I know a lot of you may be biased and not like online universities. I would prefer a traditional university as well. Due to certain life choices, I can not go the traditional route. Although my life choices have still led me to a great job… so pick your poison I guess. I’m in the Marine Corps and I work as an Avionics engineering tech repairing helicopters and the components for them. When I have to leave service, I would like to work as an engineer. Given my experience both in Avionics and in the military, I’m already pretty well set up for job opportunities when I have to get out. Though, I want the degree too, not just the experience. With raising a family, and all of the responsibilities at work I don’t have much free time…even for night classes at a traditional college. Excelsior’s EET program is ABET accredited and I have heard mixed stories about EET degrees. I have heard that you can be an engineer with EET’s and I have heard that you can’t and it only prepares you to be a tech…which I’m already a tech and can get a tech job with out the degree. American Public has a good engineering program, though as of right now they are not ABET accredited. I have emailed the program director (PHD EE) and he said that they have designed the program to meet ABET requirements, but can not obtain the accreditation until some one graduates. He said this is so, because it is a new program. The first student won’t graduate until 2016 - 2017 and then they will have ABET. Though, my mode of thinking is, shouldn’t the program be accredited before anyone starts it? That makes sense right? I’m thinking about doing the American Public EE program, but the no ABET thing scares me.
Not sure it is possible for a program to be accredited before it starts.
" I’m already a tech and can get a tech job with out the degree." - That is a path to consider if you like the work.
Techs get paid overtime and I think at some companies could have the potential to make more than salaried engineers (who often work a lot of “free overtime”) .
Okay, first thing - thank you for your service! “Because I was in the military” goes a long way with employers and coworkers, and so does being in a technician’s job when you are trying to get into engineering!
I think most people value brick-and-mortar over online, especially for something like engineering, but online is still a heck of a lot better than nothing! If online is honestly the best you can do, then go for it without regrets.
It’s a bit of a grey area - there are many different types of engineering jobs, and EET programs prepare you well for a certain set of jobs and not so well for a different set of jobs. The kind of positions you are most likely to be offered are in field engineering (especially with your experience) and in integration and test. These are not generally the best paying of all engineering jobs but they are still excellent positions are not just “being a tech”. However, it should be noted that being an advanced tech is a common fallback for EET’s and it is not uncommon to see them in that role. Regardless, having the degree will get you a better job than not having the degree.
They are kind of in limbo right now. Accreditation is not instantaneous, and if they are in process most employers will accept that as sufficient. What you want to avoid are established programs that still are not accredited! And also realize that if at some point the program is accredited, then employers will give you credit for that.
Check out this page:
http://www.abet.org/eligibility-requirements/
It confirms that a program MUST have a graduate prior to beginning the 18-month accreditation process.
I will give one warning on this - knowing nothing about this school in particular, I am eternally wary of for-profit universities. They do not (overall) have a good track record nor a good academic reputation. I might consider an online EET program from a non-profit school if you can find one.
University of North Dakota has online distance education engineering degree programs that are ABET accredited:
http://und.edu/academics/extended-learning/online-distance/degrees/electrical-engineering/
http://und.edu/academics/extended-learning/online-distance/degrees/electrical-engineering/accreditation.cfm
Labs may require 5 to 14 day visits to the campus to complete, though.
Cost is not cheap, but check whether veterans’ benefits may be applied:
http://und.edu/academics/extended-learning/online-distance/degrees/electrical-engineering/tuition.cfm
Arizona State University has also been aggressively building an online presence and has an EE degree online. You might want to look into whether it has prospects of becoming ABET accredited. Again, it is pricey but might be worth it.