Today’s engineers are highly educated and qualified professionals who play an important role in shaping our society. Engineers design roads and bridges, create systems that ensure safe drinking water, design medical instruments that can save lives, build systems to contain hazardous wastes, and conceive and design technologies to revolutionize our communications and information systems. In many cases, engineers plan, design, and supervise such projects from conception to completion.

Engineering study is one of the most challenging academic programs offered by U.S. colleges and universities. It is also one of the most popular majors among international students in the United States—about 15 percent of these students choose engineering and engineering technology majors each year. And why not? Engineering careers offer challenging and rewarding work, ample opportunities for advancement, good pay and benefits, and status within society. And while some engineering specialties, such as environmental engineering, are growing faster than others, those individuals who successfully complete an engineering degree program in the United States will find themselves well-qualified for many positions in industry, research, management, and academia.

Students interested in pursuing postsecondary engineering education should begin preparing for the rigors of university study as early as possible—some university engineering faculty recommend that students begin preparing for an engineering career as early as their first year of high school.

While in high school, students should take courses in algebra (two years), physics (one year), geometry (one year), chemistry (one year), trigonometry (one semester), and English (four years). Other recommended courses include history, foreign languages, humanities, biology, calculus, and computer programming. Honors courses, especially in mathematics and science, are also highly recommended.

A wide variety of options are available to students wishing to pursue undergraduate education in the engineering fields. In addition to two-year engineering technician programs and two-, four-year, and graduate engineering technology programs (all of which focus on practical field support rather than theory and which generally will not transfer credit to engineering degrees), U.S. institutions offer two-year associate degrees in engineering; four- and five-year bachelor’s degree programs, including 3-2 and dual-degree programs; and five- or six-year combined bachelor’s and master’s programs (awarding a graduate degree in engineering, business, public policy, or other area along with the undergraduate engineering degree).

U.S. community and technical colleges offer two-year engineering, engineering technology, and engineering technician programs that lead to the Associate of Science (A.S.) or the Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree. The A.A.S. degree generally does not transfer on to further study but is designed to prepare graduates for immediate entry to the workforce. Many community college Associate of Arts (A.A.) or Associate of Science (A.S.) engineering degree programs, however, offer a core curriculum of general science and liberal arts courses equivalent to the first two years of a four-year engineering degree program and are intended to transfer on to bachelor’s degree programs.

A number of interesting study options exist at the bachelor’s degree level. Three-two engineering programs, for example, involve five years of study—three years of liberal arts or science courses followed by two years of engineering study. Students who complete a 3-2 program receive two degrees: one in liberal arts and one in engineering. Students may complete the programs at the same institution or at two different institutions (one strong in liberal arts and one in engineering) that have a 3-2 agreement. Other engineering schools offer five-year cooperative education programs, whereby students alternate engineering course work with full-time employment in an engineering-related job. Cooperative education programs enable students to gain valuable work experience while still in school.

The curriculum of four- and five-year engineering programs varies from institution to institution depending on the engineering specialty and the type of program offered. Most engineering baccalaureate programs, however, include course work in calculus, applied mathematics, physics, computer programming, thermodynamics, and chemistry as well as specialized courses within the field of choice. In addition to engineering courses, students must fulfill requirements in the social sciences, communications, humanities, and basic sciences. By the third year of study, students usually complete most of the required courses and can then focus on engineering specialty courses.

Engineering degree programs may receive professional accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). ABET’s accreditation system may be confusing to those unfamiliar with it. ABET accredits only first professional degree engineering programs (intended for individuals preparing to enter the engineering profession). These are the bachelor’s degree level programs at most universities, but sometimes (as noted above) are also offered at the master’s degree level. Most graduate degree programs are not eligible to be professionally accredited because their instruction is at an advanced level. ABET lists professionally accredited engineering programs as well as engineering technology programs on their Web site at http://www.abet.org.