A Quick Guide to Michigan Technological University
This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Christine Grotzke, an Associate Director of Admissions at Michigan Technological University, in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.
What’s Covered
In this post, we provide a quick introduction to Michigan Tech, including its location, enrollment data, and research and career opportunities.
Location
Michigan Tech is located in northwestern Michigan, in the area of the state north of Wisconsin. If you love winter, Michigan Tech may be the place for you. It’s currently the snowiest college in the United States, getting an average of 200 inches of snow per year.
Michigan Tech’s campus is in the city of Houghton, which combined with nearby Hancock, has a population of about 13,000 people. There are numerous outdoor activities for students all around the Hancock-Houghton area, including skiing, mountain biking, camping, and kayaking. Houghton hosts an annual Winter Carnival that draws visitors from all over the world. It has also been recognized as one of the “100 Best Small Towns in America.”
By the Numbers
Michigan Tech has slightly more than 7,000 students, with around 5,800 undergraduates and 1,200 pursuing master’s degrees or Ph.D.s. The average class size is about 25 students, allowing for personalized attention from faculty. The admittance rate for the 2021-2022 academic year was 85.75%, and the enrollment yield was 21.45%.
Although Michigan Tech is a STEM-based institution, there are 125 areas of study for students to pursue. These include unique programs, such as audio production and a theater tech and mechanical engineering dual degree. The university is divided into five colleges: College of Business, College of Computing, College of Engineering, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, and College of Sciences and Arts.
Research and Career Opportunities
There are many research opportunities available at Michigan Tech. There are 17 research centers and institutes on campus, with 273,000 square feet of research space. All school programs are lab oriented, especially computer science and engineering, and experiential learning is at the heart of the Michigan Tech experience. The summer undergraduate research fellowship, for example, enables students to do research alongside faculty. In the summer of 2022, the fellowship was so popular that there was a waitlist.
Industry-sponsored days are also held on campus, where companies recruit students specializing in sought-after and niche fields. Currently, companies are trying to fill more positions with Michigan Tech graduates than there are to fill them, so it’s a great time for students.
The university surveys its graduates six months after graduation, collecting data on average starting salaries. The current figure is looking to be about $73,000. In 2021, Michigan Tech had the 15th-highest early-career pay of all public universities in the nation, as well as a 93% job placement rate into top jobs in graduates’ fields of choice.
