<p>I’ve applied for mechanical engineering (MEEN) and got accepted but I found out it isn’t accredited…but the main engineering page says “These goals are consistent with the expectations of the accrediting organization ABET.” So my question is, what does that mean?
Thanks</p>
<p>Putting that sentence into a search engine leads to [Texas</a> A&M University-Corpus Christi - Mechanical Engineering](<a href=“Department of Engineering | Departments | College of Engineering and Computer Science | Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi”>Department of Engineering | Departments | College of Engineering and Computer Science | Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi) at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.</p>
<p>[Texas</a> A&M University-Corpus Christi - Academics](<a href=“http://www.tamucc.edu/academics/index.html]Texas”>http://www.tamucc.edu/academics/index.html) says that:</p>
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<p>I.e. it appears to be a new degree program. This could entail some risk for you if you graduate and the program later fails to get ABET accreditation, or the accreditation is not retroactive to your graduation year. On the flip side, it appears from the [course</a> schedule](<a href=“http://banner.tamucc.edu/schedule/]course”>Online Course Schedule | Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi) that the math, physics, and engineering courses there are generally small.</p>
<p>Be aware that the [degree</a> plan](<a href=“Department of Engineering | Departments | College of Engineering and Computer Science | Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi”>Department of Engineering | Departments | College of Engineering and Computer Science | Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi) includes 130 credit units, meaning that you will have to take more than 16 credit units per semester on average to graduate in 8 semesters, unless you can fulfill some with AP credit. Also note that many courses are offered once per year instead of every semester, so you need to schedule carefully.</p>
<p>New programs are always a risk. But obviously, every accredited program out there today had to graduate one brave class of individuals before accreditation was given to them. </p>
<p>I would recommend doing some research to determine the overall reputation of the school. You can avoid some of the risk of not getting an accredited degree by knowing whether or not the school has had problems in the past with accreditation. Check to see if they have had their accreditation retracted, or violated in any other programs offered. This information might not be easy to obtain, but if you CAN find out anything, it should give you a rough idea of what to expect with the school getting ABET accreditation.</p>
<p>FWIW though, A&M Corpus Christi has pretty weak student body stats and poor 4 and 6 year graduation rates (21% and 40%). These are factors in the accreditation process, but I can’t say whether or not these issues would hold them back from accreditation. They do raise a caution flag though.</p>
<p>Once a school does get accreditation all past graduates become accredited graduates retroactively. That’s the case at RIT, for example, which is a decent school with a fairly new Chem Eng program. They are in process–all the rest of their engineering programs are ABET accredited.</p>
<p>Not true. If a program is first accredited by ABET in the current year, those students graduating in the previous year are the earliest that will be receiving degrees from an ABET accredited program.</p>
<p>The Provost at Texas A&M is the current President of ABET. It is certain that resources will be made available to the program to enable it to meet the criteria established by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. However, that is no guarantee that the program will be accredited after the first student graduates the program. That is the earliest time at which a new program can be accredited to enable ABET to evaluate the student outcomes and the likelihood of that first graduate (or first graduates) being prepared to enter the profession.</p>
<p>lhboy—</p>
<p>I’m just going with what the chair of the Chem Eng dept. at RIT told me last spring when I asked about the non-accredited program.</p>
<p>Here is what ABET itself says:
[ABET</a> - Request For Evaluation (RFE)](<a href=“http://www.abet.org/request-an-evaluation/]ABET”>http://www.abet.org/request-an-evaluation/)</p>
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<p>[The</a> first graduates of TAMU-CC’s mechanical engineering degree program graduated in May 2012.](<a href=“http://www.tamucc.edu/news/2012/05/eng_students.html]The”>http://www.tamucc.edu/news/2012/05/eng_students.html) The OP may want to find out from the school whether the ABET accreditation is happening now and when it is expected to be complete. The 18 month process is described [url=<a href=“http://www.abet.org/during-accreditation-process/]here[/url”>http://www.abet.org/during-accreditation-process/]here[/url</a>].</p>