Can You Get an Online Engineering Degree?

There are quite a few schools that offer online engineering degrees however if you are not already an engineer they are going to be of very limited value. The main reason for this is that almost all of them are master’s degrees. In order to become an engineer you need to get a bachelors degree from an ABET accredited school, there are very few of these available by distance learning.

The only American school that offers an ABET accredited engineering program through distance learning is the University of NorthDakota. The program is very expensive so be prepared for that but it will allow you to meet the requirements to get licensed as an engineer. Other online engineering programs offered by US schools are not properly accredited and will not qualify you for an engineering license.

While UND may be the only American engineering program that qualifies you for a license there are a few other options. The first of these is to get your degree from a foreign school. There are a few schools in Britain and Australia that offer online engineering degrees that lead to licensing in those countries and should also qualify you in the US. If you are going to go down this road make sure that you are taking the degree from a school in a country  that is a signatory of the Washington Accord and that will get a license in that country.

There is one other option that may allow you to get an engineering license with an online degree. There are several ABET accredited engineering technology degrees available that you may be able to use. These degrees do not normally lead to an engineering license but with enough experience as a technologist and some additional education you may be able to qualify, you will need to check the requirements in your state however.

Getting the additional education once you have a technology degree should not present a problem as the one thing that there is no shortage of is online masters degrees in engineering. If you are already an engineer these can be useful both for moving up to higher levels of responsibility in your career and to meet the continuing education requirements that you need to make sure that you stay current with the latest techniques in your field.

In most cases you will be able to enter an online master’s degree program with an engineering technology degree and this may allow you to get licensed as an engineer although this is something that you will have to check out with the engineering society in your state.