An easy icebreaker when talking about STEM college education is to ask “What are the best colleges for ____ majors?” The key to answering that question is the quality of the school’s education – the nuts and bolts of what they teach and how, using what resources and combination of theoretical and laboratory instruction. Because, after all, the main reason you’re going to college is to learn stuff, right?
An organization called the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) runs a program of accreditation of many types of STEM undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Accreditation is the ’seal of approval’ that tells prospective students and employers that a college’s degree in, say computer science, would be recognized as a legit degree by professionals in the computer science field.
Computer Science: Connecting the world
Their criteria are very detailed – can’t just slap a label on it and call it Computer Science. For example, an accredited CS degree MUST give the student an ability to apply mathematical foundations, algorithmic principles, and computer science theory in the modeling and design of computer-based systems, an exposure to a variety of programming languages and systems, and proficiency in at least one higher-level language. ABET sends industry professionals and academics to colleges to evaluate the program; it is pass-fail: either a particular program is accredited, or not. Each degree program type has a connection to an industry professional association; in the case of CS, there is a joint effort by the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society. All this ties together because industry and academic professionals give their time and experience to ensure consistently high standards in STEM education.
Graduation from an ABET-accredited program is a prerequisite for many licensing and certifying bodies and agencies. One example is New York, where the state licensing of Professional Engineer allows anyone graduating from an ABET-accredited program to take the P.E. exam; if you didn’t graduate from an accredited program then the licensing board needs to validate your education before allowing you to take the exam.
So how do you apply this in your college admissions strategy? It is particularly useful when you are researching specific STEM majors and want to create the list of schools which provide an accredited degree in that major. Using the ABET site you can quickly find programs that meet your needs.