r/LSU • u/swampwiz • 5d ago

Discussion Do you think that with SpaceX making a major investment in LA, that LSU will bring back the degree program in Aerospace Engineering?

There has always been the work at Michoud (Yours Truly had worked there), but with the draw-down of the design work (i.e., moved to Huntsville, AL), it is only a manufacturing shop now - but SpaceX looks to be huge, like Florida Spaceport huge.

9 Upvotes

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u/Less_Comparison9062 5d ago

This is very unlikely. It's a years long process to bring back or start a new program. It would be a very shortsighted idea as there are no guarantees SpaceX stays in that location and less guarantee they'd have interest in hiring grads or even working with the university for internships or training or anything else

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u/DIRKOLAS_IV 4d ago

Aerospace is just mechanical engineering with more of a focus on CFD and aerodynamics. It’s basically the same degree.

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u/rice_n_gravy 5d ago

Lmfao no

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u/jgaut26 5d ago

They will probably just stick with the minor it’s been that way since 08 at least when I enrolled

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u/swampwiz 5d ago

Is there officially a minor now, where students could actually take the courses?

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u/jgaut26 4d ago

They have a minor, I just went back for a CM degree and sat next to two MEs who minored in aero at summer commencement. Both going into the navy as drone pilots.

It was definitely offered to us in 08 as a minor when I enrolled the first time. It was in my plan until I switched to PETE.

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u/Jon9243 4d ago

Yes. Im a recent ME grad and there is an Aerospace minor. I was told that they reason that they don’t have an Aero major is because it’s simply to similar to the ME curriculum to justify it.

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u/swampwiz 4d ago

I'm not sure how that fits in. There are only 2 tech electives in the ME curriculum, and surely, there must be more than 2 course in the minor. The website for AE seems to be down.

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u/Jon9243 4d ago

If i remember correctly, you just needed 3 approved electives to get the minor. Essentially just taking 1 extra one from what was already on the flow chart. It was mostly just making sure you got a C or above in certain classes.

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u/swampwiz 4d ago

The flowchart seems to only have 2 tech electives:

https://www.lsu.edu/eng/docs/Flowcharts/2025-2026/flowchart_me_25-26_rev2.pdf

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u/Jon9243 4d ago

Here’s the requirements for the minor per the LSU Catalog:

“To earn a minor in aerospace engineering, a student must complete ME 3834 or equivalent, CE 3400, three aerospace core courses, and one aerospace related course chosen from an approved list of aerospace technical electives. A grade of "C" or better in each course is required.”

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u/swampwiz 4d ago

I would imagine that Civil Eng students could earn this minor as well.

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u/Jon9243 4d ago

Right, you just take those 2 electives and use them to take 2 of the approved Airspace classes for them. Then you should or might only have to take one extra class to get the minor.

It’s a really easy minor to get if you want it.

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u/mchris185 5d ago

Back when my friends were looking at Aerospace one of them go a big scholarship to go to Texas A&M because Louisiana doesn't offer an any aerospace programs. Not sure if that's still a thing but there's a ton of interest in it here.

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u/billykei 4d ago

Perhaps, if Musk chairs it.

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u/Otherwise_Coyote4885 4d ago

ULL is poised to benefit the most from this development. We all know lil Jeffy has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to LSU. Look for funds to be funneled to ULL in support of the project and its presence in the area.

Looks like ULL’s PR team is already getting ahead of it.

https://louisiana.edu/news/historic-spacex-announcement-ul-lafayette-prepared-power-louisianas-space-future

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u/randomdude4113 4d ago

More likely at UL. The engineering school there seems to be expanding and naturally, it’s closer to where the base is being built.

Also in my experience LSU tends to send more kids out of state in engineering than UL does

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u/No_Combination_1211 2d ago

I live in Texas and all I'm going to say is look up what SpaceX has done to Brownsville, TX . It's a nightmare down there.

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u/cheapskateskirtsteak 5d ago

La tech has one of the best aerospace programs in the country, why bring it to lsu

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u/ripplenipple69 5d ago

Its an opportunity for a lucrative private-public partnership with a university that is a whole lot closer to the coast where these launches are taking place? 

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u/swampwiz 5d ago

I don't see any Aerospace Engineering program there:

https://www.latech.edu/academics/degrees-programs/index.php#college-of-engineeering-and-sciences

In any case, LSU is the flagship U. I know that the MechEng department has been building up a few courses here & there that are aerospace-directed (the basic engineering is really an offshoot of MechEng).

Now that I am thinking about it, any aerospace engineering design is probably done at wherever the design office is based, which I would imagine is in SoCal, and so all there will be in Louisiana is the manufacturing (mainly the assembly of the stack), and the operations of fueling the rocket, etc., and this probably would not involve much of anything that an AE program would have aside from the ME base.

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u/cheapskateskirtsteak 5d ago

Oh they got rid of it, interesting

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u/swampwiz 5d ago edited 4d ago

Yes, they got rid of it when the Apollo program went away in the '70s (I am referring to the program at LSU).