A new vision for engineering technology programs to strengthen recruitment and retention

Most engineering technology programs in the United States are struggling with low enrollments and difficulty in recruiting and retaining students. The declining enrollments are especially felt in two-year associate degree technology programs. Despite the claims from industry that it is increasingly difficult to find well qualified workers with technology backgrounds, recruitment still remains a struggle. Engineering programs on the other hand recruit well, but suffer from lower retention. This paper presents a plan for a major curricular change that is being implemented across the commonwealth at the Pennsylvania State University that will provide stronger matriculation pathways for both two-year technology and engineering transfer students into baccalaureate engineering technology programs. One of the features of this new curriculum is a common freshman year for the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Technology programs. Another feature is the sophomore year where students elect to follow an associate degree track that is streamlined towards matriculation into a BSET degree or focus squarely on the two year degree, but concentrated in a specialization area identified by local industry.