Benedictine College

The project creates a model that uses distance education to establish engineering programs rapidly and economically at four-year institutions that would otherwise not have the resources to do so. With modest costs and little risk, this flexible model can be replicated at any of the 83% of the nation’s colleges that do not now offer engineering degrees. The presence of engineering degree alternatives at these colleges would provide students across the USA with previously unavailable options and could attract additional students to engineering careers. Benedictine College will serve as the proving ground for the model’s full implementation and evaluation. A key component in establishing engineering programs is the acquisition of laboratory equipment, which the proposed model addresses in detail and which comprises the majority of the project budget. The project may bring about change in the way engineering programs are initiated and/or expanded as well as increase substantially the number of engineering graduates in the nation.