Good morning.  I am looking for a little advice as I am trying to do some research for my daughter.  My daughter is currently in High School and she will be going to college to study engineering-we have an opportunity for a full scholarship to a lesser engineering school, though she has also been accepted to Duke, which we would have to pay for.  If the same degrees are available at both schools, in the professional world does it really make a difference where she gets her degree?

Thank you for your responses.

Very good question.  I don't feel that a big name school is going to help your daughter out or prepare her any better than a state university.  It is not the school that makes the individual a good engineer, it is the individual's drive and determination.  If your daughter is a good student and applies herself she will do just fine with a "lesser engineering school" unless the firm she is looking to join is more concerned with flash than substance.

Bottom line is whether or not you or your daughter want to be paying for the "name" when in essence she will be getting pretty much the same education regardless of where she goes.

kathleen377's post is spot-on but i would add some other considerations.

1) As kathleen377 pointed out, this decision does depend on what your daughter wants to with her career. If she wants to be in academia or research, or continue on to PhD, the brand-name school would the better choice. In virtually any other sector of the trade, it is more important that she have practical work experience by the time she graduates. This will be more valuable to her than the name of her school or her GPA.

2) As a related side note, the nature of her social ethics may play a role as well. To put it succinctly, will she be happy working for a person (or group) to whom the name-brand of school is an important factor? To project my views, I don't think I could stand working a firm where the quality of an individual is related to their accessibility to high-end schools. This reality IS out there. A degree from Duke will probably open certain doors for her. It's just something to consider whether these are doors she'd want to walk through.

3) So long as both (or any) programs are ABET accredited, you shouldn't worry. If this is the case, she'll get a decent education.

4) I would infer that as her father, you concern is for her future in general, and yours as well. Consider that she, at this moment, is still just a kid in high school and can't reasonably be expected to truly know what form her future will take. Over the next 5 years, she has a lot to experience and decisions to make. But one of the few common denominators in her future, and yours, is money. If you've ever studied economics, consider the impacts of future-value and compounded interest.

As one father to another: The biggest advantage you can give her toward her future is, for her to not start off her life saddled with student loan debt. And if you were planning to pay for tuition instead, this only shuffles the shells. You don't want to saddle yourself with enormous debt either. You will one day retire and you don't want your daughter to have to care for you.

In short, this shouldn’t be a big worry. Her career will be long and with each passing year, her education become less important and her work experience will become more important. She should invest in this future by starting her work experience and networking while she’s still in school.

I agree that school should not matter but the key question to ask your "lesser engineering school" is whether or not their program is ABET accredited.  To learn more go to http://www.abet.org/.  That becomes very important when your daughter wants to become a professional engineer.  More experience is required for those professionals that did not attend an ABET accredited school.  Having completed my Master's at UT, I understand the stigma that CE Search Consultant has seen in the Texas market.