Improving Engineering Accreditation in United States Programs - Investigating Why ABET Accreditation is Superficial and Misguided

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) is the sole accreditation organization for engineering programs in the United States. Over time, it has expanded in influence. Programs are often viewed as not viable if they cannot receive ABET accreditation. However, little analysis has been done to determine what value ABET accreditation adds. Several references in the literature have discussed the burden of meeting ABET accreditation without clear benefits. Others have noted that the process has failed to adapt to modern program requirements and does not practice continuous improvement. This Work-In-Progress paper is an attempt to determine the benefits or detriments of ABET accreditation, which can be valuable to determine future best practices for engineering accreditation in the United States.