Online Electrical Engineering Degree?

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A little background, I'm 3 physics classes away from getting my pre-engineering at a community college in the US. I can't keep up the pace after this quarter because I'll have a full time job.

My question: Is an ABET accreditation an absolute for an electrical engineer? I can finish my schooling at a place like APUS which is affordable and likely to cater to my schedule somewhat. But if I want the ABET accreditation, I have to pay a lot more per class and if I can't keep up with the pace, I'll be out more money.

Are there any Electrical Engineers who learned online? What should I do?

Idk.
I hope someone can help you.

Thanks man, almost got shuffled into the next page.

Yea, there's a huge thing about regional accreditation among schools and how they accept your credits. Apparently, regionally accredited schools will take credits from other regionally accredited schools, and even from other regions. Nationally accredited does not transfer nearly as well (or at all in most cases).

For electrical engineers, there's a certification called ABET, and any program that isn't ABET-certified won't allow you to become a licensed electrical engineer, even with a regionally accredited school.

APUS is one such school that is regionally accredited, but not ABET certified. The courses are affordable (≈ $300 per credit), and classes start monthly.

My question was whether their pre-engineering credits would transfer to an ABET school. Its kind of a niche question for any forum.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/eng ... ition.html

It looks extremely important, I know there are some states where you legally cannot use the term engineer without some specific certification.

That said I also work in a community college and you should have a transfer program with people you can talk to about this, if not the registration department would be a good resource, probably your best resource though is one of your second year engineering instructors at cc.

Online education is tricky, I doubt you'd find one certified, they tend to be better at technical training which is of course not held in as high esteem. You can't get your phd online, you generally can't get a BA or BS in a lot of fields like math, physics, chemistry, philosophy, physical education, art etc. Also, online education can be phenomenally expensive even compared to state or city university's online programs. If you've already got a job I might consider that too. Is it a good job? Would they accept an APUS degree as means for advancement? Can you trust them to be honest with you about that? Do they have engineers without ABET certification?

Tough decision, good luck!

Well, it looks like as long as I take differ and physics, they'll transfer without any issues. That's what the admissions office said anyway. Since I'm such a slow learner, its just as good that I take these courses one by one. Thanks for the replies.

You have to go to an ABET-accredited school. You don't have much chance of getting a good job if you don't - it's basically a validation of the degree and ensures that you have a certain amount of knowledge and capability when you graduate.

Doesn't an electrical engineering degree include laboratory coursework? There's no way to complete that online.

Electrical and computer engineering has very much lab work, which you cannot do at home. I took the pre-engineering course online, but that's just math and physics.

Many colleges and universities will allow you to take an electrical engineering course part-time. If you decide to take something online, make sure it's via a respected university or college -- or a place that is recommended by or owned by a respected university or college.