Looking for assistance with Electrical Engineering school

Ok, here's my situation. I work full-time in a job where I travel about 30+ weeks out of the year, so there is basically no possibility of doing anything except distance learning. My job would greatly benefit from an electrical engineering degree. I've been having a lot of trouble finding any schools that I'm sure I want to use, so I'm looking for suggestions.

I'm looking for a minimum BS in electrical engineering (eventually MS). Most schools I've looked at want a minimum Associates Degree to enroll, so I have no problem getting an Associates in Engineering Technology if that's what it takes. I would obviously prefer an accredited school or someone "recognized", but I guess I just want to see what you folks have to say.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.

 

No, I'm looking for distance learning. I guess I should have stated that, but I posted it in the distance learning forum.

I have no ability/time to go to a brick-and-mortar school, even part-time. I work with several engineers so having the experience around me is not a problem. However, they have all been trough traditional engineering schools, so they are little or no help here.

 

Hi there,

First off, what area of electrical engineering are you interested in Imp66? Currently, there are two major areas on which people have to usually decide to specialize in (and I am talking about a Bachelors and not a Masters)... Electrical Power Engineering, or Telecommunications, or even Electronics Engineering.

Secondly, I am curious to know how a highly specialized and hands-on field like electrical engineering would be taught through DL... I have a Bachelors and a MAsters in Electrical Engineering and in my view, this is not a program to be taught through DL. Any thoughts anyone?

 

Sorry, I should have clarified. I am looking at Power Engineering.

There are plenty of schools out there that will teach electrical engineering or engineering technology through DL. Just search the web and you'll see what I'm talking about. I know most of the engineers (possibly such as yourself) don't like to here this, but I'm currently doing many of the functions of an electrical engineer, but I have no formal education in engineering. In fact, I've found that there are quite a few engineers who have yet to leave their cushy office and go into the field to get that real-life "hands-on" you talk about. The point is, that in my case, there is life-experience that plays a part. Although there are quite a few schools out there that will teach it, I'm looking for someone reputable.

PS- My father (now dead or I would be taking much more of his advice) acquired his electrical engineering masters through distance learning and he (among other things) designed products for the space program, so it is possible.

 

I think I now understand your question fully, and I suspect that if you are working in an electrical Power Plant or motor/generator/power-line manufacturing company, you could potentially get all the hands-on experience you need. Out of curosity, what area of Power are you into? Electrical Motors/Generators or Power Transmission/Distribution?

I could recommend getting the bear's guide or peterson's guide for a list of good DL schools (I havent read them but I am sure it will have something on EE). Power is a mature field and I am sure it wont differ significantly from one school to another, especially since you are looking into a DL degree. You are right about getting a Bachelors from an R.A. school though, since I have heard of people having problems for licensure, who get their Engineering degrees from DETC schools...

Also, If you are only interested in the principles to better communicate with your peers, I can recommend you to study specific books on electrical principles. For solving power related problems and exercises, there are some good study guides such as the Schaum's outline for electrical engineering. Also, you can try to browse the MIT's open courseware for electrical engineering:

OCW for Electrical Engineering

It has some good online course materials (provided free of charge) on Electrical Circuits, Power Systems and a lot more...

If you are interested in text books for power engineering, I can try to look into our schools syllabus and provide you the list.

 

Thanks for all your recommendations. To answer your question, I actually work for a consulting firm with my specific duties dealing in the safety end of things. I spend most of my time in the field, and almost all my field work is "hands on".

You seem to have guessed at what one of my biggest problems is, and that is communication/respect. Even if you can do the work and communicate/understand what is going on, there are always those that just won't "respect" what you're doing if you don't have the degree. I know it may be silly, but it bothers me, and I'm tired of reciting my experience because people are looking for a degree.

If anyone else has any specific experience or recommendations for schools, I'd appreciate it in addition to the information dis.funk.sh.null has provided.

 

There is ONE genuine American D/L program out there at the bachelor's level in engineering as opposed to engineering technology. I refer to California National University (DETC). It is expensive. It is not ABET.

 

Would it be possible for you to take the engineering graduate exam and begin courses at NTU?

 

University of Southern Queensland Bachelor of Engineering

 

Actually, USQ is quite a decent option. I have done some research on the recognition of Australian Universities in North America, and have seen that they a considered highly reputable by credential evaluating agencies and comparative education services in Canada. I can only assume their reputation would be just as good among their counterparts in the US.

 

Greetings.

Regarding your previous post:

In all of America, there are currently only two BSEE degrees offered by DL:
1) California National "University" of Advanced Studies: http://www.cnuas.edu/ (DETC Accredited).
2) University of North Dakota: http://www.conted.und.edu/dist_engr/ (Regionally Accredited and ABET Accredited)

Unless your interest is merely avocational, or you have no other choice, UND is the only sane choice.

At (as I recall) $250 a S/H credit, I think it is unfair to call CNU "expensive" (which is not to say that they're cheap, either <g>). UND's prices for actual EE courses -- not to mention your cost for mandatory visits to the UND campus -- can be very expensive, depending upon where you live (see http://www.conted.und.edu/dist_engr/tuition_fees/tf.html). Note that non-engineering course work is significantly cheaper, and that UND will only except a limited number of non-UND distance courses.

While you do not need a AS degree to enroll at CNU, you would be a fool not to take advantage of their liberal transfer credits and get an RA AS degree before enrolling. Indeed, taking the maximum number of credits/courses at Regionally Accredited colleges, and then only taking EE/Major related courses at CNU might be the best strategy. (Or not. <g>)

If you are willing to accept a BSEET degree -- which *might* (or might not) be sufficient to get you into a MSEE program -- your choices are considerably greater. Visit http://www.abet.org/accredited_programs/engineeringtechnology/schoolarea.asp to find schools with ABET-accredited BSEET programs, visit you local library or book store to find "Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees
by Distance Learning" (ISBN 1-58008-202-5), compare the two in order to locate distance BSEET degree programs, and start making enquiries.

Good luck!


Cordially,
Richard Kanarek

 

I THINK that the North Dakota program requires resident lab work. Thus, it is only "mostly" D/L, not "pure" D/L.

I know of no D/L BSET that is ABET accredited. I understand that there are a handful of "credit bank" schools but they also require that the student do the lab work in residence somewhere.

Too bad; ABET is as picky as the ABA is in law.

 

What about Grantham University? Noone has mentioned that. They offer a an AS and a BS in Electronics Engineering Technology. They are DETC accredited. Plus, if the guy travels 30+ weeks a year, the Grantham program would work out nice since it's self-paced.

Of course, I'm no engineer, so I don't know what's consider "good" or "acceptable" in the field, or if this is even what he's looking for, but it seems like a viable option on the surface.

http://www.grantham.edu/eet.htm

Here is a link of universities & colleges that accept Grantham coursework. Some good RA schools listed such as Florida State, Central Michigan, Michigan State, NYIT, SUNY, among others:

http://www.grantham.edu/credits.htm

 

I think your right (but I think you can satisfy the resident lab requirements with only a couple of visits).

There are some.. ODU's BSET comes to mind and the "credit banking" school, Excelsior, has a BSEET (and NET) that is ABET accredited. I THINK University of Toledo has one (BSET in Electronics and Computer Technology). Oklahoma State University, I think has a degree completion program for a BSET (it is restricted to Okey residents though) that is ABET accredited.

Another provder of BSET programs (not ABET accredited). I feel, personally, the lack of ABET accreditation should be taken w/ a grain of salt. I say this because not all jobs asking for engineers are going to require a professional engineer (especially when they are referring to engineer technology degrees). Atleast this is what I have seen in the semiconductor industry.

As a matter of fact, I see quite a few engineers (usually equipment engineers of some type) that do not have a BSEE or ET (maybe an Associates in electronics and experience). These jobs are usually more applied or "hands-on" then than other engineering positions.

Best Regards,
Bill

 

Addenda:

Nosborne: You are absolutely correct about UND requiring visits for (condensed) lab work. It hadn't occurred to me that you didn't mention UND for this reason.

"italiansupernova": While Grantham College was (AFAIK) well regarded during those decades that it offered a "genuine" D/L BSEE degree, IMHO Grantham "University's" non-ABET, non-RA, somewhat expensive, BSEET degree doesn't seem competitive to me. This is not to suggest that their degree is phoney, or that the quality of their education is poor (they may well be better than some RA/ABET BSEET schools); I just think a smart shopper could do better (and much worse <g>).

"wfready": Yes, you're quite right: one can be an engineer without an ABET-accredited degree, or even without any sort of degree at all. e.g. Software "Engineer", Train "Engineer", Sanitation "Engineer", etc. Indeed, I believe that my last employer gave me some business cards that indicated I was an engineer. If one wishes to actually "engineer", however, a proper education -- or something close to it -- can't but help. <g>


Cordially,
Richard Kanarek

 

ELECTRONIC/ELECTRICAL BACHELORS DEGREE

ELECTRONIC/ELECTRICAL BACHELORS DEGREE IN TECHNOLOGY/ENGINEERING
DISTANCE EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES
Compiled By Paul R. Clark

University of North Dakota
PO Box 8155
Grand Forks ND
58202
701-777-4333
Toll Free 1-877-450-1842
Fax 701-777-6441
http://gocubs.conted.und.nodak.edu/dist_engr/statussheets/statussheets.html

Accreditation: Regional and ABET


University of North Carolina
Office of Distance Education
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
9201 University City Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28223-0001
Call toll free: 1-877-583-2966

http://www3.uncc.edu/disted/visitors/program/vis_program.htm

Accreditation: Regional and ABET/TAC


Indiana State University
200 North Seventh Street, Terre Haute,
Indiana, USA 47809-9989
1-800-742-0891
http://web.indstate.edu/index.html

Accreditation: Regional and (NAIT) National Association of Industrial Technology


Excelsior College
7 Columbia Circle
Albany, NY 12203-5159
Call toll free: 888-647-2388
http://distancelearn.excelsior.edu/

Accreditation: Regional and TAC / ABET

Thomas Edison State College
101 W. State St. • Trenton, NJ 08608-1176
Phone: 1-888-442-8372 (toll-free)
http://www.tesc.edu/prospective/undergraduate/degree/bsast.php

Accreditation: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools


Cleveland Institute of Electronics / World College
1776 East 17th Street
Cleveland Ohio 44114
Phone (800)-CIE-OHIO (243-6446)
http://www.cie-wc.edu/WorldCollege/Main.html

Accreditation: DETC / The Distance Education and Training Council


Grantham College of Engineering
34641 Grantham College Road,
Slidell, LA 70460
Toll free inside the U.S: 1-800-955-2527
http://www.grantham.edu/

Accreditation: DETC / The Distance Education and Training Council


Rochester Institute of Technology
Online Learning
91 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, NY 14623-5603

Phone: 1.800.CALL.RIT (Voice/TTY)

http://distancelearning.rit.edu/courses/programs/view.cfm?program_uuid=F374335B-0852-865B-28253F-836E32725D

Accreditation: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools



Old Dominion University

Department of Engineering Technology
Old Dominion University
214 Kaufman Hall
Norfolk, VA 23529-0243
757-683-3775

http://www.et.odu.edu/eet.html

Accreditation: Regional / ABET



California National University
8550 Balboa Blvd.
Suite 210
Northridge, CA
91325-3576
Phone: 800-782-2422

http://www.cnuas.edu/

Accreditation: DETC / The Distance Education and Training Council




When choosing a college it is important to consider the direction you may want to pursue after you graduate. If you wish to become a Professional Engineer it will be important to choose an educational program that is ABET accredited. The ABET accreditation is currently the only accepted accreditation by the NCEES. The NCEES is the body of the state government which provides engineering licensing primarily used in Civil Service jobs.

However, a second route is possible to become a PE with a Bachelors of Science in a related field. This requires a longer experience base and some additional course work. If you plan to go this route choose a good regionally accredited program.

The DETC engineering degree is not intended for the student wishing to pursue a Professional Engineering (PE) license. DETC degree graduates may wish to pursue the British Engineering Council for Registration as a Charter or Incorporated Engineer.

Disclaimer: This information is provided in good faith, use on your own accord.

 

Dear Laser100:

If you'll pardon the unsolicited criticism, I think you should have mentioned that the overwhelming majority of schools you listed offer BSEET degrees, not engineering degrees.

Cordially,
Richard Kanarek

 

EE BS Degree DL

Richard,

If you can find another EE BS degree program at a distance then post it. I would be happy to add it to my list.

Otherwise, the next best programs are listed for those who wish to know.

You may not be interested .........but that does not mean you speak for all the participants of this forum.

I try to help, not censor.

Respectfully,

Paul Clark

 

Engineering Technology

Richard please scroll up and read Italiansupernova's posting about engineering technology.

 

Hi guys,

I went through the course listings of the universities listed. I guess it would help to find out exactly what Imp66 is looking for. His field is Power Systems Engineering...

Laser, most of the universities you mentioned offer Engineering Technology degrees (with a telecomm, electronics or IT major).

Only one of the universities mentioned actually has any courses related to Power, and that is Rochester Institute of Technology.