Does anyone have experience on what is the average time to graduate in engineering at Alabama? I am seeing 5 year average program length on the site below:
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6474/screen/23?school_name=The+University+of+Alabama
If it is over 4 years, I assume the scholarship does not cover so does the student then pay full OOS tuition?
Yes, if students take over 4 years, they will then pay full OOS tuition, unless they are NMF, which is currently a 5 year scholarship.
However I believe that most of the scholarship students should have no trouble graduating within 4 years. Bama is very generous with accepting AP, CLEP, and dual credit, so many students come in with quite a few credits already complete.
I assume students like my son also skew the statistic a bit. He will technically graduate in 5 years because of his co-op, but he will still finish in 8 semesters of coursework, so his scholarship will cover all of his coursework. Since he was an incoming student in 2012, but won’t graduate until 2017 I would assume the statistics will show he took 5 years to graduate, even though he will finish with 4 years of classes.
Scholarship students generally do not have any trouble graduating on time. Personally, I don’t know of any who haven’t graduated on time.
Students who don’t graduate on time often cause the problem themselves…changing majors, dropping classes, not taking a full load, not paying attention to reqts, not paying attention to sequence, refusing to take classes at certain times or on certain days (some only want classes on MWF).
Because Tuscaloosa is also a good-sized city, some local students aren’t in a big hurry to graduate. They pay instate rates, they may qualify for a Pell Grant, they may be working locally, so they may only take 12 credits a semester, and it may take them 5+ years to graduate.
Frankly, those who come in on scholarship can usually graduate in LESS than 4 years because of the generous AP credits. Both of my kids could have graduated early, but chose not to so that they could also take some classes for interest (Italian, higher level Spanish, complete some minors, etc)
Does your comments about local students apply to the general student population or engineering undergrads?
Because Tuscaloosa is also a good-sized city, some local students aren't in a big hurry to graduate. They pay instate rates, they may qualify for a Pell Grant, they may be working locally, so they may only take 12 credits a semester, and it may take them 5+ years to graduate. <<<<<<<<
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The average program length I asked about in the link above is probably provided by the university. If the students you know graduate in 4 years, there must be some that take six with a bunch at 5. The key to graduating on time is having a good advisor and course availability.
I have very personal experience with that because I transferred at ISU from Economics to Engineering. My advisor who was a professor in the department helped me develop a plan to graduate on time while only taking two classes one summer. I went to school when there was no AP credit, 1978 - 1982.
We went to UMN Engineering Days and they talked about how they meet with every freshman in engineering weekly to make sure they are on track. It shows in the same site that the average program length is four years.
Sorry to say so much but I am passionate about support from advisors to help students stay on track and take the correct courses. Probably due to my experience.
The real questions are: How engaged are the advisors? Are the advisors professors or someone else? Do they sit down with the student before course selection each semester to review the plan?
I know a number of engineering students who are taking 5 years to graduate, but it’s because they are doing coops. They’re only taking 8 semesters of coursework, but they’re spending 2 semesters doing coops. The engineering students I know who are not doing coops have all graduated (or are on track to graduate) in 4 years.
With respect to advising, I can’t answer with respect to engineering because my daughter is in the business school. However, I will say that to date I am not impressed with the advising. My daughter usually just goes to the head of her department when she really needs advice, because she has found the advisors to not be particularly helpful. In the business school you don’t have an assigned advisor, you just make an appointment with someone from advising (hers has varied each semester) to get your schedule signed off on. The advisors are not professors. They may do a fine job with students on a typical track, but for a student like my daughter, who had a lot of outside credit and has a triple major, they weren’t that great.
FWIW, my daughter has never had trouble getting a class she needed. My understanding is that unavailability of classes is what is driving up graduation times at some large state schools; that has never been a problem at UA. With the priority registration afforded by being in the Honors College, she has usually gotten the time and professor she preferred as well.
Maybe the stats are skewed because it is in years and not semesters of course work? Do a lot of kids at Alabama do Co-ops?
Engineering co-ops at UA are HUGE! Hundreds of opportunities! Someone will chime in with detailed info…
I always got the sense that 5 years (as it shows in the ASEE survey) is just a rule of thumb, used by most of the colleges. It’s not based on the number of students taking co-ops or AP/CLEP’ing classes. It more based on how engineering requires that many classes have to be taken in consecutive order and on the rigor of the program (you drop a single class and it could delay graduation by up to a year).
Clearly UMN (Twin cities?) is an exception (in how the responded to the survey).
Really? I think that’s rather rare at a public university…
Edit: by the way, that same page in the profile list how many students grads are in co-ops (by major), and not every college responds to that question. Just because UMN shows no students taking Co-ops, doesn’t mean that’s the case, just that UMN didn’t supply the numbers. UA does supply the numbers (for example 22 in Civil Engineering were in a co-op program at UA)…
The average program length I asked about in the link above is probably provided by the university. If the students you know graduate in 4 years, there must be some that take six with a bunch at 5.
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The key to graduating on time is having a good advisor and course availability.
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ONE of the keys is “having a good advisor and course availability.”
That is not the only key. Kids who change majors, drop classes, don’t take a full loan, etc, also cause themselves to delay graduation.
Nowadays, there are online programs that act as “real time” advisors, altho real-life advisors also exist. The online program, DegreeWorks, allows a student (and parent) to see at any time if the student is “on track,” with his major, what he still needs to take, etc.
An eng’g discipline generally doesn’t have a whole lot of options. There is often a defined sequence that the students follow…no mysteries there. But, if a student drops a class, or won’t take a needed class because he/she doesn’t want a lab on a Friday afternoon, then he/she can cause himself to delay graduation.
We went to UMN Engineering Days and they talked about how they meet with every freshman in engineering weekly to make sure they are on track.
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I sincerely doubt that Uminn meets with each frosh eng’g student on a weekly basis. The schedule coordination and manpower would make this virtually impossible. Perhaps they mean that weekly the students get some kind of “report” on their school portal showing their grades.
I just looked over UMinn’s Engineering website and its Freshmen Experience pages and FAQ. Perhaps what you heard was a reference to the “once a week” freshman Eng’g class that all eng’g students take which also concerns itself with the academic success of its frosh eng’g students.
Here’s a list of the co-op students during the summer term that UA recently published, as well as the companies they are working at. This would be about half of the total number of co-op students at UA because another group will be co-oping in the fall while these students are in courses.
Personally I haven’t been impressed with the advising. Due to turnover, my son has had 3 different advisors in his three years on campus. But there is a great application called DegreeWorks that students have access to that will show their requirements and when they are completed. Due to the availability of courses and the priority registration that is a perk of being an honors student, the advising has not prevented my son from staying on-track to complete his degree in 8 semesters.
My son is currently a freshman at UA. The Degree Works is very helpful in determining the courses you need OR might need if you take minors, etc. DS did not have any advising before attending. He didn’t feel he needed it, as the tract for his program is quite clear.
The previous posters are correct. UA is extremely generous w/ AP, CLEP, etc. DS was able to eliminate several course requirements already. He will be doing work study, so he can keep his course load manageable while spending time on other things. I fully expect him to be able to finish in 4, yet I plan on talking to him about co-ops in the future.
Right now he is adjusting, so don’t want to hit him w/ that just yet. 
He did have some difficulty scheduling some classes, however, he also didn’t want an 8 am class & 7 pm class on the same day. He did manage to get classes he needed, at times he really likes. He also has some good times available to fit in a work study job. The teachers may not be rated as highly as some, but he had some really bad teachers in HS and did well, so I’m not too worried about it.
I think there are some incredible opportunities at UA, but like everything else in life, it isn’t perfect.
That is an impressive list of Co-op companies. I am very familiar with a lot of them thru my years of working PD and Mfg in the vehicle, on-road and off-road, manufacturing industries.
Not sure why a student would need to meet once a week with an advisor, once a semester certainly. I have told my DS, his greatest advocate is himself. He needs to stay up to date with changes in curriculum and adjust schedule accordingly. The reason that is important, specifically for this years freshman ChemE class, is the change in requirement that ALL students take ENGR 103 regardless of math placement. That was not the case in past years.
Maintaining proper course load is also his responsibility. Staying in sequence…his responsibility. If he has questions or is unsure about something then ABSOLUTELY contact an advisor.
This will certainly be a experience for growth and maturation. RTR!!
Alabama has a “Finish in Four” plan. If this link doesn’t come through, just google UA Finish in Four. http://www.ua.edu/majors/
My DS is a Mech Eng major and has worked out his future classes through DegreeWorks (UA’s online planner). He has it planned out to finish in 7 semesters. He plans to co-op, so that would have him finish in 4.5 years. Students need to be familiar with their major’s flow chart (for example - http://me.eng.ua.edu/files/2014/05/BSME-Curriculum-Flowchart-Fall-2014.pdf ) and advocate for themselves. Advisors have three options when it comes to signing up for the next semester’s classes - extended visits, brief visits and email. I know my son, and I know he’ll just email the advisor for approval. He knows what he wants and just needs someone to sign off.
Another important thing to get the classes you want is to be in Honors College. Honors students have priority over all other students. So a freshman signing up for Spring semester will sign up for classes before a senior (non-honors).
I don’t think an Advisor is necessary at UA because the Engineering department has done an outstanding job publishing flow charts that set out all 8 semesters. Here is the Mechanical Engineering chart: http://me.eng.ua.edu/files/2014/05/BSME-Curriculum-Flowchart-Fall-2014.pdf. There is a chart for each discipline. The Engineering department also links the charts to DegreeWorks which is a program students should use to plan all semesters. It does a very good job of showing what is completed and what is needed still.
Aerospace is more challenging to graduate in 8 semesters because many courses are only offered in fall or in spring and are pre-reqs. This means if you drop a class or perform below a C, you can’t just pick it up next semester.
My son changed from one engineering major to another after 4 semesters. I entered UA with AP credits. He should have no issue graduating within 8 semesters and have a few minors. He hopes to do a Co-op before his 7th semester, so he will likely take 5 years, but still, as others stated, 8 semesters.
@longhaul The flow chart is very nice. I wish ISU had that in my day. Can I access it for Chem E or do you have to be a student? Chem E site shows a class required the summer after Junior year. I feel this could be a problem if my DS or DD want to do an internship/REU between junior and senior years.
@beadymom Thanks for your thoughts and the Finish in Four site.
BTW, to all, the more I see about UA engineering the more impressive they become. It seems like they are very highly organized and document processes/expectations. Coming from by PD and Mfg background in vehicles, this detail is appreciated!
@CyclonesGrad, I just searched for a flowchart for ChemE. It looks like it’s under revision. http://che.eng.ua.edu/undergraduate/chemical-engineering/
Your comment about your background in vehicles…that is what DS is interested in. He had narrowed down his search to UMich, Kettering and UA. The fact that Alabama has several automotive factories nearby, helped in DS’ decision. Here is a recent article. http://yellowhammernews.com/business-2/mercedes-supplier-to-open-150-million-alabama-facility-create-650-jobs/
@beadymom Kettering used to be the old GM Institute. We have a couple of engineers from Kettering here at Navistar (truck/tractor maker) and had engineers from KSU, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, UIUC, ISU when I worked at Case - New Holland (Ag/CE equipment) for 12 years.
Michigan and Kettering are auto schools because of proximity. Is he only interested in cars? If he is wiling to look at other vehicles then he could look at the following: Trucks - Navistar, Paccar, Freightliner (Daimler), Ag - Deere, Case - New Holland (CNH), Agco, CE - Caterpillar, CNH, Deere,
I will say that designing vehicles; cars, trucks, Ag, CE, is very interesting. If he can get an internship/co-op in manufacturing engineering in an assembly plant, that would be very good. That will help a lot when he becomes a designer and make him a more desirable candidate.
The class listed during the summer has also been split into a fall and spring semester class, so summer is not necessary.