What are typical career options for those with a general engineering major? Do most programs have students do a concentration within the general engineering major (i.e. mechanical vs. electrical)? Do these students usually need to go to grad school in a more specific engineering discipline? Or are these programs viewed favorably enough for students to get jobs as engineers directly out of college?
Basically, I don’t know much about the general engineering major and would love to learn more.
I’m going to preface my answer by saying that I honestly don’t know much about general engineering. It wasn’t on my D’s radar so it wasn’t an area that I heavily researched.
My gut feeling though is that it probably depends on how the four year plan of study is structured and the student’s career aspirations.
I just went ahead and did some random searching at some different schools. First off, it was hard to find a detailed plan of study at some schools (which in itself would be a red flag to me). Others seemed to require students pick a concentration within general engineering. The one I picked to look at was general engineering with a mechanical concentration and the plan of study is very close to what a pure mech e would take, but at a school without the mech e accreditation. Another red flag for me.
I think students wanting a more broad based engineering degree would be more employable with an Industrial Engineering over a general engineering degree.
It seems that it’s LACs or smaller schools that have these general engineering programs. I would tell students considering this major to do a deep dive on what the design courses look like at these schools, the facilities, the labs, and the research happening on campus because that’s a big part of the engineering undergraduate experience as well. And of course, the first destination survey with where these graduates are going to work and the salary data.
My H has worked in various industries over 30 years now and has hired hundred of engineers over the years. He won’t hire from a school that doesn’t have their full accreditation from ABET and he’s never hired someone with a general engineering degree (I just asked ; )).
Taking full advantage of a general engineering program requires more money, time, and planning than a typical large university engineering degree requires.
A general engineering degree alone is not sufficient in the market for engineers, so your plan has to be to obtain a graduate engineering degree as well. The general engineering bachelor’s degree + master’s degree will therefore take more time and money than, say, a traditional BSME degree would.
You need to also have fully planned out the course sequences for your intended specialty engineering area at both the undergraduate and graduate level before ever setting foot into an undergraduate general engineering program. The information is all out there, but few do this level of planning. Yes, you will have to do this on a proxy basis at the graduate level, but still the information is all public. You need to understand which pathways from the general engineering program to a graduate engineering program will be viable, and which will not. A typical general engineering program at a liberal arts school is about 3/4 of a BSME program. Jumping from a typical liberal arts general engineering degree into a graduate mechanical engineering degree program will usually be the easiest transition, but there will be gaps. Your planning process should have identified those gaps. Also, few liberal arts general engineering programs will provide the requisite depth in undergraduate electrical or computer engineering to make a smooth transition into graduate programs in those areas.
So, why bother? Because your plan is to also acquire something in the liberal arts part of the undergraduate program that is especially valuable to you. Perhaps your plan is to live and work in a foreign country and you need to acquire the language skills for that country. For example, you will need three solid years of diligent academic study and some study abroad to pick up passable skills in an Asian language. You could do that at some liberal arts general engineering programs.
If you choose your liberal arts general engineering program well, the teaching is also likely to be vastly superior to what you would get at a traditional large university engineering program.
It is a trade-off that favors those who understand where they want to go.
Depends on what the college offers within a general engineering degree (i.e. what areas of engineering does it offer courses in?), and what the student wants to do. Colleges with only general engineering (usually smaller ones) vary in what areas of engineering they offer good selections of courses in.
My DH majored in General Engineering a LONG time ago at UIUC - I don’t think they offer it anymore. He felt it was sort of a cross between mechanical and industrial. He minored in marketing and later got his MBA. I think his plan was to going into a business career but in a technical field. Worked out as he planned.
Harvey Mudd College has a general engineering degree since its founding in 1955, in keeping with the school’s mission and liberal arts approach to STEM education. The general engineering program at HMC has been quite successful, and the school has not felt the need to offer more specialized degrees.
The curriculum has three basic components, engineering science, systems, and design and professional practice. The course work supports these components, and the plan and sequence of classes is described in depth. The student can specialize in various engineering areas through their junior and senior electives, though their degree will be general engineering. Most students do not plan on going to graduate school for a specialized MS degree.
Part of the professional practice component is the senior capstone called Clinic at HMC. Clinic was developed at HMC in the 1960s to bring real-world engineering projects to the students. Outside companies sponsor a team of students work on a selected project. The students meet regularly with the sponsor and their faculty member to define the project, develop an approach and timeline to accomplish their goals, and carry out the project. This culminates at the end of the year when all of the clinic teams present results of their work to their sponsor and to the school community. This has been tremendously successful program that has been adopted by many engineering schools.