Dive Brief:
- The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology is considering narrowing its standards, which some say will make graduates less competitive.
- While the standards have included references to ethical responsibility, broad education, and knowledge of contemporary issues since the 1990s, the new ones do not reference any of these areas.
- The accreditation board said the changes were the result of years of discussion and a concern that the originally broad standards did not give programs room for their own innovation.
Dive Insight:
Critics say the accreditation board's changes would reduce the competitive edge of U.S. graduates, who have traditionally come to the workplace with greater communication and writing skills as well as broader knowledge of ethics and contemporary issues. Inside Higher Ed reports the proposed changes to the standards have caused so much concern, they seem unlikely to pass. Many members of the American Society for Engineering Education were surprised by news of the changes during a presentation at the group’s annual conference last week in Seattle. Since then, members have advocated extending the comment period, which was supposed to end in about a week.