Does ABET accredidation matter?

College Majors Engineering Majors
#1

<p>I assumed that ABET accredation mattered for engineering programs, since it is a nationally recognized thing. Then I looked at computer science and realized that Stanford and Carnegie Mellon, two of the most respected schools for computer science, aren't accredited. Is it safe to assume it doesn't matter, at least for computer science students?</p>

<p>I'm looking at Northwestern and University of Southern California, which have their certification, and Carnegie Mellon and Rice, which don't have it. Any advice about these schools would also be appreciated. :)</p>

#2

<p>It doesn't really matter as long as you go to a well-respected school.</p>

#3

<p>Accreditation doesn't matter for CS.</p>

#4

<p>Accreditation through ABET is just starting to hit the CS area. So there are a lot of schools that still are not accredited. I would imagine that most schools will become accredited in CS in the next few years.</p>

#5

<p>It's really frustrating because I can't get a SWE scholarship unless the program is ABET acreddited... :(</p>

#6

<p>Yes acreddation matters You can't take the FE with out it. No FE= no engineering license from the goverment=no real job</p>

#7

<p>Yeah without accreditation, nobody would hire you.</p>

<p>Major employers like microsoft, hp, etc will think your degree came from a diploma mill.</p>

#8

<p>This really isn't true...many employers will not care...though some will. But in CS this definately would not matter since accredidation is just beginning there.</p>

<p>By the way, you really don't need a P.E. license to get an engineering job, unless it is with the government.</p>

#9

<p>Not to be pedantic... but computer SCIENCE... and ABET = ENGINEERING. Computer science is different from computer engineering - not night/day different, but many schools have both majors. </p>

<p>If you wanted compE, I would strongly encourage ABET. If you want comp sci, well, that's a different animal and ABET is not as important.</p>

#10

<p>ABET is starting to work with Computer Science, I recently attended an ABET conference where they discussed this.</p>

#11

<p>It's real name is Computer Science Engineering at U of I so yes it is considered engineering and is in the engineering school. However ChemE isn't . . . why? Actually not even the ChemE people know.</p>

#12

<p>What doesn't seem to make sense is that Carnegie Mellon and Stanford, two of the best schools for computer science, aren't accredited.</p>

#13

<p>"This really isn't true...many employers will not care...though some will. But in CS this definately would not matter since accredidation is just beginning there.</p>

<p>By the way, you really don't need a P.E. license to get an engineering job, unless it is with the government."</p>

<p>ABET does matter because your limiting yourself to non-gov't jobs without ABET. </p>

<p>You can't work for NASA, army, etc. And you'll be more valuable with a P.E. license.</p>

#14

<p>You are somewhat right in saying that you will be more valuable with the P.E. Certainly it's not a bad thing. But for M.E.'s and E.E.'s the vast majority of jobs would not require a P.E. I have heard several engineers say that a P.E. made them less desirable to the company because the company thought they would want more money. In industry it's just not that big a deal.</p>

<p>The reason why Stanford and CMU are not yet accredited is because the process is just beginning in CS. Like I said, I recently attended an ABET conference where the ABET president spoke. The push for CS has just begun so many schools have not been evaluated.</p>

#15

<p>what about the "Olin college of Engineering"?</p>

#16

<p>Olin can't be accredited until they have a graduating class (next June), but they have been jumping through all the hoops so that they will receive accreditation soon after that. Olin's three major degree programs have been designed with ABET in mind.</p>

#17

<p>Yes, Olin has been doing an excellent job. If a school gets accreditation it is retroactive to all graduates in the evaluation period. So all Olin graduates will have an accredited degree.</p>

#18

<p>at Rice, Comp Sci isn't accredited but is in the engineering school. the head of the CS dept at rice told me that abet accredidation is useful for schools who don't really know what they're doing in CS (but abet accredidation doesn't mean they don't know what they're doing). he said that abet accredidation is of no great value for CS because you don't need a license to practice CS - abet is needed for majors like MechE so people build bridges similarly etc</p>