Hi All, I want to obtain a BSEE via DL and want your opions. I have been reading your posts on and off for the last month. I have been in the electrical/electronic industry for 27 years. Started off with a 3 year Vo Tech school course, took some college, many home study courses and have a masters electricians license good in all 50 states. Currently I am a Sr. Technical Specialist for an international engineering company. I want to finish my BSEE for personal satisfaction and to open the door up for other positions that require the BSEE. After reading all your posts, what colleges would you guys recommend based on the following list that is important to me? 1. RA or DETC but not a degree mill. 2. Allowed to move at my own pace, not by semester. 3. Completion in 2 years or less 4. Under $10,000 for the entire cost. Thanks, pmc181
pmc181, I can't think of any BSEE programs that are distance education EXCEPT: http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/sem/electric.eng/u_curric.html Univ of North Dakota have a double E program via distance learning. They aren't exactly cheap ($306 cr/hr. for nonresidents). You take the courses you need to take via DL and you attend lab courses at the school (guy in charge explained that students would normal take a "vacation" to ND and spend a week doing lab work to get credit). ABET makes it really hard to do BSEE through distance learning because of the lab credit requirement. There is one DL nationally accredited school that offers a BSEE (www.cooks.edu). I don't know anything about it. I do know its not ABET accredited (which isn't always bad regarding engineering degrees [depends on your job]). If you don't mind choosing the engineering "lite" degree programs (AKA engineering TECHNOLOGY). Your choice becomes a little better: Excelsior College This college has a few programs in Technology BS Technology w/ speciality (has different concentrations) BS Electronics Engineering Technology (ABET accredited) BS Computer Technology (just like BSET except w/ a computer emphasis). BS Nuclear Engineering Technology (ABET accredited also) Thomas Edison State College BS of Applied Science and Technology (with majors in Mech/Electronics/Nuclear engineering Technology) I could mention RIT, however, unless you are a New York resident they are EXTREMELY expensive. Heres the website anyways: Rochester Institute of Technology Old Dominion University They have a regional (Virginia, North Carolina, and a couple other SE states) DL program called Teletechnet. They offer BSET's in electrical, mechanical, and civil (I believe these are ABET accredited) They also have BS in General Engineering Technology w/ a minor in Engineering Management which can be done completely via DL (not ABET accredited though). It is tailored to use Navy electronics related rates as a technical lower level source of credit. Very good if you served in the Navy or Marine Corps w/ an electronics MOS. That was RA BSET programs.. For nationally accredited programs you have: Grantham College and Cleveland Institute of Electronics through World College That's all I can think of right now. Hope this helps. Best Regards, Bill Ready
Another option that offers a B.S. in Engineering with a specialization in EE is California National University for Advanced Studies. They are accredited by DETC (but obviously not by ABET.) http://www.cnuas.edu/ While I am very skeptical about DL engineering programs because of their weakness in labs, a DETC program like this might work for a longtime technician who mainly needs theory.
The Excelsior BSEET is also ABET accredited as well as RA. John So, that would be: <snip> BS Electronics Engineering Technology (ABET accredited) </snip> Right? Actually, they refer to it as the BEE program (which would make me think its a EE rather than an ET program; kind of deceptive if you ask me). At any rate, ALL of these programs tend to be fairly close to the ABET curriculum (the BST program strays from ABET curriculum considering there is no require lab credit, however, the program seems pretty flexible). Best Regards, Bill
Right. Yes, the Excelsior abbrev. is BEE (http://www.excelsior.edu/tec_bcdg.htm#bee) but BSEET is used here to avoid confusion. I wouldn't consider it as deceptive as they give the complete name before the BEE. It looks like more of the College code designation for the degree as the Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology is abbrev. as BNE. John
I wonder why the BCT program @ Excelsior College is not ABET accredited. I appears identical to the BEE and BNE as the curriculum structure goes. Does ABET not accredit computer engineering technology programs? Perhaps, they are in the process of getting it accredited. Bill
computer science accreditation For information about computer science and engineering accreditation, see www.abet.org. It used to be that there were two different organizatons, CSAB for computer science, and ABET for engineering; they merged within the last year or two. While almost all reputable engineering programs were ABET accredited, many fine computer science programs were not CSAB accredited. I'm just guessing, but maybe this pattern continues after the merger. Gerry Ashton P.E.
There is one DL nationally accredited school that offers a BSEE (www.cooks.edu). I don't know anything about it. I do know its not ABET accredited (which isn't always bad regarding engineering degrees [depends on your job]). I don't know if you ever came back to read this, pmc181, but I goofed on this one. Cooks Institute it NOT nationally accredited (the accrediting agency that Cooks belongs to is not recognised by the DOE. Apparently, there is a story behind the National Association of Private, Nontraditional Schools and Colleges. Do a search in the message archives for NAPNSC. For what its worth (I am not an expert on EE curriculum [but, I did stay at a holiday inn express!]), The program seems pretty balanced (adaquate engineering, science, math, and lib arts classes). Just don't know how thorough each of these courses are.... Now, I wish someone would make an RA program like this. Many people would not think of this as a good idea considering you need the HANDS ON experience of labwork and interships and whatnot. I feel a program like that would be great for a mid-career technician who just needs to learn theory (as Bill Dayson mentioned a few messages back). Best Regards, Bill Ready
D/L engineering I just LOVE the idea of a D/L degree in nuclear engineering! Do they mail you some plutonium? Or maybe you build a fuels reprocessing plant (small scale, of course) in your basement? ("In this lesson, you will learn to carry out an emergency urban evacuation. RIGHT NOW!") Does the seal on the diploma glow in the dark? Nosborne, JD (who does NOT glow in the dark. Yet.)
Do they mail you some plutonium? They used to. After the 9/11 incident they decided to stop plutonium shipping and just give students a listing of the nuclear goods markets in his/her area. Does the seal on the diploma glow in the dark? Yes. It comes with a warning tag that you must encase the diploma IMMEDIATLY into the lead diploma case that comes preshipped. (I hear the viewing glass used on the case is 3 inches think!) Hope you can find a stud in the wall because this baby aint anchoring into sheetrock alone! Actually, if you think about it, the student is not going to be doing the "nuclear" part of his/her degree via DL. A good deal of credits would be earned from Navy nuke school (which is what a good portion of these students are: EM's, ET's, MM's, etc. in the Navy). What ever extra UL credits they have to earn will probably be at a local univiersity. Best Regards, Bill
There are also a couple of DL Master's programs in nuclear engineering as well -- there's one in Tennessee, and one n Texas -- however, both require that you work in the nuclear field so that you can complete an adequate thesis, so I guess that takes care of the hands-on part... Georgia Tech offers an MS in radiation safety via DL, but I am not sure how they handle any necessary lab components or thesis (if any). Richard
Ummm. The phrase "hands on" on connection with nuclear materials raises up a whole HOST of troubling images... Nosborne, JD (whose watch does NOT glow in the dark!)
