I am keeping Berea College as one of my safeties (international needing full-ride aid. Beggars can’t be choosers after all).
I found out that Berea college is not ABET accredited but SACS accredited. I have heard that ABET accreditation is important for jobs and going for further studies.
Will my career opportunities be limited if I study CS from a SACS accredited college? Will I have problems getting jobs/going for MS/Ph.D.?
Also, if you know about the CS program at Berea College, please give some insights. There is little to no information about the CS department on the college’s website.
For a college of this size, they do seem to have a respectable number of faculty in CS. Not sure where you were looking, but I was able to see enough information by clicking on their menu in their main web page.
https://www.berea.edu/csc/
Here are facts about the college itself and its mission. It may help you to read through this so you can have a better understanding of the college.
https://www.berea.edu/about/quick-facts/
in general, international students will need to be sponsored to work in the United States, regardless of where you attend college. Not all companies are eager to sponsor students when they can find students who are US citizens or permanent residents. You can apply for OPT training without employer sponsorship, I believe, but that is time limited.
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Thank you! I was wondering if the college being SACS accredited will be a problem? (instead of the typical ABET one)
These are entirely two different types of accreditation: SACS is accreditation for the whole college, not a specific program. Colleges and universities in the US are accredited by regional bodies, and SACS is the accrediting body for Kentucky.
ABET accreditation is specifically for engineering and cs programs. Many smaller programs may not have the resources to pursue ABET accreditation. I cannot say for certain whether it would be problematic or not. Maybe someone who hires in CS sees this post and can comment.
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Alright. Thank you for responding.
Have a great day ahead!
ABET accreditation ensures that a curriculum meets the standard set by that body. Basically it means that the classes you take will be thorough. It takes money to get the accreditation though, so some smaller schools may opt not to pursue accreditation. Other schools may only seek ABET accreditation in disciplines where the ABET “seal of approval” is sought after by employers. In general, private sector CS employers do not require ABET accreditation.
So, take a look at the CS curriculum. Is it broad enough? If unsure compare it to an ABET certified school or to other leading CS schools that aren’t ABET accredited.
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Berea’s CS major is described here: Berea College - Berea College
It may be worth finding out how often each upper level CS course is offered.
ABET accreditation for CS is not specifically needed except for a few things like the patent exam. There are plenty of good* CS major programs without ABET accreditation (though there are also low quality ones where the CS courses would not meet ABET minimum standards for technical depth). One thing that ABET accredited CS major programs must have is some non-CS science, which is probably why many CS major programs do not seek or have ABET accreditation.
*Including at 3 of the “top 4” for CS schools.
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Berea is a very selective, highly reputable college, and ABET accreditation is needed for Engineering not for CS. In addition, with 10% students being international, their services must be well versed in processing OPT.
So, all around a good choice for you.
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Thank you @MYOS1634 @Rivet2000 @ucbalumnus @DramaMama2021
I checked out the curriculum and it looks good enough. It’s actually very comparable with other colleges. I searched job employment notices for CS undergrads and found out that almost every employer accepts a CS degree that is SACS accredited.
Also, I did a bit of digging and it seems like their CS grads are doing okay in terms of getting employment (Although I couldn’t find someone continuing further studies [Masters or Ph.D.] so maybe their grad school prep isn’t the best).
Nonetheless, it is a good enough option as a safety.
Thank you for responding!