<p>I'm thinking about majoring in environmental engineering at Yale. However, I just realized that their environmental engineering major is not ABET accredited. Their other engineering programs (chemical, mechanical, and electrical) are ABET accredited.</p>
<p>Is the lack of ABET for environmental engineering a problem? I would like good career options after graduation.</p>
<p>If Professional Engineer licensing is an issue, then ABET accreditation of your degree program is very useful.</p>
<p>It is a problem, but ABET accreditation changes over time, theres a chance the program will become accredited by the time you graduate. And you’ll also be able to tell your future employers you came from yale…thats always a plus…</p>
<p>PE licensure is important in this field. Whether ABET is necessary for eventual licensure depends on the state, I believe.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No one in the engineering world will care.</p>
<p>“No one in the engineering world will care.”</p>
<p>That was mostly a joke 
but I’m sure someone would care</p>
<p>It is mostly likely a newer program. Allot of schools are splitting environmental from civil. It will most likely become accredited in a year or so. You can email a professor and ask. If you find out it will not be accredited do not do it. PE license is very important for civil/environmental engineers and in most states you must have a degree from an ABET program to get it.</p>
<p>
It is a potential issue, because:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Environmental engineers (like civil engineers) are commonly expected to hold state Professional Engineer (PE) licenses, and</p></li>
<li><p>State licensing boards commonly prefer (and sometimes demand) ABET accredited degrees.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>It’s hard to generalize, because the exact rules vary widely from state to state, and are subject to change from year to year. I suspect that most US states would accept a non-ABET Yale engineering degree for PE licensure; however, most states would probably require some additional years of experience relative to ABET degree holders. So in most cases, the non-ABET degree would not necessarily bar you from licensure, but it would likely delay it.</p>
<p>It would be worthwhile to ask the Dept. if they are pursuing ABET accreditation. It would also be worthwhile to check the policies of the engineering board in the specific state you would like to practice in. In some states, a non-ABET degree may be a greater handicap than in others.</p>
<hr>
<p>ABET engineering students commonly take the NCEES FE exam (= the “Fundamentals of Engineering”, “Engineer in Training”, or “EIT” exam) during their senior year. So they often hold both a degree and a state “Engineer in Training” certificate when they go on the job market after graduation.</p>
<p>In contrast, many states (including Connecticut) do [url=<a href=“http://www.ncees.org/Licensing_boards.php?boardID=1006&show=examRequirements]not[/url”>http://www.ncees.org/Licensing_boards.php?boardID=1006&show=examRequirements]not[/url</a>] allow non-ABET engineering students to take the FE exam prior to graduation. So graduates of the Yale EnvE program will not have the professional certificate at graduation, unless they can arrange to take the FE exam in some other state with looser requirements (e.g. New Hampshire). Again, the non-ABET degree doesn’t necessarily bar you from taking the FE exam, but it may well delay it, depending on the state.</p>
<p>There are areas of work in environmental engineering that do not need a PE and in a lot of cases, a firm with a 100 engineers uses just one or two PEs to stamp the documents. I know someone in Texas who worked for several consulting firms over a 16 year period since obtaining a master’s without a P.E. license.</p>
<p>Okay, it sounds like lack of an ABET engineering degree would probably lead to delays and complications. I’d like to avoid that, after spending four years studying engineering at Yale…</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I’ll rethink my options.</p>
<p>You could still study engineering at Yale in an ABET accredited program in chemical, electrical, or mechanical engineering. Note that Yale appears to have environmental engineering under chemical engineering, unlike many others which have it under civil engineering (Yale does not have civil engineering).</p>
<p>As suggested above, you should check to see if the dept. is pursuing ABET accreditation for the EnvE program. The process takes a few years, but if it is underway then it could be in place by the time you graduate.</p>
<p>ChemE at my school has an environmental concentration, so if for some reason your program wont be ABET accredited by the time you graduate, you could probably major in chemical engineering with an environmental emphasis.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I emailed Yale, and the department head responded that environmental engineering will probably not become ABET-accredited by the time I graduate.</p>
<p>I’m thinking about majoring in chemical engineering instead, because it’s ABET-accredited.</p>
<p>Sorry for breaking this thread but I have a question.</p>
<p>If you join a program before it is ABET accredited but graduate after it is ABET accredited, does that mean you have graduated from an ABET accredited program? Or would you have had to have began your academic career within the program after it was accredited in order for you to be considered as if you had graduated from an ABET accredited program. I fell into this type of situation. I graduated a year after my program was ABET accredited.</p>