I’m a professor in an EECS department in the US. A lot of students pay little to nothing thanks to scholarships. There are also a plethora of student jobs that can help as well.
The opportunity cost and your time are the actual costs.
Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
21–30 of 79 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
#22(This is a US centric reply, I can't help as much if you are not in the US) So a couple of question to pose first: - Can you live at home? If so, do you plan on living at home? - Are you looking for scholarships? - Are you working while at school? - Why are you going for absolute cheapest? Why not best value? I ask these because they are important questions that will shape what you look for. I hesitate to say "cheape…
The best piece of this post is hidden in a sentence in the middle, and I wanted to call it out:
If cost is an issue, go to a community college BEFORE going to a 4-year engineering school. Community colleges are a fraction of the price of a university.
Any EE degree is going to require a significant investment in calculus, some diff eq, linear algebra, chemistry, physics, and likely some humanities.
With some clever coursework you can do ~2 years of full time EE coursework at a community college.
Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
#23EE Means electrical engineering? In czech republic I have seen a year of study for non EU citizens between 3000 and 5000 Eur a year, 3 year study is the standard length.
Cost of living for a student was around 4000-6000 eur a year, when I was student (~5 years ago), should still be comparable.
Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
#2442 is free, their main campus is in Paris, but they opened a branch in the US recently: https://www.42.us.org/
That's neither a degree, not EE, is it?
>DOES 42 DELIVER A BACHELOR’S DEGREE OR ANOTHER TYPE OF DIPLOMA?
>42 does not grant degrees or diplomas. Our program is based on levels of experience that you earn with a project. We deliver a certificate of completion at the end of our program. The experience and skills that you acquire while studying at 42 are essential for technical job interviews, and 42 has a strong reputation and connections to industry.
https://www.42.us.org/42-admissions-overview-requirements-pr...
Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
#25The French École Normale Supérieure will pay you around 1200 euros per month to study there. There are strings attached though (10 yrs public service commitment).
Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
#26In regards to the U.S. I would argue the absolute cheapest option would involve going to a fairly large community college first then transferring to the cheapest in state University. This is a ranking vs cost issue somewhat. Ga tech is a good school in the top 5 but not as cheap as the Wyoming state schools for cost[0]. [0]: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/04/10-states-with-the-cheapest-...
I did this for my chemical engineering degree.
~2 years of Community college, I got 60 credits over the 3.5 years I was in school.
I also worked a full time midnight shift job.
Both were huge. The job gave me a heck of a story for my future interviews and the community college was cheap.
Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
#27Are 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.
Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
#28Education is free in Germany. If all courses in the degree are offered in English, you won't even have to learn German. You'll have to bear costs associated to moving here, of course.
As a ballpark for expenses: I know people paying well under €300 per month for rent in smaller cities. €2/day lunch at university is possible (though not necessarily tasty).
Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
#29EE Means electrical engineering? In czech republic I have seen a year of study for non EU citizens between 3000 and 5000 Eur a year, 3 year study is the standard length. Cost of living for a student was around 4000-6000 eur a year, when I was student (~5 years ago), should still be comparable.
I should note that two things've changed: (a) college dorms are often full and students may not get one & (b) rent went up a lot in last 1-2 years because of a shortage of rentable apartments.
But you definitely can live very cheap here if you manage to either get yourself a dorm or find roommates (+ apartment).
(I'm CS student in Prague)
Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?
#30Are 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 a…
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.