ABET 6

[daredevilearth]

How important is it to the military or a civilian employer that the EET degree be an ABET accredited program? What make it on to the list of accredited programs?

http://www.grantham.edu/academics/degrees_electronics_engineering_technology.php

 

[IRstuff]

Unless you want to work as a technician, we only hire BS or higher.

Certainly ABET accreditation would be important. But if you're going to all that work, you should go for a full BS.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[gepman]

The ABET basically certifies that the curriculum, instructors, and other learning facilities meets the minimum requirements that they have determined necessary to obtain the necessary engineering knowledge.

For someone trying to obtain a job without any experience the quality of their education is the only thing that they can point towards. Therefore the ABET certification will be more important. In addition it will be more difficult to obtain a PE license without a degree from an ABET institution.

 

[IRstuff]

However, note that an EET might not qualify you for a PE license. Many states require a some level of board-approved college-level engineering education.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[gepman]

The rules for a PE vary significantly between states so it would be good to check with the states in which you are interested. Many states just state "an approved engineering curriculum" which may or may not include an ET degree. Others like California require more experience with an ET degree than an E degree. I don't know of any states (but there probably is at least one) that absolutely require an engineering degree for a PE, they usually just require 8 to 12 years experience if you don't have the degree (plus are more picky on your experience and you still must pass the FE and PE exam).

If you are choosing between a program with and without ABET accreditation, ask yourself why the program without the accreditation does NOT have it.

 

[Noway2]

Keep in mind that ABET accreditation doesn't ensure that the school has a quality curriculum. I believe that ABET also assigns a ranking or score to the program which, if so, will give you an idea of the quality. Like the old joke: what do you call the guy who graduates dead last in his class at medical school - answer - Doctor.

I would also pay a lot of attention to the word of mouth reputation of the school and consider asking some HR managers at various companies what they think of graduates from the chosen institution.

 

[daredevilearth]

First off I am learning alot already my first few days here and I really appreciate that. Here is the message I received from the school I am currently attending. "As far as the ABET accreditation, we are not accredited through them. We are ABET compliant. Basically the reason why is because ABET requires a lot of hours of lab work where students go into an actual lab. Being that we are online, that makes it impossible to do." This is the only university I am able to attend due to deployments and what not.

 

[logbook]

"Lab work" is really important hands-on experience. A professional course is not credible without it.

 

[IRstuff]

We only had one lab class requirement for our BSEE, and it could be fulfilled in a number of ways that didn't really require much in the way of "hand's on" experience. Another EE managed to graduate without touching an oscilloscope, not that it would have mattered much, since our labs only had Tek 545s, which were pretty ancient.

Moreover, at the time, I thought I was going to design ICs for a living, and there was no suitable lab for that endeavor. Most of my lab experience in ICs was acquired in my part-time job.


TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[Noway2]

I too remember the labs not being worth all that much. More than anything, I remember facing out dated and abused equipment that took a lot of massaging to get it to remotely perform like the text book said it should.

The point, though, has a good piece of advice for you Daredevilearth.... that if you can't get a program with lab time be sure to compensate for that as best as you can. By compensation I mean see if your line of work can get you hands on experience or even start experimenting with bread board circuits at home. You should be able to bread board most of what you will study in your classes anyway. Lack of a scope may make things a bit more difficult, but not impossible. If your budget permits, you may be able to find either a used, or an inexpensive scope that will meet your needs.

 

[lansford]

At the local utility where I worked, It didn't matter if you had a BS or a BT in EE.
JIM

 

[dpc]

Without getting into the validity of the ABET accreditation, I can confirm that it will make a difference in getting hired at many companies. When I was managing a electrical engineering dept at a large consulting firm, we were very cautious about hiring engineers from non-accredited schools. I'm not saying you will never get hired, but it will be easier and you will have more options if your degree is from an accredited school.

 

[gepman]

You may be interest in the following from SUNY. Full text is available at

http://le.suny.edu/bee/faqs.shtml.

It sounds as if they have got around the lab problem.

Will these degrees be accredited by ABET?
The universal accreditor of engineering programs in the U.S. is ABET -- Accreditation Board of Engineering Technology). ABET accreditation is only granted after the first class of students graduates from the program. Therefore, this online degree is not yet an ABET accredited program. We plan to seek ABET accreditation upon the graduation of the first class of students.

In designing our program we have been in close contact with and followed the strict advice and guidelines of ABET to help ensure eventual accreditation.

The same faculty who offer the EE degrees on their campuses will be teaching these online courses, so you are assured of a high-quality, challenging, engineering education , completely equivalent to what you would receive on one of the three campuses.

What institution will give me my diploma?
When the degree programs are approved – (expected next year) – you will get your Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from the campus you have chosen to be your home institution ( Binghamton University , University at Buffalo or Stony Brook University ).