn State is typically ranked among the top twenty engineering institutions in the nation and is one of the three largest engineering colleges in the country, rivaling Georgia Tech and Purdue in total enrollment and degrees awarded.

The university as a whole has about 80,000 students. Of those, 42,000 are at the main University Park campus. Even though it’s a big school, students develop their own smaller communities, academic and social. State College, PA is a diverse community located in one of the most scenic areas of Pennsylvania.

Most of the fourteen graduate degree programs are offered at University Park. The Penn State Great Valley campus offers degrees in engineering and IS. Penn State also offers three online masters programs in engineering: systems engineering at Great Valley, nuclear engineering and acoustics at University Park.

Professional organizations provide support
There are fifty-six separate engineering student organizations. Grad students are the focus of the engineering graduate student council and several professional organization chapters. There are also two university-wide graduate organizations with a diversity focus: the Black Graduate Association for African American students, and Baricula for Latino and Latina graduate students. Both organizations provide a sense of cultural community for their members.

Graduate funding is available
Most graduate students are supported through student fellowships and assistantships offered by departments and government agencies. The 2008-09 stipends for half-time research and teaching assistantships ranged from $19,300 to $22,818. There is additional funding available for students who bring diversity to the college of engineering.

Grad study opportunities are vast
Of the fourteen colleges that make up Penn State, five focus on technology. In addition to the College of Engineering, technical disciplines are housed in Eberly College of Science and the colleges of earth and mineral science, information sciences and technology, and agricultural sciences. There are several interdisciplinary study and research programs that involve more than one college.

Companies seek Penn State’s diverse students
Penn State offers its grads and undergrads the largest student career fair in the U.S. About 10,000 students attend, along with hundreds of employers, most of them seeking technical students. Penn State University has a career center, and engineering has an internal office that also helps with job searches.

Several summer research programs for engineering undergraduates (REUs) let students explore the Penn State graduate experience. Students spend a summer completing research with a Penn State professor. Many undergraduates can present research findings at conferences and other public venues. Most programs pay for transportation to and from Penn State, and a stipend between $3,000 and $5,000. Locating a dedicated graduate research advisor is critical for admission and success in graduate school, and the summer program offers potential grad students a chance to make those connections early.

The faculty is diverse
Twenty or so faculty in the engineering school are African American and Hispanic. Women make up 14 percent of the total faculty with forty-five out of 280, many from countries outside the U.S. There are women in executive positions in its engineering college, too, including an associate dean, two assistant deans and three department heads.

Dr Amy Freeman, assistant dean of engineering diversity, urges students who are planning their grad careers to identify their passions. She encourages students to apply to five or six schools in addition to their “dream” schools. “Be willing to move and be flexible,” she says. “Remember, there are relatively few women and underrepresented engineers, and even fewer who continue on to graduate school. You are a rare commodity. Schools are looking for you. The future is yours.”