May 2008

ABET Removes Obstacle to Accreditation of Graduate Programs

A policy change made by the ABET Board of Directors in late March opens the doors for many engineering schools to seek accreditation of their graduate programs.

The ABET Board voted in favor of allowing colleges and universities to apply for dual-level accreditation of engineering programs. Institutions will be able to take advantage of this new voluntary option during the 2009–2010 accreditation cycle.

Since 1932, ABET's Engineering Accreditation Commission has prohibited accrediting undergraduate and graduate-level engineering programs of the same name within the same institution. Currently, there are more than 1,700 accredited undergraduate engineering programs and about 30 accredited graduate engineering programs in the U.S.

Roger Zimmerman, P.E., who serves as NSPE's representative to ABET, voted in favor of dual-level accreditation during the ABET board meeting. He believes that the change will help move engineering education forward and bring the profession closer to a licensing system that would require formal education beyond a bachelor's degree to become a PE. Raising the minimum education requirement to become a PE beyond the bachelor's degree is supported by NSPE, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.

"ABET is looking to promote quality and innovation in education and this deviation from past policies helps the engineering programs use the accrediting agency to provide better flexibility in offerings," Zimmerman says. "Now market forces can dictate accreditation needs, and this action opens up possibilities of the engineering profession to advance toward having the master's as the first professional degree."

As recently as last year, ABET voted to continue its prohibition of dual-level accreditation after obtaining input from engineering societies and individuals. In March 2007, the organization released a report summarizing the views from both supporters and opponents of dual-level accreditation. At the time, ABET said that its policy of accrediting only the first professional degree for an institution and discipline serves the best interest of a large segment of its diverse membership of 28 professional and technical societies.

The NSPE Board of Directors approved a professional policy in support of dual-level accreditation in January 2007. Other supporters of dual-level accreditation include the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, ASCE, and NAE. The Deans Council of the American Society for Engineering Education opposes allowing dual-level accreditation.

Craig Musselman, P.E., who serves on NSPE's Licensure and Qualifications for Practice Committee, believes that ABET's decision will have positive short-term and long-term effects for engineering education.

"In the near term, there are a number of both civil and environmental engineering programs around the country who will take advantage of this flexibility to accredit both their B.S.- and M.S.-level degree programs," says Musselman. "In the very long term, in my view, this will be important to licensure, and the accredited master's degree may very well become a new 'gold standard' in engineering education."