Doing an MSEE without BSEE?

[gasha21]

Hello guys, I am a recent BSCS graduate who has started to really gain an interest in engineering. I wish I knew I had this interest three years ago, but oh well.

I have two options ahead of me. One option is a online BSEE from ASU, and the other is MSEE from SJSU. I'm trying to decide which route to take.

The only thing stopping me from doing the MSEE is that it is not ABET accredited (the undergrad program is though), which will block me from becoming a PE. From what I read online, the PE is a necessity in government and power jobs.

But in every other metric, the MS seems more worth it. The BS degree is more expensive, more time consuming, and also requires me to take around 20 credit hours of irrelevant geneds (which is really a pain). On the other hand, the MS requires me to take 6 leveling courses (plus all the physics and math as prereqs) before admitting me as a MS student.

Which option would you go for? How many states heavily enforce the BSEE requirement to take the FE exam? It feels bad to miss out on jobs, and I would be curious to know how many doors I am closing by making this decision to have no accredited degree.

Thanks!

 

[pgheng]

You need the ABET/EAC accredited BSEE degree.

 

[lasagna pe]

Hello guys, I am a recent BSCS graduate who has started to really gain an interest in engineering. I wish I knew I had this interest three years ago, but oh well.

I have two options ahead of me. One option is a online BSEE from ASU, and the other is MSEE from SJSU. I'm trying to decide which route to take.

The only thing stopping me from doing the MSEE is that it is not ABET accredited (the undergrad program is though), which will block me from becoming a PE. From what I read online, the PE is a necessity in government and power jobs.

But in every other metric, the MS seems more worth it. The BS degree is more expensive, more time consuming, and also requires me to take around 20 credit hours of irrelevant geneds (which is really a pain). On the other hand, the MS requires me to take 6 leveling courses (plus all the physics and math as prereqs) before admitting me as a MS student.

Which option would you go for? How many states heavily enforce the BSEE requirement to take the FE exam? It feels bad to miss out on jobs, and I would be curious to know how many doors I am closing by making this decision to have no accredited degree.

Thanks!

You need the ABET/EAC accredited BSEE degree.

I respectfully disagree, you do not need an ABET accredited BSEE.

@gasha21 I recommend going straight to the MSEE program. For California, it knocks the work experience requirement down to one year if you have an MS in engineering. I got licensed in CA with no issues (MSME only). PM me if you have detailed questions, I also went to a local state school.

 

[pgheng]

Not sure what state he is from, but Pennsylvania requires an undergraduate engineering curriculum at a college or university in the United States that was substantially equivalent to an ABET-accredited curriculum. Not sure if a computer science? major is substantially equivalent.
The original poster stated the MS degree is not ABET-accredited either. Pennsylvania requires a graduate-level engineering curriculum at a college or university in the United States for it to count.
https://www.dos.pa.gov/Professional...ngineer-Licensure-Requirements-Snapshot.aspx.It makes sense to attend an engineering school if one wants to be an engineer.

 

[gasha21]

I respectfully disagree, you do not need an ABET accredited BSEE.

@gasha21 I recommend going straight to the MSEE program. For California, it knocks the work experience requirement down to one year if you have an MS in engineering. I got licensed in CA with no issues (MSME only). PM me if you have detailed questions, I also went to a local state school.

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. I would love to go back for a BSEE, but SJSU (the school I was considering) doesnt allow people to get second bachelors degrees. And I've decided that the online program I mentioned in my original post is just too expensive for me (its around 50k by my calculations)

@lasagna pe I would DM you but this forum keeps marking my DM as spam.. so I will put my question here instead.

Can you help verify some things given that you have gone through the process in CA?

What I see on CA's website certainly lines up with what you are saying. Specifically, california seems to require 6 years of experience, of which 5 is technically counted for by completion of an MS. So I would only need to work 1 year before being eligible to apply for a PE. Sounds too good to be true considering how strict the licensing is from my home state of IL. Also this flowchart says the same info (link)

Now my doubts surround how to get permission to take the FE exam, to get EIT status. According to this other flowchart (link), one can qualify for the FE if they have "three years of engineering education". Do you recall what a "engineering education" entails? Because the MS programs aren't ABET accredited.. so would that count as an "engineering education"? Or does the degree simply have to have "engineering" in the name? Or one other possiblility: does the school just have to have an equivalent accredited BS degree (which mine does)?

By my calculations I'd take around 3-4 years to finish the MS (due to the bachelor level work I would have to make up) so I don't have issues with meeting the 3 years. What I'm more worried about is finishing those 3-4 years and then being told that it doesn't qualify as an engineering education.

I'm assuming you have the PE given that you said you have no issues being licensed. So do you remember how you were able to prove these "3 years engineering education"? I also found online that each semester must be 12 units, so its 72 hours total.. does it work like that, by a credit hour basis?

Thanks a lot and happy holidays