You should know that Missouri S&T's Mining Engineering programs are very visible and well recognized , with the following characteristics:

• By reputation, the B.S. program is likely the best one in the United States, and maybe the world;
• It works very closely with its students and nurtures their professional and social activities;
• It provides generous scholarships from industry and significant monies for student activities;
• It has its own Experimental Mine for hands-on learning;
• It has a world-class faculty with extensive experience in industry and government;
• It offers optional technical- and policy-based specialty areas in explosive engineering, quarry engineering, coal, mining and the environment, sustainable development, and mine health and safety; and
• It offers exchange programs and permanent employment opportunities in Australia, Chile, China, and South Africa.

The program staff works closely with its students every day, 15% of them women, and looks out for opportunities for an exciting career for all students.Of the recent 17 to 22 graduates per year, 100% have been placed in jobs for the last eight years, for those who wanted it and have worked at least one summer internship.They get placed everywhere in the U.S., including Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas; many stay in Missouri. Today the industry would like to hire at least twice as many graduates per year , if they were available.

The U.S. Mining Industry

Just as the Navy, Air Force, occupational health and safety profession, and other fields specialize strongly, so do mining engineers.The industry employs around 330,000 workers, including mining engineers, which places it at about the size of the U.S. Navy's work force , and establishes it as an efficient sector. The following salient features are cited concerning the mining industry:

• The world's largest mining industry is here in the United States;
• It continues to provide 90% of non-food, non-fuel material inputs (over 6.5 billion tons per year) for infrastructure, products and services;
• As shown in Figure 2 below, it ranks as one of the safest industries in the country;
• Because of an aging technical work force, it needs engineers and operations managers urgently;
• It offers good starting salaries ($42,000 to $58,000) for jobs in major cities and rurally (there are over 14,000 mines, plants and mills nationwide);
• It provides good-paying summer employment for students who want it;
• It blends field and office activities into an exciting career; and
• It offers fast tracks in career opportunities.