I attend The University of Wisconsin-Platteville. UWP is known primarily as a great engineering college, however we do have 3 great computer science programs, of which I am currently enrolled in Computer Information Systems.

I could have gone to any of the University of Wisconsin System schools around the state for a programming degree, but I choose Platteville because it's a medium sized school (about 5000 students), where the student to professor ratio is something like 23 to 1. That means small class rooms, and an opportunity to get to know my professors, and they in turn get to know you, and your learning style, which, for me, is very important, and has helped me to succeed.

The professors at UWP are great, they are very helpful. They go our of their way to help students learn, in the classroom, and also help students get experience outside of the classroom. I agree completely with Hutta, real world experience is very important. One thing that I really like about UWP is there is quite a few programming jobs available on campus, from PeopleSoft developers (they create and maintain databases and programs used by the university for things like student registration, class lists, etc...), to our Web Development Office (which, incidentally, is where I work). Also, in Platteville there is a company called Avista, who has had a history of taking interns from UWP during the summers, and even some of our professors work there during the summer.

If you are interested in more information, take a look at these links:

Software Engineering Major

Software Engineering Homepage

Fact Sheet about Software Engineering.

Requirement Checklist for courses needed Software Engineering.

Computer Science (Computer Information Systems or Computer Technology Majors)

Computer Science Homepage

Fact Sheet about Computer Science.

Requirement Checklist for courses needed for Computer Science.

The UWP Admission Homepage is located here, they have information about costs to attend, financial aid, entry requirements, and an online application.

If it helps, someone else asked a similar question before, the node is located here if you would like to see what a few other people have said about colleges.

I hope this helps you to make your decision, if you end up coming to UWP, drop me a line!

Arashi