Florida Institute of Technology, in Melbourne, Florida was founded by NASA in 1958. It's a hands-on STEM schools, 35 miles north of the Kennedy Space Center, where students are admitted directly into their major, and start digging into that subject first semester freshman year - in their classes and within the project-based curriculum. This means that students must have a strong pre-calculus foundation when they matriculate; they can expect to take calculus and calc-based physics first thing freshman year. Quite frankly, they don't get a lot of "undecided" applicants. The closest they come to that is a student who pursues general engineering, but they must declare a specialty by the end of freshman year. Florida Tech has a College of Aeronautics, a College of Business, a College of Psychology and Liberal Arts, and a College of Engineering and Science, which comprises 75% of the student body. Some really interesting majors offered are Astrobiology, Biomathematics, Aviation Human Factors and Safety, Aviation Meteorology, Ocean Engineering, Planetary Science, Forensic Psychology, and Software Engineering.

All students must do a senior design project or research to graduate - concept to design to build. Looking for a coop program? they have that too: about 65% of students here complete 3 paid work experiences and graduate on time, and most have job offers upon graduation. Google, Intel, United, Delta, American, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, NASA, SpaceX, L3Harris and the FBI/NSA all recruit here. Elon Musk visited a few years ago for a senior showcase and hired a student on the spot because he was impressed with his project! Average starting salaries are $60-80K; our tour guide has a job for next year with the Navy in underwater technology with top-secret clearance - needless to say, that's all I was allowed to know.

The campus is very nice, and I thought the students were impressive. There's a competitive coding club on campus as well as a Mars Chamber which simulates the environment on Mars (except for the gravity). There's a robust speaker series, and astronauts love to come talk; Buzz Aldrin is a recent example. Florida Tech is a private institution, but similar to the Florida publics, they require SAT/ACT scores. However, with a required minimum SAT score of 1010 (average is 1150-1330), and minimum ACT score of 19 (average is 24-30), and an admit rate around 64%, it's clear to see that their mission is to offer opportunities to students, not screen them out. With an all-in price of about $61K, merit scholarships up to $24K, and additional scholarships admitted students can apply to, Florida Tech is a high value school in my book.