Any thoughts on U of Arizona Engineering?

ucbalumnus
Thu, 27 Jun 2013 18:50:06 +0000

matt0715:

Can someone explain to me the ABET accrediting system? Does this mean each school labeled a ABET school has the same curriculum?



ABET sets minimum standards for engineering bachelor’s degree programs in terms of what types of things have to be covered in the curriculum, although a given school may organize the courses differently (so the courses may not map one-to-one between different schools), and may include topics beyond the minimum needed to meet ABET accreditation standards.

ABET accreditation is most important if Professional Engineer licensing is desired (most common for civil engineering), or if you want to take the patent exam. In general, in the older branches of engineering (e.g. chemical, civil, electrical, industrial, materials, mechanical, nuclear), ABET accreditation is expected for any decent engineering bachelor’s degree program. It is considered less of a requirement for such areas as computer science or engineering, bioengineering / biomedical engineering, and engineering science, although many schools that are not “top ___” in the fields will seek ABET accreditation anyway as a means of validation of the quality of the degree program.

You can look up ABET accreditation listings at [ABET -](http://www.abet.org) .