Accreditation of Programs in Transportation Engineering: The University of Arkansas Experience

At its annual meeting on July 25, 1997, the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET), granted initial accreditation to an advanced-level program in transportation engineering at the University of Arkansas. Not only was this one of the first baccalaureate or advanced-level engineering programs accredited under EAC’s new outcomes-based Criteria 2000 process, but it also represented the first accredited program in transportation engineering at any college or university in the United States. With the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and the establishment of the Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center at the University of Arkansas, the faculty of the department of civil engineering saw an opportunity to create a unique educational program. The program would address the multidisciplinary requirements of the transportation engineering profession in a more comprehensive manner than traditional programs oriented to civil engineering. Bringing together a mix of civil-engineering-oriented transportation planning, traffic engineering, and facility design courses along with requirements for exposure to private-sector transportation and logistics issues through the school of business, the University of Arkansas has created a model for an accredited program in transportation engineering. The development of this program is discussed, along with the manner in which the EAC Criteria 2000 were applied, and what should be considered the basic elements of an advanced-level program in transportation engineering.