Both the program seeking accreditation and the institution in which it is housed must meet eligibility requirements.
ABET accredits only programs; ABET does not accredit degrees, departments, colleges, institutions, or individuals.
A "program" must meet ABET's definition.
ABET defines a program as an integrated, organized experience that culminates in the awarding of a degree. The program will have program educational objectives, student outcomes, a curriculum, faculty, and facilities, as described in the accreditation criteria. ABET does not accredit certification, training, or doctoral programs.
A program must be housed in a degree-granting institution.
ABET accepts Requests for Evaluation from post-secondary programs offered by degree-granting institutions with verifiable and recognized governmental, national, or regional authority to confer degrees. In some cases, an institution that does not meet this requirement may request an evaluation for a program if that program’s accreditation furthers ABET's Mission.
A program must have at least one graduate.
Programs requesting an initial accreditation must have at least one graduate prior to the academic year when the on-site review occurs.
A program’s name must meet ABET requirements.
The name of a program seeking accreditation must be descriptive of the program's content and be stated exactly the same way on the graduate's transcript and in the institution's literature.
Programs outside the U.S. where English is not the native language, must provide the program’s name both in English and in the native language(s).
An institution may not use the same program name to identify both an ABET-accredited program and a program that is not ABET-accredited.
A program must be accreditable under at least one ABET Accreditation Commission.
Each program seeking accreditation will be assigned to a specific commission or commissions based upon the literal name of the program:
Applied Science Accreditation Commission (ASAC)
Programs accredited by ASAC are those leading to professional practice utilizing science, mathematics and engineering concepts as a foundation for discipline-specific practice.
ASAC accredits a program at either the associate's, bachelor's, or master's degree level.
Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC)
Programs accredited by CAC are those leading to professional practice across the broad spectrum of computing, computational, information, and informatics disciplines.
CAC accredits a program at the bachelor's degree level.
Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC)
Programs accredited by EAC are those leading to the professional practice of engineering. All engineering programs requesting ABET review must include the word “engineering” in the program name.
EAC accredits a program at either the bachelor's or master's degree level.
Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (ETAC)
Programs accredited by ETAC prepare baccalaureate degree graduates for careers as engineering technologists and prepare associate degree graduates for careers as engineering technicians. All ETAC programs requesting ABET review must include the word "technology" in the program name, but the phrase "engineering technology" is preferred.
ETAC accredits a program at either the associate's or bachelor's degree level.
Some Programs Must Undergo a Readiness Review
ABET requires a preliminary Self-Study Report from all programs seeking initial accreditation if the institution has no currently ABET-accredited programs in that same commission. A review of this preliminary Self-Study Report -- which is called the Readiness Review -- will help ABET determine whether or not an institution is ready to submit a formal Request for Evaluation (RFE) for that program.
Questions?
Please contact the Accreditation Department.