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Students who decide on an engineering major will find that they've picked one of the most expansive and most current disciplines to explore. Most four-year colleges offer several specializations or at least focus areas within an engineering major, and some larger universities support whole majors or even departments dedicated to a single concentration within the field. Some specializations in engineering include aerospace, biomedical, agricultural, environmental, construction, industrial, chemical, civil, electrical, electronics, computer hardware, software, health and safety engineers, materials engineers, mechanical, marine engineers and naval architects, mining and geological, nuclear, and petroleum. Many of these majors or focus areas will require students to take the same or similar introductory courses in advanced science and mathematics. Once a student chooses a focus area, he or she will begin taking more specialized courses in that area. Chemical engineers will take vastly different courses than electronics engineers, for example, making it hard for students to switch within the department after taking a few semesters of courses. A bachelor's degree in engineering typically takes four years to complete, but if a student falls behind a semester, chooses to study abroad or ends up switching specializations, it isn't uncommon for engineering majors to graduate in five years. To complete a bachelor's degree, most four-year universities also require students to complete common curriculum classes to round out their education. These courses will come from the liberal arts and sciences, physical sciences, and other departments, and students are usually allowed to pick their own courses as long as they fulfill the basic requirements.
Just as the academic field is so varied, the job outlook for engineering majors also depends on your exact industry. Overall, civil engineers and mechanical engineers were the largest industries employing between 238,000 and 278,000 engineers. The next highest were industrial engineers, then electrical, electronics (except computer engineers), computer hardware, aerospace, environmental, chemical, health and safety engineers, materials engineers, petroleum, nuclear, biomedical, marine, mining and geological engineers and agricultural engineers, who held just 2,700 jobs in 2008. The highest concentration of jobs are in manufacturing, followed by the professional, scientific, and technical services industries. Engineers as a whole will experience average job growth, but biomedical engineers will see a dramatic increase in jobs.
The Fastest Growing Jobs in Engineering:
