Skip to content

ABET Accreditation

Accreditation Status

The Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering programs at UC Merced are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.ABET.org.

What is ABET?

  • ABET (formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) is an organization that accredits university programs in applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology, currently accrediting more than 3,100 programs at more than 670 colleges and universities in 24 countries.
  • ABET accredits programs, not institutions
  • UC Merced, as an institution, is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). For more information on campus accreditation, please visit the institutional accreditation website.
  • ABET has four accreditation commissions that conduct accreditation activities. Accreditation criteria are developed in collaboration with 31 professional and technical societies.
  • ABET has been recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) since 1997. For more information, please visit the ABET website.

Why is ABET accreditation important?

Accreditation of engineering programs is voluntary, but many undergraduate programs choose to seek ABET accreditation because it offers benefits to graduates. Accreditation shows that the program meets the standards of the engineering profession; it increases and enhances employment opportunities; and eases the process of professional licensure, registration and certification. More on how ABET accreditation impacts students, programs, institutions, industry and the public can be found here on ABET's website.

Accreditation policies and criteria are listed here.

A key component of accreditation is the self-study report. "The self-study report is expected to be a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the strengths and limitations of the program being submitted for review. The self-study Report will provide information critical to a thorough on-site review of the program. Therefore, the report will address the extent to which the program meets applicable ABET criteria and policies." (ABET self-study Questionnaire: Template for a self-study report)

The timeline below describes the stages of the accreditation process. Though the accreditation process concludes after 18 months, preparations and activities relevant to ABET criteria, policies and procedures, including assessment, are ongoing.

Accreditation Timeline

The following steps describe the standard ABET accreditation timeline.

  1. Programs submit a Request for Evaluation by January 31
  2. Self-study reports are sent to ABET by July 1
  3. On-site visit occurs in the Spring
  4. ABET communicates findings in a draft statement to the institution, sent two to three months after the on-site visit
  5. Programs respond to draft statement
  6. ABET commissions meet in July to decide accreditation actions; programs are notified of their accreditation status via the Final Statement by August 31

 

Last updated on 9/30/24 by AF