ABET, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, requires all U.S. first professional engineering programs to show that their students can "work professionally in both thermal and mechanical systems areas.”

Although graduation requirements vary, mechanical engineering programs generally cover:

• statics and dynamics
• strength of materials and solid mechanics
• instrumentation and measurement
• thermodynamics, heat transfer, energy conversion, and HVAC
• fluid mechanics and fluid dynamics
• mechanism design (including kinematics and dynamics)
• manufacturing technology/processes
• hydraulics and pneumatics
• engineering design
• macaronis and control theory
• drafting, Computer Aided Design (CAD), and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM)

Most mechanical engineering programs include several semesters of calculus, as well as coverage of concepts including differential and partial differential equations, linear and modern algebra, and differential geometry, among other areas.

In addition to the core mechanical engineering curriculum, many mechanical engineering programs offer more specialized programs and classes, like robotics, transport and logistics, cryogenics, fuel technology, automotive engineering, biomechanics, vibration,  optics, and more. Mechanical engineering students take hands-on laboratory classes to aid their learning. Typically they also complete research or community projects to gain practical problem-solving experience. Mechanical engineering students also generally have an internship during their program.
 
To conduct a search for universities with professionally accredited mechanical engineering programs use the following link: http://www.abet.org/accrediteac.asp   ABET accredits only the first professional degree but their accreditation is a good sign for the quality of higher-level programs as well.

For more information on mechanical engineering in general, provided in Persian, see http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/مهندسی_مکانیک