Bachelor Engineering Degree?

Hello everyone.

I'm new here and I ran into the common trap of loosing all that I've typed when submitting the thread... Anyhow:

I am working full time as an aircraft technician, I have a wife and 3 kids that I love to bits AND I want to complete a degree. I want a lot, I know. I've just completed a DL certificate and I am confident that I could do it, though.

My interests are (in order) Engineering (Aeronautical, or Electrical, or Mechanical), Physics, Mathematics.

Embry Riddle BS in Professional Aeronautics seems like a reasonable choice because of their reputation (in aviation) and because they would give me 15-30 credits for my licences and previous experience. Their Safety minor and Engineering Core are attractive and so is the fact that I could complete a Certificate and an AS degree enroute to the BS. However, what could I do with such a degree? What does 'professional aeronautics' mean??

CNU seems like a wonderful option for real engineering, though no previous experience credits, no intermediate certificate or AS and it's expensive.

University of North Dakota is out of the question given the price tag. Too bad given that it's ABET cert.

CIE/WC seems like quit a compromise, with a little bit of everything but I'm not sure what kind of education or qualification I would end up with. I could afford it though!

How long would it be reasonable to take to complete such a degree and how much would a monthly cost run to? It's hard to tell since none of the schools list textbooks, and fees are often unclear.

Thank you all for your help.

Mark

 

Bye bye

A US HOUSTON BASED COMPANY is no longer hiring US Enginners - jobs outsourced!

 

Welcome to the board! I'm sorry that I can't answer your questions, but those cost questions should be answered by enrollment counselors. All of the schools I have researched have been willing to give me a monthly cost that includes textbooks and all other expenses. I think you could find out if you asked the right person at each school.

 

Embry Riddle BS in Professional Aeronautics seems like a reasonable choice because of their reputation (in aviation) and because they would give me 15-30 credits for my licences and previous experience. Their Safety minor and Engineering Core are attractive and so is the fact that I could complete a Certificate and an AS degree enroute to the BS. However, what could I do with such a degree? What does 'professional aeronautics' mean??[/QUOTE]

I'm familiar with their professional aeronautics degree and to be honest, there really isn't much you could do with it. It's a very general, broad-based degree.

Now, having said that, are you an A&P Mechanic? If you are, you could use the professional aeronautics degree as a stepping-stone to teaching A&P. That's about all I can think of that the degree could be used for.

If you are an A&P, Thomas Edison State College will give you about 60 credit hours for the FAA certification. You can then take a few CLEP exams and literally be done with a BS in 2-3 months.

 

I grew up in Daytona and had many friends go to Embry-Riddle. Almost went there myself, if not the fact my parents also lived in Daytona and would expect me to still live at home. (That and it's 98% male student at the university.)

The Professional Aeronautics was a popular degree for those wanting just to be career pilots. Its like a business administration degree but with a heavier focus on aviation than their aviation business administration degree. As AV8R said, it is a broad "professional" degree (like management, business administration, political science), rather than a specific "disciplinary" degree (like mechanical engineering, soil science, etc.)

So as far as "what you can do with it", there are two ways to look at it. 1. "Nothing special", or 2. "Whatever the hell you want." I know many people who did this degree want went into technical sales, airport management, ATC, and so forth.

 

Thanks

Hello everyone and thanks for all your posts.

It's very helpful to hear from you AV8R and Edowave about the Professional Aeronautics since it corroborates my suspicions. I think I'll choose one of the other directions since I need to satisfy my brains as well and not just add to my CV.

I do not have an FAA A&P but I do have the European A,B1,B2,C licenses, which is like the A&P plus the IA.

The problem is balancing a very demanding math & physics rich degree (my favorite subjects) with a very full family life. The aviation route would shorten things significantly.

 

Excelsior offers a distance ABET-accredited BSEET degree. Good luck in your search!

 

I think you should be looking for RA ABET accredited program.
Electronics Engineering is different from Engineering Technology degrees available via EC or TESC etc.

Only one university offers DL Bachelors degree that is Engineering and ABET accredited.

Other choices are fine as long as you understand the difference between EET and EE programs and know what you would like to earn.

DETC accredited WC/CIE is flexible and affordable, they have good credit transfer policy and you get to do all your labs at home.

There is an ongoing debate about the utility of NA vs RA degrees etc.
You may find that if you ever decide to go for masters degree it is harder to get accepted to RA university if you hold NA degree. You have to work harder and to get help from DETC to explain the RA university how your degree is comparable etc. Some RA universities upfront tell you that RA degree is required for entry in to graduate school.

 

Thanks for your suggestions,

ABET sounds good but I don't live in the States so I don't know how usefull it might be. I am really attracted to CNU because of all the accademic courses but perhaps CIE/WC might be more practical. Boeing states that ABET is preferred but not required, though it does not state what other accreditation is required. I'm trying to find out what the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway would accept.

CNU would run about $40,000 incl books. Is that what you would call affordable in the States?

How many units is it reasonable to do in a calendar year while working and raising kids?