Accreditation-How Important is it?
Accreditation-How Important is it?
(OP)
How important is ABET-accreditation ?
I graduated from an accredited program, and personally would not attend a University that did not have this credential.
Do employers recognize the difference between accredited/non-accredited, and does it play a role in the hiring process?
-Scott
I graduated from an accredited program, and personally would not attend a University that did not have this credential.
Do employers recognize the difference between accredited/non-accredited, and does it play a role in the hiring process?
-Scott





RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
I know in Massachusetts that you don’t need an accredited degree; you don’t even have to have a degree in engineering. You can have a degree in hotel management and still take the exam. If you have the 15 plus years, you don’t even need a degree. But I’m beating a dead horse…
Go Mechanical Engineering
Tobalcane
RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
Go Mechanical Engineering
Tobalcane
RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
The NSPE is concerned about diploma mills, which I guess could be seen as an extreme form of nonaccredited program:
http://www.nspe.org/etweb/10704diplomamills.asp
There's no legal requirement for engineering programs to be ABET-accredited. That's why ABET is referred to specifically. As an example, Johns Hopkins (hardly a diploma mill) is currently seeking ABET accreditation for their environmental engineering program; the degree program started a couple of years ago. I decided not to go to Hopkins in 1986 because their mechanical engineering program was not accredited at that time (it is now, but I'm not a mechanical engineer).
Hg
RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
If you are a newly minted "Engineer" and you are interviewing for that first professional job, you have a 50/50 chance that the employer would bother to check ABET accreditation. In most cases, they would check and verify thru your college or university transcripts that you have basically received your diploma, and that's about it.
After that first job experience, when you change employment a majority of companies would probably not have a need to verify your degree or academic credentials because they can check on previous references to verify your position and employment status. Now, if you have passed the Fundamental of Engineering examination when you graduated, and have registered as an EIT (Engineer in Training) with any State, in most cases to an employer you graduated from an accredited engineering program, and they would look no further in terms of college transcripts or ABET accreditation. This especially holds true when you become licensed as a PE. At least this has been my experience over the last 23 years.
RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
I prefer PEs for lead positions. For others I do not worry about ABET; and have hired non-degreed engineers. However, I immediately reject any resume' with a diploma mill degree.
John
RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
RE: Accreditation-How Important is it?
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