Cal State L.A. turns the most low-income students into top earners
I got my BSCS from this school, and landed a great gig within a month of graduation. As a &quot;re-entry&quot; student on a tight budget (30 year-old working food service), I met many others who were similarly driven to build the skillsets and relationships to launch their careers as efficiently as possible.<p>Anecdotally, I will say these factors likely boost the effectiveness of this particular campus:<p>1. Smart, capable students have the &quot;inferiority complex&quot; of being surrounded by CalTech, USC, UCLA. They know they need to push harder to have equal footing when stepping into the industry.<p>2. Several of the industries represented in Los Angeles are more interested in loyal, hard-working candidates than prestigious&#x2F;elite geniuses. I have talked with many representatives from companies partnering with CSULA on student projects who have expressed this.<p>3. Students I met were generally more interested in launching their careers than in pursuing the quintessential &quot;college life&quot;, e.g. parties, campus societies<p>4. Specifically for STEM students: the Los Angeles tech scene has deep roots with the aerospace industry, as well as a lot of companies doing real tech work without the flair of typical SV&#x2F;NYC companies. I had instructors who work (or have worked) at NASA JPL, AT&amp;T, Boeing, Western Digital, and in medical research at USC&#x2F;UCLA.