Electronics Engineering at Excelsior

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by louieknucks, Mar 1, 2006.

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  1. louieknucks

    louieknucks Member

    Hey everyone,
    I am in the middle of enrolling in the B.S. in Electronic Engineering Technology at Excelsior. I was curious if anyone on the board has enrolled in this degree program to see if they really enjoyed it or not. I chose this degree because there is no B&M campus that offers engineering degrees and Excelsior's program is ABET accredited. Any feedback would be graciously appreciated. Thanks all.

    Lance
     
  2. Kalos

    Kalos member

    Re: Electronics Engineering Technology @ Excelsior

    There's a BIG difference between Engineering and Engineering Technology. I doubt a true Bachelor's Engineering degree is obtainable on-line. I see Excelsior's TAC/ABET-accredited BSET degrees in Electronics Engineering Technology and Nuclear Engineering Technology require classroom attendance for the upper-level courses.

    For many years Grantham College offered a respectable total distance BSET in Electronics Engineering Technology - though it wasn't TAC/ABET-accredited. Don't know whether it's still good. DeVry has very good and very quick TAC/ABET-accredited BSET degrees in Electronics Technology at a dozen campuses.

    TAC/ABET isn't the only Agency accrediting "Technology" degrees. There's also NAIT - www.nait.org - which accredits BSIT "Industrial Technology" programs. NAIT-accredited BSIT degrees can have a Electronics Technology concentration. Many TAC/ABET and NAIT degrees are the "degree-completion" type which give credit for lower division AA/AS courses.
     
  3. AGS

    AGS New Member

    Stanford has an online masters

    doesnt stanford university have an online masters enginerring of some field ?
     
  4. Mighty_Tiki

    Mighty_Tiki Member

    Re: Re: Electronics Engineering Technology @ Excelsior

    It is, at only one school that has been discussed here and that is the University of North Dakota. The only thing with them is the resident labs, other than that complete distance.


    UND Engineering Degrees Online

    Justin
     
  5. Kalos

    Kalos member

    Electrical Engineering On-Line ?

    I'm shocked. I no more expected to see a legitimate accredited Electrical Engineering degree on-line than I would an MD on-line. Electrical Engineering is probably the toughest undergraduate degree there is - except for maybe Physics. Even the best schools - MIT, Stanford - push their students through endless lectures, workshops, recitations, study group, team design projects, etc, just to get through the program. At least UND's on-line Engineering degree students have to come in for labs - which is the aspect most difficult to duplicate in a distance degree. I wonder how the UND on-line Engineering graduates do in outside exams - such as the EIT and Professional Engineer exams...
     
  6. wfready

    wfready New Member

    "Electrical Engineering is probably the toughest undergraduate degree there is"

    You must have been an engineering major! :D

    It was my impression that engineering was more "theoretical" teaching than engineering technology? Based on this impression, I would guess engineering technology would be harder to accomplish through an online program.

    BReady
     
  7. Kalos

    Kalos member

    Yes - I'm an Electrical Engineering survivor...

    "Engineering Technology" is to "Engineering" what Nursing (or PA) is to an MS/DO Medical School. There's some overlap in school and in practice, but it's really a different level of study and complexity altogether. That's not to say BSEET/BSIT grads are useless - many jobs in an Engineering Organization are better filled by BSEET/BSIT grads than by BSEE grads and I'd rather hire BSEET/BSIT grads for these positions. But there is a big difference and it's not just the labs...

    I have a BSEE (and an MBA and I'm a PE) but I'll be returning to school this fall for an MSTech/MSET rather than an MSEE because I don't want to spend the next two years solving triple integrals. There are only a dozen or so legitimate MSET-Electronics programs in the USA. That's too bad because BSEET/BSIT grads generally - and for good reason - aren't usually admitted into MSEE degree programs.
     
  8. lspahn

    lspahn New Member

    My first degree was an ASET. The basic difference between ET and EE is the math. At U of Delaware youa re require only 2 more classes to get a math degree after facing the EE program. Most Electronic Technology is focused on some hands on and not so much theory. The math level is usually signifigantly higher in a Engineering program.
     
  9. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member


    I don't know if I agree with this statement. The salary gap between nurses and DOs is a lot larger than the one between BSET and BSEE. A DO degree is on top of a bacherlos degree while the BSET and BSEE are both bachelor's degrees but with different orientation.

    In few words, if you want to work as a field engineer, service engineer or sales engineer then you will be better of the with the engineering technology degree as you don't need to deal with the complexity of the math and theory that is required by an engineering degree plus you will get more hands on courses.

    If your goal is to be in design, research and development or production then the engineering degree would be better. However, salary wise it doesn't really make a lot of difference.

    In real life, you have a lot of BSEE working as technologists and lot of BSET working in research and development.

    It is the same old argument of PhD vs DBA, D.Eng vs PhD, PhD vs. EdD that suggests that one degree is better than other one but in real life is the person that makes the difference not the degree.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 29, 2006
  10. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Courses in electrical engineering are a lot harder to teach online than technology courses. Topics like differential equations, random processes, electromagnetic fields wouldn't be so easy to teach in the online environment as some on hand courses like programming, assembly language and digital design.
     
  11. morleyl

    morleyl New Member

    This a very gray area. It all depends on the school at which you take the classes. Some BSET could be very close in theory to another schools BSEE.

    In the end it comes down to aptitude, a person with a good BSET could easily pickup the additional Math which could give them an advantage with the hands-on training.
     
  12. Kalos

    Kalos member

    I have to disagree. What BSET (BSEET) schools come "very close" in mathematics/(theory) to an accredited BSEE ? I've been looking and I can't find any. The math/theory content of BSEET programs is consistently far lower than the BSEE - both in support "math" courses and in the math level of "electronics" courses.

    Wayne State offers an interesting graduate MSET program with three core (required) mathematics courses, which by their description appear to bring BSET grads up to the math level of a typical BSEE. By this measure, an MSET might be considered equivalent to a BSEE in math/theory content. An MSET might give BSET grads an equal chance at passing the EIT and PE exams - though I'd like to see some numbers on that.

    I'm also not sure that a BSET program necessarily offers more lab time. Maybe a few hours more, but it doesn't seem to be a big difference. In NAIT-accredited BSIT degrees, the "extra" non-math time is taken up with Management/Supervision courses rather than more lab time.

    The bottom line is that the BSET (and BSIT) programs are simply much easier than BSEE programs - with maybe more drilling on the basics. That's their biggest appeal.
     
  13. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    The starting salaries for BS degrees in "engineering" vs. "engineering technology" are probably not very different. However, the gap tends to increase over the long run. In general, the engineering BS degree is more likely to be a "stepping stone" to other advanced degrees, licenses, promotions, etc., whereas the technology BS degree is more likely to be terminal.

    For example, it's clear that people with engineering BS degrees are far more likely to earn MS degrees than those with technology BS degrees. Close to half of all current engineering grads will ultimately get the MS degree, whereas there are only a handful of legitimate MS programs in engineering technology (as noted above). People with engineering degrees are also more likely to earn MBAs, or to obtain PE licenses (in some states, technology grads are legally barred from the PE license). Overall, people with engineering degrees are more likely to obtain advanced qualifications, and to get promoted into senior technical and managerial positions, than people with technology degrees.

    Yes, it is possible to earn advanced degrees, PE licenses, and high-level promotions with a technology BS. But it's more common with an engineering BS.
     
  14. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Re: Stanford has an online masters

    According to Bears' Guide, yes: aeronautics & astronautics; chemical engineering; civil & environmental engineering; electrical engineering; mechanical engineering
     
  15. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    But again, not all engineering fields are likely to benefit from PE licenses. I have a PE license and am a computer engineer, besides the fees that I have to pay every year there is no real benefit from it. Civil Engineering would benefit the most from it but in the case of electrical engineers, unless you are in building or power you would hardly use it.

    In few words, the engineering degree is more prestigious than the technology degree but if a technology degree is all you can afford then it would do the job for most of the electrical engineering jobs that do not require a professional engineering license (about 90% of the jobs).
     
  16. morleyl

    morleyl New Member

    The UK Chartered Engineer is much better for recognition especially in Computing than the standard PE. The PE is mostly for signing documents etc. Also the CEng focuses more on Engineering approach which is more competence than the PE exams.
     
  17. Kalos

    Kalos member

    I'm a PE self-employed Consulting Engineer in Electronics in California. The PE License does carry weight among prospective clients, especially if the consulting work involves interaction with industry or government agencies such as UL, CSA, FCC, RoHS agencies in Europe, etc.

    It used to be that you could not do self-employed Consulting Engineering work in California without a PE license. This has been diluted in recent years, so that - for most non-Civil Engineers - PE licensure in Calfornia is merely Title Protection (only PEs can call themselves "Professional Engineers"). I'm not sure if this is true in other States.
     
  18. Bruboy

    Bruboy New Member

    I would substitute the word practical for basics. Having been in both programs I agree that the emphasis of many courses is different between the two. I graduated with a BSEET but most of the course work that I completed was from a BSEE program. I suffered through applied calculus and physics but also the calculus, physics. fields & waves, communications, circuit theory, differential & partial differential equations, and vector calculus from the BSEE program to name a few.

    I would also say that lab work is a more important part of a BSEET program than a BSEE since the technologist will typically fill a more hands-on position.

    Why did I decide on the BSEET instead of a BSEE? I was working towards my degree as an evening student and my career path diverted from engineering. My AAS was in technology and I simply chose the shortest path to a degree at that point.

    To make such an extreme differentiation between the two programs is simply feeding ones ego in my opinion.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 30, 2006
  19. Bruboy

    Bruboy New Member

    I just have to ask why bother in light of your opinion?

    As for BSEET grads not being accepted into MSEE programs, schools in my area have bridge or prerequisite programs for those that really want in. An example is NJIT http://catalog.njit.edu/graduate/programs/electricalengineering.php. This is much like an engineer would need to complete prerequisites in many MBA programs.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 30, 2006
  20. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I agree, in the case of self employment the PE license will carry a lot of weight as you can sell your self as an "engineer". For industry employment, as long as your title doesn't show engineer then you don't need a license (e.g. Software specialist, computer specialist, technical architect, technical sales).

    If the goal is self employment, I agree that the engineering degree would be more desirable as it opens the door to the PE.
     

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