Dive Brief:
- University of California, Berkeley's value is the most consistent for developer-centric programs, according to HackerRank's analysis of 1.5 million international students.
- The school ranked third for problem solving, language proficiency and data structure knowledge but fell to fourth place for computer science fundamentals. The school's consistency is due to a combination of its computer science curriculum and "prominent developer culture," according to the report.
- Almost 250 "unique employers" target UC Berkeley students through HackerRank, according to the report. Nearly 80% of UC Berkeley computer science students are employed by the time they graduate.
Dive Insight:
The tech industry is more welcoming of students who avoided "four-year-degree-itis," with many professionals earning top dollar for their certifications.
"The university you attend is not an indicator of how skilled you are as a developer," said Vivek Ravisankar, HackerRank's co-founder and CEO, in an email to CIO Dive.
Traditional college rankings of computer science programs look at "university-centric data points," like teaching, citations and research, said Ravisankar. HackerRank evaluated schools on their application of real-world skills.
The variation in ranking methods left technology powerhouses, like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), out of the top four universities in the U.S. for developers. MIT ranked 130 and CalTech ranked 27 among all the tallied international universities, according to the full list of schools.
HackerRank's results were derived from "real-world skills," the ones most desired by hiring employers. In other words, recruiters aren't limiting their searches to students that come from high-ranking universities.
Given the gap between academia and real-world skills, Ravisankar suggests universities begin "introducing skill-based classes in addition to theory and research-based courses moving forward."
The addition can supplement what's needed to sharpen students' technical skills.
Curricula focused on practical skills, like UC Berkeley's focus on interdisciplinary real-world projects, positioned it as a top school for developers.
"So-called 'hard skills' can be picked up anywhere," said Ravisankar. After all, about 30% of developers are self-taught.
