UHD’s College of Sciences & Technology STEM programs joins the ranks of 812 colleges and universities in 32 countries for ABET accreditation.

ABET, incorporated as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., is a non-governmental organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology.

“ABET accreditation is one the most rigorous STEM process for undergraduate programs. Success in excellence for accreditation by ABET is a six-year cycle, which UHD has now done twice, and only awarded to about a third of all programs that earn accreditation,” said Dr. Akif Uzman, Dean of the College of Sciences & Technology (CST).

Currently, ABET accredits 4,144 programs that meet standards to produce graduates ready to enter technical fields that are leading the way in innovation and emerging technologies. Since its founding in 1932 as the Engineers’ Council for Professional Development, ABET accredits postsecondary, degree-granting programs offered by regionally accredited institutions in the United States and nationally accredited institutions outside the U.S.

For UHD students pursuing a degree in the sciences, this is great news. ABET accreditation ensures STEM students:

• Receive an educational experience meets the global standard for technical education in their profession.
• Garner enhanced employment opportunities—multinational corporations require graduation from an accredited program.
• Have entry to a technical profession through licensure, registration and certification—all of which often require graduation from an ABET-accredited program as a minimum qualification.
• Eligibility for many federal student loans, grants, and/or scholarships.
• Work globally— ABET accreditation is recognized worldwide through international agreements, and many other countries’ national accrediting systems are based on the ABET model.

“Prospective employers look to carefully to see if degrees held by engineering or engineering technology candidates come from accredited programs,” noted the CST Dean & Professor of Biology & Biochemistry. “Given the small number of faculty in our engineering programs and the enormous work needed to pull together an exceptional self-study report for such a successful ABET review; this success is a testament to the commitment of our faculty to our students.”