Accreditation of engineering, technology and computing programs

Almost as soon as engineering programs were founded in the mid 19
^th
century, educators and employers started working on assessing the quality of the new programs and on devising standards for their accreditation. At present, bodies that engage in accreditation of programs in Engineering, Technology and Computing (ETC) operate in more than 40 countries. In this paper, we review some of the key definitions, aims, uses and misuses of program accreditation in ETC, as well as various models used over the years for quality assurance and quality control. Observations are made on trends in program accreditation, and on expected and desired changes in the practices of program accreditation in ETC.