NCE ABET Accreditation
Accreditation of engineering programs ensures that the programs produce graduates who are prepared to meet the expectations of employers, the public or pursue further study in engineering or other fields.
Computing, Engineering, Applied and Natural Science, and Engineering Technology programs are accredited by ABET, www.abet.org, and ABET in conjunction with the various professional societies develop the criteria for accrediting the programs.
The New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark College of Engineering, Civil, Electrical and Mechanical engineering programs were initially accredited in 1936, at the same time as were programs at many well-known public institutions such as Iowa State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia Tech, as well as private institutions such as Caltech, MIT, and Stanford.
Currently, the Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Industrial, and Mechanical Engineering undergraduate programs are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET (www.abet.org); the Construction Option, Electrical and Computer Option, Mechanical Option, Surveying Option in the School of Applied Engineering and Technology undergraduate programs are accredited by the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET.
One component of the accreditation criteria requires each program pursuing accreditation to formulate Program Educational Objectives in consultation with their program-defined constituents. ABET defines Program Educational Objectives as “broad statements that describe what graduates are expected to attain within a few years after graduation.”
Another component of ABET accreditation requires programs specify Student Outcomes, which “describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation. These relate to skills, knowledge, and behaviors that students acquire as they progress through the program.”
ABET is committed to Continuous Improvement and all programs must assess and evaluate the extent to which their Student Outcomes are being attained and use the results of these evaluations for the continuous improvement of the program.
ABET requires that each program make available to the public certain information, namely their Program Educational Objectives, their Student Outcomes, their accreditation status and data on their student enrollments and degrees granted. This information for the accredited programs offered by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark College of Engineering are published at the following locations:
EAC
ETAC