March 29, 2008 update: At its spring meeting today, the ABET Board of Directors approved a change to section II.B.8.a. of ABET’s Accreditation Policy and Procedure Manual that will allow institutions to seek accreditation for their engineering programs of the same name/discipline at multiple levels (i.e., bachelor's and master's) concurrently. The change will go into effect with the 2009-2010 accreditation cycle.

In 2006, ABET put out a call for comments on dual-level accreditation of engineering programs. A report on the issue was published in 2007. If you have feedback on these items or on this issue, please contact us.

Viewpoints Vol. 4: Issues of Accreditation in Higher Education  (pdf)

• Dual-Level Accreditation of Engineering Programs

(More Viewpoints are available at www.abet.org/papers.shtml.)

Selection of Comments Received on Dual-Level Accreditation

Proponents of removal of the prohibition:

• American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE)

• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

• National Academy of Engineering (NAE)

• National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)

• Ernest Smerdon, University of Arizona, et al

Proponents of retention of the prohibition:

• Robert Dodds, Civil Engineering, University of Illinois

• American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Engineering Deans' Council