 | This article may incorporate text from a large language model .(July 2025) |
Engineering education in the United States is primarily taught at public and private universities offering degrees in civil, electrical, mechanical, chemical, and a variety of other engineering branches. [1]
Engineering education in the U.S. began in 1802 with the Military Peace Establishment Act that directed for the creation of the Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Military Academy to be set up and run their engineering program in West Point, New York. Civilian engineering programs followed at institutions such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in New York in 1824, [2] and MIT (founded 1861). [3] The Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862 founded the State university systems.
Solid transcripts especially in math and science, Advanced Placement exams, ACT / SAT test scores help in the admissions process, and also letters of recommendation from teachers. [4]
Participating in extracurricular activities such as olympiads, hackathons, mathematics competitions, coding bootcamps, open-source contributions, after-school clubs, science fairs, or technical projects helps in the admissions process.
Engineering programs in the United States generally follow a tiered degree structure:
ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) is the primary body responsible for accrediting U.S. undergraduate and some graduate engineering programs. Accreditation ensures consistent quality and adherence to industry standards. ABET accreditation is often required for licensure and employment. [5] [6]
Engineers who wish to become licensed Professional Engineers (PE) must meet several requirements. Licensure is overseen by state boards and is typically required for public-facing roles such as civil or structural engineering. [7]
Universities are classified into categories based on research activity by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. [10] [11]