Does ABET Accredidation Really Matter in a Computer Science Program?

Hello everyone, I am currently a high school student who is thinking of pursuing a major in computer science in college. I have been reading on the College Board website on computer science, and they say you have an advantage if the program is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. But I was looking through there website and a lot of great schools in computer science aren’t accredited by them. Stanford University for instance, which I would think has one of the best computer science programs in the nation. My dream school is Williams College, because I want the liberal arts school experience, but they aren’t accredited by them either. So my question is, does ABET accreditation really matter to employers and grad school admissions? Thanks!

Accreditation doesn’t matter for CS, but it will for engineering - make sure that if you think there’s any chance you go into that, that your schools both offer engineering at all and that they are accredited.

A lot of the accreditation difference in CS are science and engineering classes that don’t really affect what you do on the job 95% of the time - a lot of schools offer a BS that is accredited and a BA that isn’t, and no one who hires you will know the difference.

There’s always the few small exceptions, but in general, you should be just fine.

More importantly, if you want the liberal art experience but also want CS, looking at how extensive the program is will be much more important. Check out this thread from ucbalumnus who has put together a ton of great info on that.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/math-computer-science-majors/1814245-computer-science-at-some-smaller-schools-including-liberal-arts-colleges-p1.html

ABET accreditation per se is not an issue in CS. It can be relevant if you want to later take the patent exam (either an ABET accredited CS degree, or a CS degree with specified course work, including some non-CS science course work, is listed as a prerequisite).

ABET accreditation does ensure a minimum level of quality, but good CS major degree programs exist that are not ABET accredited (e.g. Stanford, CMU, Berkeley L&S CS). For the latter, check that a good selection of CS courses are offered, and that they are appropriately technical in nature (as opposed to being less technical IT-type courses; note that ABET does accreditation for IT majors with different criteria).

ABET accreditation does require some non-CS science course work. Math and non-CS science combined must be a minimum of one quarter of the usual total amount of credit for a degree, while CS course work must be a minimum of one third of the usual total amount of credit for a degree. General education requirements must also be included. ABET accreditation criteria are listed at http://www.abet.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/C001-15-16-CAC-Criteria-03-10-15.pdf .