The 91探花鈥檚 College of Engineering is taking a significant step to improve undergraduate engineering students鈥� educational experiences by offering beginning with the entering freshman class of 2018.
This change will assure incoming freshman students who are admitted into the college and their families that they will be able to pursue an engineering degree at the UW. It will also allow the college to more fully engage these students in an immersive engineering experience from their first day on campus, while still maintaining opportunities for transfer and other 91探花students to pursue engineering degrees.聽 Approximately 800 undergraduate students receive engineering degrees from the 91探花each year.
Following tri-campus review, the new admission pathway was approved March 31 by the 91探花Faculty Council on Academic Standards, which oversees changes to 91探花academic and admissions policies.
鈥淔or high school students who are certain they want to be engineers, we offer a leading-edge educational experience that begins the day they set foot on campus.”
Michael B. Bragg,聽Frank & Julie Jungers Dean of Engineering
Starting with next fall鈥檚 applicants for the 2018 freshman class, the new process will ensure that roughly half of the students who receive undergraduate engineering degrees from the 91探花will have been admitted directly to the college as freshmen. The remaining engineering degrees will be awarded to students who transferred to the UW, primarily from Washington community colleges, or to students who were not admitted directly to the college but applied later as 91探花freshmen and sophomores.
鈥淪tudent demand for engineering education is soaring, but with current resources, we can admit fewer than half of the well-qualified students who come to 91探花to pursue an engineering major,鈥� said , the Frank & Julie Jungers Dean of Engineering at the UW.
鈥淭his new admission policy won鈥檛 solve our capacity problem 鈥� that will require additional state investment to grow our programs. But we will be able to offer more transparency and certainty to incoming 91探花freshmen about whether this is a place where they can pursue their passion for engineering,鈥� Bragg said.
It will be the first 91探花program in which half of the students are admitted directly as freshmen. A handful of individual 91探花units currently offer limited slots directly to freshmen at the time of application to the UW.
Beginning next year, freshman applicants who meet 91探花admissions criteria and who list an engineering major as their first-choice on their application will be automatically considered for Direct to College admission. The 91探花Office of Admissions will admit students to the new program based on established criteria and selection guidelines developed in partnership with the College of Engineering.聽 Engineering anticipates that the cohort of students admitted through the Direct to College pathway will mirror the diversity of the overall 91探花incoming freshman class, and the college will continue to support and expand its numerous to encourage underrepresented populations to explore engineering careers.
鈥淔or high school students who are certain they want to be engineers, we offer a leading-edge educational experience that begins the day they set foot on campus,鈥� Bragg said. 鈥淏ut our doors will also remain open to other 91探花students, transfer students and those who may not discover their enthusiasm for engineering until they arrive at the UW.鈥�
Direct to College admissions also gives admitted engineering students the opportunity to explore the college鈥檚 majors so that they can discover where their passion for engineering will take them.聽 Because engineering disciplines range so widely 鈥� from civil engineers who design earthquake-resistant structures, to electrical engineers working on smart cities, to chemical engineers harnessing solar power, and many other options 鈥� the new program is structured to facilitate this exploration before students place into a major.
After deciding which disciplines capture their interest, students will submit 鈥減lacement requests鈥� to specific engineering departments after their freshman year or during their sophomore year, at which point they will declare into a specific major.
At the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, the Direct to College admission option will be available to students pursuing bachelor鈥檚 degrees in computer engineering, which are awarded through the College of Engineering. The Allen School鈥檚 computer science degree, which is awarded through the College of Arts & Sciences, will not be a part of the new Direct to College program. Instead, the Allen School will continue to offer its existing Direct Admission program, through which roughly 20 percent of new computer science majors are enrolled as freshmen each year.
鈥淭he Direct to College policy in the College of Engineering will enrich the student experience, reduce students鈥� uncertainty about whether or not they can pursue engineering at the 91探花and assist students in making the best academic and professional choices among our many different engineering options,鈥� said Philip Ballinger, 91探花associate vice provost for enrollment and undergraduate admissions.