Should You Judge a College by its Technology?

Guest post: Abi Mandelbaum

It seems that every year colleges are offering more perks to attract new students. From deluxe living facilities to accelerated courses, and even Groupons, they’re trying to think outside the box to get their message across.

Not least among these attempts is a push to offer the best technology in the market. Through social media, blogs, podcasts, even virtual classrooms, universities are trying to develop a reputation for being tech savvy.

But how much weight should you give that reputation (for good or ill) when making your final decision on a school? The answer to that question depends on why you’re asking. Whether you’re motivated by finding a good job after graduation, facilitating the learning process, or just enhancing your college experience, your potential university’s reputation for technology will be more (or less) important.

How is technology being used?

If learning is your top priority, take a look at where an institution’s technology dollars are going. Are more resources being spent in the classroom, or in the marketing department? Schools may try to entice you with things like campus-wide WiFi or personalized websites, but studies are showing that students increasingly consider these things basic essentials of learning – not frills to be wowed with.

Instead, pay attention to institutions that are using technology in more innovative ways to support the education process.

Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, for example, has paired its School of Computer Science and College of Fine Arts to create the Entertainment Technology Center. This offers a joint program in which students can earn a master’s degree in entertainment technology (the first in the nation). Inventions created on campus are connected to real-world businesses via the Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation.

What do employers think?

If you’re wondering how much weight a tech-savvy reputation carries with employers, you might be surprised.

While certain industries (the legal field, for example) place a lot of emphasis on where you went to college, recent polls suggest that many employers don’t find it that important.

A 2014 survey of chief information officers, conducted by Robert Half Technology, reported that only 10% of surveyed CIOs were “heavily influenced by” the prestige of a job applicant’s alma mater. By contrast, 32% placed little weight on prestige, and 6% said it didn’t matter at all.

More than half (51%) of surveyed CIOs said they placed greater weight on the practical skills and experience graduates had earned, rather than where they attended university.

“When recruiting top talent, IT employers prioritize a candidate’s ability to demonstrate the practical application of skills over education,” Robert Half Technology’s Senior Regional Manager Deborah Bottineau told CNW. “Although a quality education establishes a foundation, applicants who have real-world IT experience are better able to transition into a role with less ramp-up time.”

What should you prioritize?

Ultimately the safe bet would be to target schools offering the best of both worlds – providing all the bells-and-whistles of new technology on campus, alongside opportunities to gain real-world experience at the same time.

The School of Engineering at Purdue University (and others) has earned some press coverage for its method of blending the traditional classroom with a more hands-on experience.

“The earlier we expose [students] to project-based learning, the earlier we break down their barriers, their fears over hardware and software, and the clearer their learning is,” Ziyad Duron, the chair of Harvey Mudd College’s engineering departments, told US News & World Report.

Thankfully, it’s gotten easier to do your homework. Along with the standard “best colleges” rankings, a number of publications focus on universities’ technological chops as well. And as the industry continues exploring the practical applications of virtual reality, you can stroll around your potential alma mater without buying a plane ticket.

When it comes down to it, a college’s technology reputation is as important as you make it. The institutions that want to stay up-to-date will continue to put resources into technology, and ask you and your peers what you want from your education. The better you’re able to articulate just what it is you’re looking for, the more likely they are to pay attention.