The Institute’s ranking in engineering is undisputed; its #4 position in U.S. News & World Report shows that. We stand among other academic giants such as Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Michigan. Still, 40% of the incoming class of 2029 won’t be studying engineering. If we consider the Institute as a whole, our ranking drops from that prized #4 spot to a whopping #33.
We fall behind in every other non-engineering major, but not in the way one might think. The Institute still has not fully embraced our educational diversity, showcasing its greatness outside of engineering. Tech’s future lies in embracing its diversity, whether it be at the Scheller College of Business, the Jimmy Carter School of Public Policy or any other non-engineering college .
As a high school senior from Puerto Rico, I had no idea Scheller even existed. I applied to over 20 colleges and only found out about the business school because of a visit from Scheller faculty to my school. Only then did I find out Scheller was #10 in undergraduate business. After that, I did some research. The college has alumni who have served as CEOs of American Express, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, among many other international businesses.
Though I have gotten deeply involved with Scheller, I also wanted to familiarize myself with policy, hence why I am doing the GTDC program next year, whereI hope to learn more about our greatness in the field of public policy. Sam Nunn, the namesake for the International Affairs school, was a Georgia Senator who worked on reducing the threat of nuclear warfare with the Soviet Union. Of course, President Jimmy Carter was heavily involved in the Institute and obtained an honorary PhD, although he did not graduate. Professors from Scheller and Ivan Allen are consistently shaping conversations about our future with award-winning research.
The numbers speak for themselves. In the 2023-2024 US News & World Report rankings, the Institute rose 11 positions reaching #33 in the nation. That same year, Economics and Psychology made their debut in the rankings. This highlights that a good portion of the growth in national rankings comes from non-engineering programs. We are only as strong as our weakest link, and an emphasis on giving that same boost that Scheller has seen in the last decade should also happen for the Ivan Allen programs, the Science programs and the Design programs. The surge of alumni and outside partners investing in the new Scheller building is a case study on the effectiveness of focusing on non-engineering programs.
I am not writing this to say that engineers deserve less and other students deserve more. I aim to highlight the Institute’s potential to keep technology at the forefront of any and every industry. More than heavily specializing in a single type of engineering, I see the future of Tech as developing our least-recognized areas to pave a better tomorrow and proudly showcasing that to the world. We are not only “Helluva engineers”, but we’re also Helluva scientists, entrepreneurs and artists. It’s time we show that.