ABET

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.
Established	May 10, 1932; 92 years ago
Headquarters	Baltimore, Maryland, US
Website	www.abet.org

ABET, also known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., is a non-governmental accreditation organization for post-secondary programs in engineering, engineering technology, computing, and applied and natural sciences.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

As of October 2023,^[update] ABET had accredited 4,674 programs across 920 organizations in 42 countries.^[1] ABET also accredits online educational programs.^[5]

History

In 1932, ABET was established as the American Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD). The organization evaluated its first engineering program in 1936, and by 1947, 580 programs had been accredited across 133 institutions.^[6]

In 1980, the ECPD changed its name to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. In 1985, the organization helped establish the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB), one of ABET's largest member societies with over 300 programs.^[2]^[6]

Accreditation process

The request for ABET accreditation is initiated by the institution seeking accreditation. Accreditation is given to individual programs rather than to the institution as a whole. Re-evaluation is required every six years. Programs with no previous accreditation can request accreditation if they have produced at least one program graduate.^[7]

Each program is assigned to one of four accreditation commissions within ABET based on the title. Each commission has different accreditation criteria:^[8]

Applied and Natural Science Accreditation Commission (ANSAC)
Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC)
Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC)
Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (ETAC)

Programs conduct an internal evaluation and complete a self-study report documenting how well the program is meeting established accreditation criteria.^[7]^[8]

The appropriate ABET commission appoints a team chair to lead the on-campus evaluation visit. The team chair and program evaluators (typically one per program requesting accreditation) are made up of volunteers from academia, government, industry, and private practice. During the visit to the institution, the evaluation team reviews program course materials and interacts with students and faculty, culminating in an exit interview with the dean. Following the team's visit, the institution is given 7 days to address any topics communicated during the exit interview. ABET provides an evaluation statement to the institution, who is given 30 more days to respond to any additional issues.^[7]^[8]

Criteria

ABET specifies the minimum curriculum requirements for various engineering programs, including a capstone project and a design class. Because of the organization's involvement, engineering curricula are somewhat standardized across the bachelor's level.^[9]

Members

ABET is a federation of the following professional and technical member societies representing the fields of applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology:^[10]^[11]

American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES)
American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
American Nuclear Society (ANS)
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (ASHRAE)
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP)
American Welding Society (AWS)
Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI)
Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
Construction Management Association of America (CMAA)
Computing Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE)
International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE)
International Society of Automation (ISA)
Materials Research Society (MRS)
National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES)
National Institute of Ceramic Engineers (NICE) of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS)
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS)
SAE International
Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)
Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME)
Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME)
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS)
Women in Engineering Proactive Network (WEPAN)

EC 2000

For most of its history, ABET's accreditation criteria specifically outlined the major elements that accredited engineering programs must have, including the program curricula, the faculty type and the facilities. However, in the mid-1990s, the engineering community began to question the appropriateness of such rigid accreditation requirements.^[12]

After intense discussion, in 1997, ABET adopted Engineering Criteria 2000 (EC2000).^[12] The EC2000 criteria shifted the focus away from the inputs (what material is taught) and to the outputs (what students learned). EC2000 stresses continuous improvement and accounts for specific missions and goals of the individual institutions and programs.^[12] The intention of this approach was to enable innovation in engineering programs rather than forcing all programs to conform to a standard, as well as to encourage new assessment processes and program improvements.

ISO 9000:2015

ABET Accreditation is certified by the International Organization for Standardization. ISO 9000 family of quality management systems standards is designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while meeting statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service.^[13]

Licensing and credentialing

To become a licensed professional engineer, one common prerequisite is graduation from an Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET-accredited program. Requirements for professional engineer testing for EAC accredited programs vary from state to state.

The Engineering Credential Evaluation International (ECEI) was established in 1997 as the credential evaluation service of ABET. ECEI specialized in the evaluation of degrees in engineering, engineering technology, computer science and surveying from outside the U.S. As of 30 October 2006,^[update] ECEI stopped accepting applications for credentials evaluation; a business decision made by the ABET board of directors.^[14]

References

^ ^a ^b "About ABET". ABET. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "ABET Constitution". ABET. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012.
^ Slotkin, Art (2010). "A Centennial of Auburn Engineering: From Red Clay to Red Satellite". Auburn Engineering. 19 (2). Auburn University: 20–27. Retrieved January 8, 2012. (p.24) ...what we know today as ABET, the accrediting body for college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and technology.
^ Bucciarelli, Louis L.; Coyle, Eugene; McGrath, Denis (2009). "Chapter 5: Engineering Education in the US and the EU". In Christensen, Steen Hyldgaard; Delahousse, Bernard; Meganck, Martin (eds.). Engineering in context. Academica. p. 123. ISBN 978-87-7675-700-7. Retrieved January 8, 2012. See section "Accreditation – ABET".
^ "ABET Online Accreditation". Archived from the original on April 24, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "History". ABET. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Basics of Accreditation". ABET. Archived from the original on February 20, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c Information for Programs Seeking Initial Accreditation: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Archived April 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Accreditation criteria". ABET. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012.
^ About Member Societies
^ "List of Member Societies". Archived from the original on September 22, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Engineering Change: Archived March 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine A study of the impact of EC2000 (executive summary)
^ Poksinska, Bozena; Jörn Dahlgaard, Jens; Antoni, Marc (October 2002). "The state of ISO 9000 certification: a study of Swedish organizations". The TQM Magazine. 14 (5): 297–306. doi:10.1108/09544780210439734. ISSN 0954-478X.
^ ECEI FAQ