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Engineering students see rising salaries, job opportunities

Oklahoma Christian University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science students are graduating prepared to land high-income engineer positions in a thriving job market, according to recent studies.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. job market will add 139,300 engineering jobs by 2026, with a median annual wage of $91,010—nearly twice the median wage for all workers.

Associate professor of computer engineering Pat Smith said the projected increase in engineering positions is the result of a scarcity in engineering students and technological advances opening opportunities for companies to expand.

“The demand, I think, is a result of a few things,” Smith said. “One, there are not that many students going into engineering, so you already have a shortage of graduates and a shortage of people entering that field—that’s the supply side. On the demand side, you can see that just about everything out there is technology. People who are designing all these products are finding that they need more of those people with that expertise and there are less of those people available because there are less students doing that.”

The program’s high postgraduate job placement rate attracts many engineering students, as the College of Engineering comprises approximately 20 percent of Oklahoma Christian’s student body. Smith said engineering companies often seek to hire Oklahoma Christian graduates because they exemplify great professional and ethical character.

“When companies hire people, they hire for skill,” Smith said. “But, there’s an old phrase out there that says, ‘People hire for skill and fire for character.’ What has happened already is these companies come to Oklahoma Christian and hire our engineers and they’ve found out that these are great engineers—well-trained and they have all these professional soft skills. Then, you add that these people have great character. They’re really getting good people from Oklahoma Christian. Everyone wants to hire people that can do the technical stuff but can also fit into the ethical culture.”

Junior Christopher Hanson said the program’s ability to connect students to internships and job positions was a significant reason he chose to transfer to Oklahoma Christian.

“A lot of our professors have experience in the real world prior to teaching at Oklahoma Christian,” Hansen said. “They still have connections within the engineering community, so they suggest a lot of jobs and internships for the students. We get emails saying these companies are looking for summer interns or they’re looking for full-time employees if you’re a senior. A lot of companies will contact the school and say they’re looking to hire graduates—there’s a lot of talking back-and-forth between the college and companies that people are looking to work for.”

Hansen said Oklahoma Christian’s engineering program provides hands-on experiences for students through laboratory requirements, which allow students to use their technical knowledge to create practical solutions for problems found in the world.

“A lot of our labs deal with real-world application, and most of our classes have labs,” Hansen said. “A lot of our problems are real-life scenarios, so you’ll analyze and create solutions to those. They heavily focus on problem solving and getting your mind thinking into the way an engineer would be thinking. I believe the professors do a great job of that here.”

Sophomore Jelte Van Atten, a transfer student from the Netherlands, said he discovered Oklahoma Christian through the reputation of the school and its engineering program.

“It was the engineering program, specifically, and it was more just the whole school,” Van Atten said. “I contacted a lot of universities and looked at what they provided. I encountered Oklahoma Christian and looked at what they provided, and I heard their engineering program was good, so I thought it was a good opportunity for me.”

According to Smith, a faith-based atmosphere and Christian morals set Oklahoma Christian’s engineering program apart from other schools.

“If you go to a state school and your faith is important to you, you may find yourself in conflict more,” Smith said. “Coming here, you get to study—we have great, successful programs—but you are also going to be supported and encouraged in your faith.”

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