The poor state of the economy has some wondering whether corporate America is prepared to hire the graduates who will eventually become the backbone of their companies' engineering staffs. But some of these students have no question about their ability to help pull the high-tech industry out of its doldrums.

"Only concerned that a turn in the economy may slow the hiring of new graduates. I am not concerned about being prepared educationally," one student wrote during the summer, when our survey was online.

A full 92 percent of you said you felt your college was a good place to work and study. One student was positively gushy about his experience.

"I feel one of the best parts of studying at a college for engineering is not only the wonderful curriculum, but the wonderful interaction between the faculty (already experienced in the field) and myself. I have learned many valuable things, been very encouraged about my choice of career and had lots of help through the roughest times of my college career. The electrical engineers out there really seem to be excited about new people entering their field and helping those people succeed," he wrote.

However, many others were a bit less upbeat. What's needed, said one engineering students, is "good professors that can speak English and relate the topics that industry requires."

That dissatisfaction with teachers was echoed in observations about elementary and high school education. "Lack of well-qualified teachers in middle and high schools" was how one respondent summed up the top national educational issue.

While respondents gave universities some pretty good grades, they were less than delighted with high schools and elementary education. High schools took the brunt of this brutal assessment. Roughly a third gave high schools an A or B, a bit more than third gave them a C and 32 percent gave U.S. high schools a D or an F.

Several respondents cited problems with K-12 education as a key issue facing the United States. That assessment resonated with the professional engineers who are EE Times' readers, who in the "2001 Salary & Opinion Survey" echoed the comments of the college survey respondents.

An EE Times reader in his 40s said a top issue was that "public education needs to be shaken up so we are more competitive." Compare that to a student who wrote, "Primary and secondary education is vitally important, we are way behind other countries."

You apparently felt that elementary schools are somewhat more competitive than high schools. Satisfaction with grade schools was a higher, and dissatisfaction lower, than for the higher grades. A solid 39 percent gave elementary schools an A or B, well above the 25 percent that graded them with a D or F. That left 36 percent who said elementary education was just average.

Preparation wanting

Some students felt that they came to college underprepared, which made it harder for them to get started. One suggested that the United States needs to provide a bit more consistency in the quality of education across the nation.

"We need uniform education standards. I know my schooling was a whole lot easier than [that of] some of my friends that come from different states," this respondent wrote.

Though you weren't shy about commenting on grade and high school education, most of your remarks addressed your experiences at colleges and universities. Some suggested ways that colleges could improve their curricula.

"I believe engineering programs must provide a couple of real-world design applications for a bachelor's [candidate]. It is important for students to see how the fundamentals within their discipline are used in a project. Also, students must get a feel of the management of a design with respect to budgeting time and team cooperation," said one respondent.

Sometimes, students take a look at the programs their friends are taking at other colleges. Those at the top engineering schools usually feel that they've got a bit of an edge over job hunters from other universities. But at least one respondent suggested that the top ranking isn't always justified.

"Prestige goes a long way, because my university was not on top of cutting-edge technology," wrote this respondent from a respected engineering school.

While many of the comments were about the broad scope of education, some responses discussed things a bit more personally. The poor economy had one student reassessing some upcoming coursework.

"The current economic situation has made me more concerned about finding employment after graduation. I now have some misgivings about double majoring in electrical and computer engineering. Perhaps dropping the computer part would be a good idea," the student pondered.

While there's some uncertainty about the future, this year there were far more respondents who felt they had made a good decision when they chose the electronics field as their major. A year ago, only 67 percent were satisfied with their decision to major in the high-tech field. In 2000, 29 percent said they'd tell us in a year whether they had made the right choice.

A year later, 82 percent were satisfied with that decision, with only 14 percent of this year's respondents saying they would know better in a year. Only 3 percent thought that they should have changed majors, about the same as last year.

There are signs that most engineering students realize that in all facets of the fast-moving electronics industry, lifelong learning is a key factor. Nearly two-thirds of you, 65 percent, ranked ongoing education as one of the key criteria you'll consider when you're picking a job.