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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've worked in software development for 25 years although my education was liberal arts and business.  I think it's perfectly possible to have a CS department with 5 faculty that teaches fundamental courses well (things like data structures, discrete mathematics, algorithms) and prepares kids to get a good job in the field.

I'd guess that one limitation is going to be that the course offerings are going to be limited to what the faculty focus on and not necessarily include or not do as good a job of teaching all areas of the field.  I.e. they might do big data stuff well, but not do a lot of work with control systems/internet of things.

The other big limitation is going to be what other posters have referred to -- the companies that recruit from the school.  Although I will say that the overwhelming majority of people who work in CS don't work for one of the 4 companies that everyone on this thread is discussing, and I find this obsession with 4 specific companies kinda silly.

So if the kid has strong interests now, this could be a limitation.  If not, and the professors' research interests seem cool to the kid, then the LAC is probably fine.[/quote]

I agree with this poster and just want to add that if you're worried about a small list of courses in computer science, that's the value of the well-rounded liberal arts education.  If your student wants to write code, they will be well-served by logic and philosophy classes, not to mention the problem solving and troubleshooting that you might get from lab sciences.  Your student will likely also get extensive opportunities to hone their writing, possibly leading to careers in technical writing or just higher level leadership opportunities in their chosen field.  Economics classes might teach them how to navigate multiple stakeholders and competing interests, a necessity if they'll be doing any requirements gathering and project management in their career.  A liberal arts approach to computer science is going to give the student foundational knowledge and skills that will set them up for future learning.  (Any programming languages or logics that they want to learn, they can find online courses or videos to teach them--the question is whether they have the basic vocabulary, the logical frameworks, and the independent work ethic to continue learning, which will be imperative in a field that will continue to move as quickly as CS over the coming decades.)
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