ABET Accreditation
ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accreditation provides assurance that a college or university program meets the quality standards of the profession for which that program prepares graduates.
Computing, Engineering, Applied and Natural Science, and Engineering Technology programs are accredited by ABET, www.abet.org, and ABET in conjunction with the various professional societies develop the criteria for accrediting the programs.
Currently, the Aerospace, Biomedical, Computer, Electrical, Industrial, Mechanical and Product Design & Manufacturing Engineering undergraduate programs are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org. The Computer Science undergraduate programs is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org. The Engineering Technology undergraduate program is accredited by the Engineering Technology Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.
One component of the accreditation criteria requires each program pursuing accreditation to formulate Program Educational Objectives in consultation with their program-defined constituents. ABET defines Program Educational Objectives as “broad statements that describe what graduates are expected to attain within a few years after graduation.”
Another component of ABET accreditation requires that programs specify Student Outcomes, which “describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation. These relate to skills, knowledge, and behaviors that students acquire as they progress through the program.”
ABET is committed to Continuous Improvement and all programs must assess and evaluate the extent to which their Student Outcomes are being attained and use the results of these evaluations for the continuous improvement of the program.
ABET requires that each program make available to the public certain information, namely their accreditation status, Program Educational Objectives and their Student Outcomes. This information for the accredited programs offered by the Wichita State University College of Engineering are published at the following locations: