Accredited
Computing Programs
in the United States
Institutions
of Higher Education in the United States range from small private
colleges with several hundred students to large public universities
with over 40,000 students. Most of them offer one or more degrees
in computing, including computer science, computer engineering,
software engineering, information systems, management information
systems, and information technology. If you want to select a program
to study computing in the US, you'll have to have some understanding
of the nomenclature that we apply to our programs.
A gross generalisation
is that computer science is about software, computer engineering
is about hardware, and information systems and management science
are about business. A fourth category, information technology, has
come into usage recently, and is even more difficult to categorise.
Although you might use this generalisation to assist you in choosing
a degree program, you should be aware that these programs vary greatly
in their content. Local demand for graduates, faculty training and
research interests, institutional priorities, and the presence of
other programs all influence the content of any degree program.
This is particularly true for programs in computing because the
field is relatively new and changing rapidly. Professional societies
in computing have published model curricula to guide colleges and
universities in creating their degree programs, but an institution
can follow a model curriculum to the level that it chooses. There
is no requirement that the program have specific content.
How might you
determine what computing programs an institutions offers? Almost
all colleges and universities provide information via the World
Wide Web. A good place to start is www.yahoo.com. Their front page
has an education link that leads to institutions all over the world.
The link for the United States alone shows more than 1,400 institutions.
Websites for some schools are extensive, and include degree requirements
and course descriptions - which may, as noted above, vary widely
in their content.
If a college
or university can define a program as it wishes, how can you know
what to expect of a program? That's where professional accreditation
comes in. In professions such as law, medicine, engineering, and
computer science, the people who practice determine standards for
graduates. Professional accreditation means that a program has a
curriculum, faculty and adequate resources to provide the proper
education and training to its students, and that the program uses
its resources to ensure that all students who complete it have undergone
the required educational experience. Professional accreditation
organisations are approaching accreditation with the questions:
"Do the faculty know what kind of graduates they want to produce,
and how do they know whether they are doing so?"
Computer science,
computer engineering and software engineering have a professional
accreditation - that is, professionals in computing have defined
criteria for those three fields, and a nationally recognised accrediting
organisation will, at the invitation of a degree program, determine
whether it satisfies those criteria. Approximately 150 computer
science and 75 computer engineering programs are accredited. Accreditation
criteria for software engineering were defined in 1998, and none
of those programs has yet been accredited. At present, there is
no professional accreditation for information systems, information
technology, management science, or any other computing-related field.
If you intend
to study computer science or computer engineering in the US, you
should consult a list of accredited programs in those two fields.
The Computing Sciences Accreditation Board website (www.csab.org)
has a list of all accredited programs in computer science and computer
engineering, that have been examined carefully by professionals,
and proved to satisfy their criteria. You should keep in mind that
these programs are far from identical - many of them go well beyond
the minimal criteria for accreditation. What is important is that
all of them have been judged by professionals in the computing field
to provide the education and training essential to practice as a
professional in computer science and computer engineering.
Rapid changes
in the field of computing require that you receive a good foundation
from your degree program. One that has only taught you skills that
you can apply today does not serve you well - you need a foundation
that enables you to deal with technological change. Accreditation
provides assurance that such a foundation is there, providing the
skills needed for today's job market.
Selecting a
college or university is difficult; selecting one in the US when
you're not there can be even more difficult. There are many reasons
why you might choose to attend a particular institution: reputation
of its graduate programs, a big athletics program, location in a
major city, or proximity to recreation. If you are selecting an
institution to study computer science or computer engineering,
encourage you to use the list of accredited programs as another
factor in your decision.
Author
Robert L. Cannon
President, Computing Sciences Accreditation Board
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
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