Structure of Engineering Programs

Engineering is the technical subject which has huge involvement in almost everything which are used in our daily lives. Today, almost nothing can be guessed which do not have any kind of technical involvement in its working. All these stuff are created and maintained by the people who are qualified as Engineers. Hence, engineering is one of the subjects which give lot of specialization working in lots of different areas. You can choose to pursue engineering in aerospace, architecture, biomedical, environmental, computer engineering besides very familiar engineering disciplines like mechanical, electrical, chemical, civil engineering etc.

So if you are looking for engineering degree or diploma program, USA universities and colleges provides several options for 4 years and 2 years courses in respective program.

Let us see the course contents of each engineering degree/diploma program consist:

Bachelor Degree in Engineering:

USA University offers 4 year full time bachelor’s degree program in engineering resulted into professional certification. The student gets Associate’s degree after successful completion of 2 years of study and gets Bachelor’s degree after successfully completion of 4 years.

The student of 4-year bachelor’s degree program of engineering study general engineering subjects like physics, math, chemistry, biology and technology in the first year. They opt for particular specialization in their sophmore year. Further the program focuses on the specialization subjects opted by the students. To know more about engineering specialization, read Featured Engineering Programs. Bachelor Degree engineering program of USA gives several other learning opportunities like industry internship and work experience, knowledge sharing from international domain experts, undergraduate research opportunities, chance to participate in very creative and talented competitions and seminars.

The bachelor’s degree is normally awarded with following credentials:

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering
• Bachelor of General Engineering (BGE)
• Bachelor of Engineering (BE)
• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME)
• Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (BSChE)
• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE)
• Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering (BSIE)
• Bachelor of Arts (BA/ AB)
• Combined Bachelor of Science/ Bachelor of Arts (BS/BA)
• Bachelor of Architecture (BArch)
• Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering (BSSE)
• Associate of Science (AS)
• Associate of Arts (AA)

The students holding associate degree can get direct entry into 3rd year of 4-year engineering degree program. Bachelor of Arts (BA/AB) degrees in engineering often provide interdisciplinary or combined program with extend of duration of program length for 5-years. The interested students can always take five-year combined bachelor’s/master’s program. Some of the community colleges offer first two years of Associate of Science degrees in engineering for certain engineering majors. Some of the colleges offer specialized programs who prepare their students to enter the workforce after 2-year of study. The student can also take Associate of Arts (AA) engineering degrees. However, the student of this program may not satisfy all the pre-requisites to enter into 4-year engineering degree program after this getting this degree.

Hence, there are lots of options available in USA to study earn Associate/Bachelor degree in engineering. It is you who have to decide your future goals and tailor your education around theory and practical classrooms from variety of education institutions. The engineering graduate degree is the pathway to opt your career as an academician or industry professional.

Master Degree in Engineering:

Master degree of Engineering in USA is a professional degree that is a coursework based alternative to the traditional research based Master of Science. The universities of USA allow the students to opt between Master of Engineering and Master of Science which is typically two-year program. Normally, the students who aim to earn Ph.D. degree in Engineering do not go for Master’s of Engineering. Hence, Master’s of Engineering can be considered as the terminal degree like Ph.D. Degree. Typically, one who is interested in academic career opts to earn Ph.D. degree while the one who wants to increase their expertise in a field of practice opt for master degree. Master of engineering focuses to develop advanced knowledge in one of the areas of engineering

The students of Master of Engineering normally have the same course as the Masters of Science. However, some of the Master of Engineering degree program may require completing scholarly projects in addition to coursework to prepare the students for professional careers. These additional courses may include business fundamentals, leadership and management.

The master’s degree is normally awarded with following credentials:

• Master of Engineering
• Master of Science

Doctoral Degree in Engineering:

Doctoral degree program of engineering is divided into two parts pre-dissertation study and doctoral thesis. As a part of first year of the study, the student needs to acquire solid foundation in the advanced knowledge of the opted field. This includes regular coursework and taking lectures and seminars with the master degree students of your stream. This course work is completed with a “Qualifying Examination” which has to be successfully cleared out to get your candidacy for a doctoral degree. As a part of second or final stage of pre- dissertation study, you need to acquire expertise in a specialized field in your opted study area. For example, if the opted study of area is “Organizational Behavior”, at this stage you need to narrow down your research to “leadership” which is the important element of “Organizational Behavior”. The final stage ends up with the oral examination. Once the student gets clear in this examination, can begin to work on Doctoral thesis.

Doctoral Thesis is the final stage which is the most important during which the student needs to complete the dissertation. During the research, you are assigned to an advisor who is the most knowledgeable faculty member of the special area of dissertation research. The student needs to work in close association with the advisor. The doctoral thesis preparation and research is considered to be highly cognitive which concludes in the form of final thesis. In this process, you are presumed to be expert in your field and are supposed to defend your observations and conclusions on your area of study in front of the committee. The successfully completed dissertation becomes a public document placed in university library resources.

The duration of completing doctoral degree in not fixed. However, the entire process of study takes minimum of 3-4 years in which nearly 2-years are spent in preparing thesis. Normally doctoral degree holder targets their career in the academic field but these days doctorates are finding out their position in professional world at par with other professionals.