A Conversation with Zach Schuster, Executive Director for Masters Recruitment & Admissions, on Partnership, Programs, and What Makes Syracuse Special

Quallege is proud to announce our expanded partnership with Syracuse University, one of America’s leading research institutions and a powerhouse in technology, engineering, and innovation. In a wide-ranging conversation with Zach Schuster, Executive Director for Masters Recruitment & Admissions, we explored what makes Syracuse a standout choice for international students — and why this partnership represents an exceptional opportunity.

A Partnership Built on Shared Values

Our collaboration with Syracuse focuses on high-demand graduate programs across two of the university’s flagship schools:

School of Information Studies (iSchool)

• MS in Applied Data Science
• MS in Applied Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
• MS in Information Systems
• MS in Library and Information Science

College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS)

• MS in Biomedical Engineering
• MS in Chemical Engineering
• MS in Civil Engineering
• MS in Computer Engineering
• MS in Computer Science
• MS in Cybersecurity
• MS in Electrical Engineering
• MS in Engineering Management
• MS in Environmental Engineering
• MS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

These programs sit at the intersection of technology, innovation, and real-world impact — exactly where the global job market is heading.

Why Syracuse? The Research Advantage

As an R1 research university — the highest Carnegie classification for research activity in the United States — Syracuse offers something distinctive: the opportunity to work alongside faculty on cutting-edge research from day one. Syracuse University reported over $100 million in expenditures in sponsored research, development, training, and other grants in academic year 2022–23, reflecting the university’s deep institutional commitment to funded, impactful scholarship.

Schuster also encouraged students to take a proactive approach long before arriving on campus:

Research Centers with Real-World Impact

Syracuse’s research infrastructure spans both schools in this partnership, giving students access to centers that are actively funded, staffed, and producing results.

iSchool Research Centers

• Center for Computational and Data Sciences: Advancing important and practical research in the social sciences using advanced computational approaches
• Center for Digital Literacy: Understanding the impact of information, technology, and media literacies in today’s technology-intensive society
• Center for Emerging Network Technologies: Researching how systems and technologies are converging to provide solutions for industries and economies
• Center for the Futures of Work, Information and Technology: Exploring the connections between the transformation of work and emerging technologies
• Smart Cities and Civic Technologies Research Center: Conducting interdisciplinary research on human, physical, and natural systems, leveraging information science and digital technologies for a sustainable future

ECS Research Centers and Institutes

• NSF IUCRC Center for Alternative Sustainable and Intelligent Computing (ASIC): Industry-university cooperative research focused on sustainable and intelligent computing
• NSF IUCRC Center for Solid-State Electric Power Storage (CEPS): Federally funded research into next-generation energy storage
• Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems: New York State-funded center examining the intersection of technology and environmental impact
• Center for Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing: Interdisciplinary research in AI, cybersecurity, robotics, and manufacturing processes — directly tied to the Micron ecosystem
• BioInspired Institute and Autonomous Systems Policy Institute: University-wide institutes pushing the frontier in biologically inspired engineering and autonomous systems policy
• Syracuse University Infrastructure Institute: Unique interdisciplinary venture to educate and enable the next generation of professionals to create and rehabilitate effective and sustainable infrastructure.
• Industrial Assessment Center: Committed to assisting manufacturing facilities in New York State, generating recommended savings based on energy reduction, waste stream minimization, productivity optimization and overall efficiency increases.
• Institute for Sustainability Engagement: Co-creates solutions with communities to achieve locally informed sustainable strategies.

Across both schools, these centers are backed by NSF, federal agencies, and New York State funding — meaning students are embedded in research that has real sponsors, real deadlines, and real-world applications.

A Culture of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Syracuse actively supports students who want to turn ideas into impact — regardless of their academic discipline.

Students have access to programs such as the Orange Innovation Fund and the ‘Cuse Tank competition, a Shark Tank-style pitch event open to all students. The results speak for themselves. A current iSchool student has won multiple LaunchPad competitions for GritGateway — an ethical, human-centered AI platform that helps ambitious African students turn their life stories into verified profiles of grit, resilience, and potential that universities can trust. GritGateway already has active users across more than 20 African countries, and the student is building it while still enrolled. That is not a hypothetical outcome of Syracuse’s entrepreneurial culture — it is a live example of what is possible.

Graduate Students at the Center of Campus Life

One aspect that distinguishes Syracuse is how fully integrated graduate students are into the broader university community.

This creates something valuable: a complete university experience rather than an isolated graduate track.

Professional Development Beyond the Classroom

Syracuse’s commitment to student success extends well beyond campus. With over 260,000 alumni worldwide, the university’s network spans major technology markets — New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, and internationally — and graduate students are actively connected to it.

One area that distinguishes Syracuse is support for students to attend major industry and academic conferences. Students are typically offered funding to attend high-profile events such as the Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing, AfroTech, the Grace Hopper Celebration, and other discipline-specific conferences where they can present research, build professional networks, and engage with leading employers. For many international students, these events represent their first direct exposure to the breadth of career pathways available in the U.S. technology sector.

Graduate students also benefit from program-specific alumni mentoring, industry-connected faculty, and a university culture that views professional development as a core part of the graduate experience — not an afterthought.

The Micron Factor: A Historic Regional Opportunity

No discussion of Syracuse’s future is complete without acknowledging Micron Technology’s transformative commitment to Central New York. The scale of this investment — up to $100 billion over the next two decades, representing the largest private investment in New York State history — is genuinely difficult to overstate. As New York’s Empire State Development agency noted, the impact of Micron’s investment is nearly impossible to overstate: the project is expected to return the population of Onondaga County to its 1970s levels, add $5.4 billion in real disposable income for everyday New Yorkers annually, and attract upwards of 84,000 people to the region.

When complete, Micron’s megafab in Clay — approximately ten minutes from campus — will be the largest chip-making complex in the nation, encompassing up to 2.4 million square feet of cleanroom space. The project is expected to create nearly 50,000 jobs, including 9,000 direct Micron positions and over 40,000 community roles across suppliers, contractors, and supporting industries. Complementing the facility itself, Micron and New York State have established a $500 million Green CHIPS Community Investment Fund, and the project is designed to meet ambitious sustainability standards including 100% renewable energy use and LEED Gold certification.

For students in ECS and iSchool programs at Syracuse, this is not background context — it is the environment they will enter as graduates. AI companies are already relocating to Central New York in anticipation of Micron’s ecosystem, and by 2030, projections suggest one in four American-made chips will be manufactured in and around upstate New York. Students who come to Syracuse now are positioning themselves at the center of one of the most consequential technology transformations in recent U.S. history.

Why This Partnership Matters

For international students seeking world-class graduate education in technology fields, Syracuse offers a compelling combination:

• R1 research opportunities available from the first semester
• Programs aligned with global job market demand
• A culture of innovation supported by over $100 million in annual sponsored research
• Full integration into a vibrant campus community
• A global alumni network of 260,000+ across major markets
• Location in an emerging technology hub anchored by historic semiconductor investment

For recruitment partners, this represents an opportunity to connect students with programs that deliver not just degrees, but career-launching experiences.

We are excited to deepen our partnership with Zach Schuster and the Syracuse team. Their commitment to research excellence, entrepreneurial support, and student success aligns directly with our mission to create transformative educational opportunities for international students.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we dive into the School of Information Studies and what makes Syracuse’s iSchool one of the top programs in the nation.