Is Accreditation important??

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I am super interested in Penn State’s Energy Engineering major:</p>

<p>[Energy</a> Engineering | John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering](<a href=“http://www.eme.psu.edu/energyeng/index.html]Energy”>http://www.eme.psu.edu/energyeng/index.html)</p>

<p>However, the major is not accredited:</p>

<p>“This program will seek accreditation as a General Engineering Program by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET in the near future. It is not currently accredited.”</p>

<p>Is this something that will be a problem for me after graduation? I read that this major has been around since 07, so wouldn’t it have been accredited by now? </p>

<p>On a side note, I understand that this field is growing since the world starting to go green. I have always been interested in renewable energy. Do you think I will get a high paying salary after graduation? I’m looking for like $80,000 a year working in Maryland.</p>

<p>I’m looking through the course list and it seems much less math-intensive than other engineering majors and that is always appreciated :-D</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.eme.psu.edu/energyeng/eneng_courses.pdf[/url]”>http://www.eme.psu.edu/energyeng/eneng_courses.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

2

<p>ABET accreditation is important if you need a Professional Engineer license. This is important in civil engineering, but less so in other areas. However, it may be important if you are designing things used by or accessible to the public, like infrastructure of various sorts.</p>

<p>Beyond that, there is the question of whether employers in the energy sector are looking for someone who graduated with this type of interdisciplinary major, as opposed to someone with a degree in chemical, electrical, mechanical, petroleum, or nuclear engineering. Also, $80,000 is a very optimistic entry level pay level for a new bachelor’s degree graduate in any major – see the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html&lt;/a&gt; .</p>