Difference between engineering program accreditations at baccalaureate and master's level: Case study based on ABET

Abstract

As the education level of engineering and scientific talents continuously rise worldwide, the demand for master engineering program accreditation has gradually increased. International engineering program accreditation organizations mostly focus on baccalaureate level, less on the master's level and above. In order to construct accreditation system of engineering program at master's level, this study selected ABET, one of the pioneers in accreditation at the master's level, as a case study that emphasizes on revealing differences of engineering program accreditations in master's and baccalaureate level. The study found that, compared to the baccalaureate level, the general criteria of master's level is emphatically featured in curriculum accreditation master's level general criteria feature curriculum accreditation criteria that lay more emphasison previous course accumulation, professionalism and practicality, assessment review, higher level faculty, and along with facilities focusing more on student-centered concept and requirement for information society.