How Long You Have To Go To College To Be Certified As An Engineer

You will have to attend a 4-year University to achieve an engineering degree. These degree programs are governed by a group called ABET in the USA. The 'Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology' ensures that degree programs meet some minimum requirements on what students are taught. Unfortunately, unless your degree plan is perfectly planned, its difficult to achieve in just 4 years (depends on the school). Most programs are at least 42 hours (or more) to certify you as an engineer. If you take the average of 12 hours of class per semester (a 'full schedule'), you should be able to complete the degree in 4 years. Unfortunately, many are more than 42 hours, depending upon the type of engineering and there can be scheduling conflicts which prevent you from taking the required classes. (example: you can take the required Sociology class, but the only one offered is for professor "A", who has terrible online ratings and considered very hard. Its likely that you will not pass, so you want to wait a semester to take the class from professor B, who will be more forgiving to engineers. Not that I'm downplaying the importance of sociology - but you're becoming an 'engineer', not a 'sociologist'). While I was able to complete a program in 4 years, it was because I took summer school twice and had to take 18 hours one semester - a very heavy load while working at the same time. I also went 'straight in' to the degree program - I didn't "dabble" in electives. I was given a fixed schedule and very little latitude on what courses I could take. The tight schedule allowed for very little 'fun electives' - so I couldn't just take "basket weaving" because I wanted to learn how to weave baskets.