Excelsior College

[paradox_zt]

Hello,

I'm considering enrolling in the Nuclear Engineering Technology degree program at Excelsior, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Excelsior or how they were perceived in the industry. Also, this is perhaps beyond the scope of this board, but does anyone know how brick and mortar grad schools view online degrees? I would like to get my masters at some point and don't want to get pigeon holed because of an online degree.

Thanks in advance!

[formerET1Han]

OOO, this question again. I recently graduate from Excelsior (BS NET). Since Excelsior is an ABET/TAC accredited school/program, the commercial side seems to be quite ok with them even as far as getting a PE license.

As for future endeavors, the "Technology" part of the degree is the largest problem. You will need significant upgrades to get a MS in Nuclear Engineering (because of the lack of theory). That is not to say that it's not impossible. I have researched getting the MS online as well - University of Tenn and North Carolina State University both offer MS NE online. Both say I'll need a few more classes to get up to speed. Other options you may want to look at is the University of North Dakota - the BS in EE and ME are available online. University of Ill, Springfield offers only one math degree and it's online. It's good enough for a MS in math later.

I hope this helps.

[paradox_zt]

Thanks everyone for your responses!

formerET1Han: When you inquired about the MS NE from Tennessee and North Carolina were they willing to admit you but require you take undergraduate classes or did they want you to take the classes someplace else before applying? I would like to immediately follow up my degree with grad school and doing it as quickly as possible is paramount.  

Graduate school aside, what are the job prospects for a NET degree, is it more tailored for the operational side or could you get a job with Westinghouse, GE, or the national labs with the technology degree.

[FX Engineer]

Paradox,

This is an old post, but I thought I would reply with some of my personal experiences with the Excelsior NET degree.  I have only three years of commercial nuke experience so bear this in mind.

Working as an Engineer - I have spoken with engineering managers and supervisors about working in the engineering departments.  The technology degree is generally sufficient to be hired on as an engineer.  However, some sites told me that I would be an engineering analyst and not a full engineer.  So basically do the same job, but get paid less.

Getting the FE/PE - The requirements for the FE are state dependent.  For example, I used to live in MN where they would not let me take the FE because my degree did not have enough theory courses.  In other states, such as NY where I live now, it is acceptable to have a technology degree and get a FE/PE.

Graduate School - For the brick and mortar schools that I have taken courses at and been accepted into their engineering programs, I was required to take additional undergraduate coursework to make up for the deficiencies in my education.  For reference purposes this was the University of St. Thomas in MN and Syracuse University in NY.  They did not care whether I took the courses a their school or not.  Syracuse (where I currently attend) is kinda cool I think because they do not charge me for the extra courses they are requiring me to take.

Getting a Job Elsewhere - Hmmm... I imagine each place would be different, but some of the places that I have been interested wanted a ABET/EAC degree or a PE license.  With the technology degree it would have been very difficult to get hired on as an engineer.

My recommendation - It depends on what type of job you want.  If you would like to go engineering then I would strongly recommend getting a full engineering (ABET/EAC) degree.  If you are more interested in operations or maintenance, then the technology degree is sufficient.

If you happen to read this post again I hope my answers helped a bit.

--FX

[paradox_zt]

FX,

Thanks! That's precisely what I was wondering about! Out of curiosity what are you getting your masters in?

[FX Engineer]

In the end I am going with the Engineering Management.  I would have preferred MSEE, but some of the extra classes I need to take are only available during the day and I could not fit them into my work schedule.  I did three years of traditional BSEE prior to joining the Navy so I had all the calculus, physics, chemistry, labs,and SOME theory type courses.  What I was missing was an Electromagneticsand System and Signal Analysis course.

--FX

[rockchalk99]

FXEngineer is the FX a reference to currency trade? Just wondering.

Anyhow, back on topic. FX if you're that close to completing a BSEE, and you're close enough to a major university that has an engineering program, you may be able to work something out in order to complete the BSEE. Most undergraduate engineering schools are pretty rigid in regards to class schedules and whatnot, because the vast majority of their students are traditional college kid types. If you plan to do a masters in engineering I think you'd have an even better shot of getting special consideration in order to complete the BS degree. Either way it might be worth checking into.

[Elrond116]

I'm researching my college options as well right now and ran across another website via Google that also discusses Eng and Eng Tech degrees, and I thought it might be useful for anyone else asking these questions...

http://www.coe.uncc.edu/prospective-students/engineering-professions.html#engr1

Also, here's ABET's site; probably the best place to look up accredations...

http://www.abet.org/AccredProgramSearch/AccreditationSearch.aspx

[wstewart]

This may help answer your question... see the article on the Excelsior program in the June '09 issue of Nuclear News  http://www.new.ans.org/pubs/magazines/nn/y_2009/m_6