10 Fastest Online Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Amer­i­can Pub­lic Uni­ver­si­ty is the #1 school for a fast online elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s degree.
• Accel­er­at­ed online pro­grams allow stu­dents to grad­u­ate more quick­ly than tra­di­tion­al pro­grams by tak­ing more cred­its per term or dur­ing the summer.
• Online elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams offer a chal­leng­ing cur­ricu­lum cov­er­ing both core and advanced con­cepts in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing.
• Grad­u­ates are well-pre­pared for pro­fes­sion­al roles in the field due to the inten­sive nature of the programs.

An elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing accel­er­at­ed pro­gram refers to an aca­d­e­m­ic course designed to teach stu­dents all the skills they need to han­dle advanced cours­es in the field, at a pace that is faster and more rig­or­ous than tra­di­tion­al under­grad­u­ate pro­grams. An accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree can help you mas­ter the core and advanced con­cepts that are rel­e­vant to the field and pre­pare for more advanced degrees or pro­fes­sion­al posi­tions. Accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams are often rig­or­ous and require dis­ci­pline and hard work. Yet, they will pre­pare you for a reward­ing career much faster than a nor­mal pro­gram would take.

The major ben­e­fit of an elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing accel­er­at­ed pro­gram is that you can move through the pro­gram more quick­ly and often get all the core course­work done by what would be your junior year. Stu­dents can accom­plish this by tak­ing on addi­tion­al cred­it hours dur­ing the semes­ter or in an off-peri­od like the sum­mer. An accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree is only suit­ed for those who are look­ing to chal­lenge them­selves. But if you are inter­est­ed in tak­ing high­er-lev­el engi­neer­ing cours­es or get­ting the course­work over with so you can look for employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties, accel­er­at­ed engi­neer­ing pro­grams allow you to do so with­out miss­ing any impor­tant material.

Methodology: Ranking the Fastest Online Electrical Engineering Degree Programs

Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter knows return­ing stu­dents want to get their degree quick­ly and con­ve­nient­ly, so our rank­ing of the best accel­er­at­ed bachelor’s in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing gath­ers pro­grams that offer a legit­i­mate way to speed up the process. But because qual­i­ty is also impor­tant, we rank only accred­it­ed pro­grams accord­ing to data from Niche and IPEDS, includ­ing tuition rate, stu­dent reviews, and poten­tial salary.

1. American Public University

Amer­i­can Pub­lic Uni­ver­si­ty has an accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree with a gen­er­ous trans­fer pol­i­cy of 82%. Among the best accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams, APU’s BS in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing pro­duces indi­vid­u­als who can main­tain engi­neer­ing projects that involve high­ly skill­ful pro­fes­sion­als. Stu­dents in this pro­gram receive a foun­da­tion in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing com­pe­ten­cy and practices.

APU is an online uni­ver­si­ty run as a for-prof­it insti­tu­tion. Stu­dents apply as a for­mal­i­ty since the col­lege accepts 100% of those who want to go here. The most pop­u­lar majors are lib­er­al arts and human­i­ties, busi­ness and Home­land Security.

What We Like: APU is West Virgina’s #4 best val­ue col­lege. Addi­tion­al­ly, 94% of stu­dents say class­es are high­ly avail­able at the university.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Amer­i­can Pub­lic Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

2. University of Massachusetts Lowell

One of the best accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree options is offered by the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts Low­ell. This is one of the most flex­i­ble accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams since the col­lege accepts up to 90 trans­fer cred­its. The BS in Elec­tron­ic Engi­neer­ing Tech­nol­o­gy pre­pares grad­u­ates to take on jobs and con­sumer elec­tron­ics, semi­con­duc­tors, telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions and relat­ed fields. The pro­gram focus­es on the design, test­ing and pro­duc­tion of hard­ware and soft­ware. Stu­dent study com­put­er sci­ence and math and apply this knowl­edge to elec­tri­cal cir­cuit problems.

Found­ed in Low­ell, Mass­a­chu­setts, the school lies 25 miles from the bus­tle of Boston. This loca­tion in the tech­nol­o­gy cor­ri­dor offers all stu­dents an oppor­tu­ni­ty for co-ops and intern­ships dur­ing and after their studies.

What We Like: The school accepts more than sev­en out of 10 stu­dents and 90% of stu­dents receive some form of finan­cial aid.

Degree: BS in Elec­tron­ic Engi­neer­ing Technology

Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts Low­ell BS in Elec­tron­ic Engi­neer­ing Technology

3. National University

Nation­al University’s accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree teach­es stu­dents how to resolve elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing prob­lems through the use of com­put­er tech­nol­o­gy. One of the best accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams, the pro­gram focus­es on the impor­tance of clean com­put­er engi­neer­ing and the rela­tion­ship between soft­ware and hard­ware. Stu­dents learn about embed­ded sys­tems and devices such as dig­i­tal audio play­ers, cell phones, alarm sys­tems, dig­i­tal video recorders and laser tools for surgery. With an empha­sis on ana­lyt­i­cal think­ing, the pro­gram helps stu­dents learn the ele­ments of design and go on to pur­sue jobs in elec­tri­cal engineering.

Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty has 7,400 stu­dents and dates back to 1971. This pri­vate insti­tu­tion has a rolling admis­sions pol­i­cy and con­tin­u­ous aca­d­e­m­ic calendar.

What We Like: The gen­er­ous trans­fer pol­i­cy makes it eas­i­er for stu­dents who have already begun their edu­ca­tion else­where to com­plete their degree quickly.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engineering

Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engineering

4. Old Dominion University

Old Domin­ion Uni­ver­si­ty offers an accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree which accepts many cred­its from oth­er uni­ver­si­ties. As one of the coun­try’s top accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams, this degree focus­es on design­ing com­put­er sys­tems for mod­ern life. Grad­u­ates emerge as com­put­er engi­neers and take on jobs that require deep knowl­edge of how soft­ware and hard­ware com­po­nents inter­act. Cours­es include data struc­tures, pro­gram­ming, advanced cir­cuit analy­sis, sys­tem design, and dig­i­tal elec­tron­ics. The pro­gram also cov­ers eth­i­cal and lead­er­ship con­cepts relat­ed to elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing. Grad­u­ates emerge ready to sit for Virginia’s Fun­da­men­tals of Engi­neer­ing (FE) exam.

Old Domin­ion is a high­ly regard­ed uni­ver­si­ty open the pub­lic admis­sion. It is based in Nor­folk, Vir­ginia. With near­ly 15,000 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents, the school has a rep­u­ta­tion that sur­pass­es region­al and nation­al bound­aries. Old Domin­ion accepts near­ly nine out of 10 stu­dents who apply. Although it offers dozens and dozens of majors, the most pop­u­lar are psy­chol­o­gy and criminology.

What We Like: Stu­dents who enroll in Old Domin­ion can take class­es entire­ly online and the school ranks num­ber 54 among the nation’s best online colleges.

Degree: Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

Old Domin­ion Uni­ver­si­ty Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

5. Thomas Edison State University

Like many accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degrees, the pro­gram at Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty has a gen­er­ous trans­fer pol­i­cy. It is one of the coun­try’s best accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams and grad­u­ates receive a BS in Elec­tron­ics Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing Tech­nol­o­gy. Stu­dents pre­pare to become tech­nol­o­gists and mas­ter con­cepts that help them suc­ceed in the elec­tron­ics indus­try. Cours­es include avion­ics, com­put­er hard­ware, com­mu­ni­ca­tions and instru­men­ta­tion. High­er-lev­el cours­es are required for grad­u­a­tion and stu­dents need 124 cred­its to com­plete the degree.

Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty is a small uni­ver­si­ty based out of Tren­ton, NJ. The gen­er­ous accep­tance rate of the uni­ver­si­ty means that every­one who applies as an oppor­tu­ni­ty to pur­sue their under­grad­u­ate degree. Oth­er pop­u­lar majors include busi­ness and nursing.

What We Like: Every­one who applies is accept­ed and more than four out of five stu­dents say that it’s easy to get the class­es they need for graduation.

Degree: Elec­tron­ics Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing Technology

Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty Elec­tron­ics Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing Technology

6. Southern Illinois University Carbondale

South­ern Illi­nois Uni­ver­si­ty Carbondale’s accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree can be com­plet­ed 100% online. Like many accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams, SIUC accepts a num­ber of trans­fer cred­its from oth­er accred­it­ed uni­ver­si­ties. This well-round­ed degree pre­pares stu­dents to com­plete their Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing. Grad­u­ates have mas­tered fun­da­men­tal skills and knowl­edge need­ed to become field ser­vice engi­neers, elec­tron­ic design engi­neers, senior engi­neer tech­ni­cians and sim­i­lar roles. Cours­es avail­able in this pro­gram include elec­tri­cal pow­er dis­tri­b­u­tion, com­put­er sys­tems, micro­elec­tron­ics and electives.

South­ern Illi­nois Car­bon­dale is open to the pub­lic. Con­sid­ered a mid­size school, South­ern Illi­nois Car­bon­dale has over 7,000 stu­dents. It’s rel­a­tive­ly dif­fi­cult to get into the school since the admis­sions board accepts just two out of three stu­dents who apply. Stu­dents who do get accept­ed have a large ledger of majors to choose from it and some choose to study edu­ca­tion, man­u­fac­tur­ing engi­neer­ing or elec­tri­cal engineering.

What We Like: Near­ly four out of five stu­dents grad­u­ate con­fi­dent that they will find jobs in their field.

Degree: Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

South­ern Illi­nois Uni­ver­si­ty Car­bon­dale Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

7. Siena Heights University

Siena Heights Uni­ver­si­ty offers online degrees and has a gen­er­ous trans­fer pol­i­cy for pro­grams such as the accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree. As one of the country’s top accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams, SHU has been train­ing engi­neers since 1975. This pro­gram is aggres­sive­ly focused on obtain­ing future employ­ment and the cur­ricu­lum cov­ers pub­lic safe­ty, allied health, and spe­cial­ized occu­pa­tion­al back­grounds relat­ed to elec­tron­ic engineering.

Siena Heights is based in Adri­an, Michi­gan, and was found­ed as a pri­vate catholic school. The small col­lege has few­er than 3,000 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents enrolled. It’s rel­a­tive­ly com­pet­i­tive to get into Siena Heights and the school accepts just 73% of appli­cants. Among its many majors, busi­ness and crim­i­nal jus­tice are among the most popular.

What We Like: Near­ly all stu­dents who attend this col­lege receive some form of finan­cial aid, mak­ing it more afford­able than sim­i­lar schools with less gen­er­ous finan­cial aid statistics.

Degree: BAS in Elec­tron­ics Technology

Siena Heights Uni­ver­si­ty BAS in Elec­tron­ics Technology

8. Grantham University

Grantham Uni­ver­si­ty has an accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree which stu­dents can com­plete in 38 months. Among accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams, this is one of the best. Grad­u­ates obtain an elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy degree that gives them the skills and knowl­edge need­ed to pur­sue entry-lev­el jobs in elec­tron­ics. Some stu­dents go on to com­plete a master’s degree. Foun­da­tion­al course­work includes dig­i­tal and ana­log elec­tron­ics, cir­cuit the­o­ry, and micro­proces­sor concepts.

Grantham Uni­ver­si­ty is a ful­ly accred­it­ed uni­ver­si­ty that seeks to give every stu­dent a high-qual­i­ty and flex­i­ble expe­ri­ence. Those accept­ed into the school choose from more than 60 degrees and cer­tifi­cate options. Grantham focus­es on prepar­ing stu­dents to enter the work­force or con­tin­ue their stud­ies in fields such as nurs­ing, com­put­er sci­ence, and business.

What We Like: Grantham Uni­ver­si­ty accepts every stu­dent who applies, and 99% of those who decide to pur­sue a degree here receive some kind of finan­cial aid.

Degree: Elec­tron­ics Engi­neer­ing Technology

Grantham Uni­ver­si­ty Elec­tron­ics Engi­neer­ing Technology

9. SUNY Canton

SUNY Can­ton has an accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree that stu­dents can take entire­ly online. It stands out as one of the best accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams in the coun­try. The pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents to devel­op, design, and test elec­tri­cal equip­ment. Grad­u­ates become tech­nol­o­gists who can test and eval­u­ate elec­tron­ic equip­ment and per­form nec­es­sary repairs. Cours­es in the pro­gram include elec­tri­cal pow­er, elec­tron­ics, telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions, and micro­proces­sors. Stu­dents com­plet­ed cap­stone project that pre­pares them to solve real-world problems.

SUNY Can­ton has few­er than 2,800 under­grad­u­ate enrollees. This pub­lic school accepts 85% of those who apply. Some of the majors offered include lib­er­al arts and human­i­ties and vet­eri­nary tech­ni­cian studies.

What We Like: It’s rel­a­tive­ly easy to get into the school and 95% of those who study here receive finan­cial aid.

Degree: BTech in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

SUNY Can­ton BTech in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

10. Excelsior College

At Excel­sior Col­lege, stu­dents can com­plete an accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree. One of the best accel­er­at­ed elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams, this degree accepts up to 117 online trans­fer cred­its. Stu­dents who com­plete the require­ments for this BS in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy emerge pre­pared to take on entry roles in the field. Stu­dents can receive trans­fer cred­it for past expe­ri­ence in the mil­i­tary and oth­er jobs. This unique pro­gram allows stu­dents to build on their life expe­ri­ence to com­plete their edu­ca­tion more quickly.

Excel­sior allows stu­dents to com­plete their degrees 100% online. It also accepts every­one who applies. Some of the most pop­u­lar majors include nurs­ing and business.

What We Like: Of those sur­veyed, 82% of stu­dents say it’s easy to get the class­es they need and want.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

Excel­sior Col­lege BS in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

What is Electronics Engineering?

If you are just now look­ing at your options, you may be won­der­ing what is elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing? The answer is that it’s the dis­ci­pline that designs elec­tron­ic cir­cuits, devices, inte­grat­ed cir­cuits, and their sys­tems. These cir­cuits are used in much of the tech­nol­o­gy that helps us live our dai­ly lives – from com­put­ers to tele­vi­sions to smart­phones. There are many dif­fer­ent ways you can answer the ques­tion of what is elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing? Engi­neers often per­form many roles and are respon­si­ble for design­ing, test­ing, and improv­ing the elec­tri­cal sys­tems need­ed for soci­ety to function.

To bet­ter under­stand the ques­tion of what is the job of an elec­tron­ics engi­neer? You first must answer the ques­tion of what is elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy? Elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy is the study of how to design and build both ana­log and dig­i­tal elec­tron­ic sys­tems. The job of an elec­tri­cal engi­neer is to design, devel­op, test, and super­vise the man­u­fac­ture of elec­tri­cal equipment.

If you’re ask­ing your­self what is elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy? Or what is the job of an elec­tron­ics engi­neer? Just take a look at a few house­hold elec­tron­ics in your home. If you look close­ly, you will see that these prod­ucts are made up of dif­fer­ent cir­cuits, wires, and oth­er instru­ments that con­duct elec­tric­i­ty and send com­mu­ni­ca­tions. The job of an elec­tron­ics engi­neer is to devel­op these sys­tems and ensure that they func­tion properly.

What is the Difference Between an Electronics Engineer an Electrical Engineer?

The elec­tri­cal engi­neer vs elec­tron­ics engi­neer debate is sub­tle, yet impor­tant. You may be debat­ing elec­tron­ics vs elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing if you are look­ing at a mas­ter’s pro­gram and it’s impor­tant to weigh your options before mak­ing any com­mit­ments. Elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing refers to a broad­er field that encom­pass­es mul­ti­ple areas of study includ­ing elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing. Elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing focus­es specif­i­cal­ly on the devel­op­ment of elec­tron­ic devices where­as elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing encom­pass­es a wider range of fields such as pow­er sys­tems, sig­nal pro­cess­ing, and communications.

So, com­par­ing an elec­tri­cal engi­neer vs elec­tron­ics engi­neer is some­what like com­par­ing the rela­tion­ship between a square and a rec­tan­gle – all elec­tron­ics engi­neers are elec­tri­cal engi­neers but not vice versa.

If you are debat­ing elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing vs elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing, it’s impor­tant to weigh the pros and cons. Elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing is an excit­ing and dynam­ic field, but it’s also quite rig­or­ous and com­pet­i­tive, mean­ing you have to be com­mit­ted. There are plen­ty of oth­er fields of elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing you may con­sid­er if you are inter­est­ed in the field, but not nec­es­sar­i­ly work­ing with elec­tron­ics specifically.

You may also be debat­ing the elec­tron­ics engi­neer vs elec­tri­cal engi­neer salary if you are con­sid­er­ing either field. The truth is that their pay is rough­ly the same. The aver­age salary for an elec­tron­ics engi­neer vs elec­tri­cal engi­neer is $74, 785 to $76,840. More elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing jobs avail­able because it’s a broad­er dis­ci­pline, so the fig­ure is slight­ly low­er, but on aver­age the salary is similar.

When con­sid­er­ing elec­tron­ics vs elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing, it’s impor­tant to take stock of your own career goals. If you’re fas­ci­nat­ed by elec­tron­ics and want to learn to make faster, more effi­cient con­sumer prod­ucts and IT, then elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing may be right up your alley. But, if you aren’t quite sure what you want to pur­sue and would rather see what piques your inter­est, it may make sense to start out with elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing and spe­cial­ize lat­er on. When con­sid­er­ing whether you want to become an elec­tron­ics engi­neer vs an elec­tri­cal engi­neer, it’s best to trust your gut. Both offer excit­ing job oppor­tu­ni­ties with com­pet­i­tive salaries and the oppor­tu­ni­ty to work on projects that could trans­form the world. But both are dis­ci­plines that require tech­ni­cal know-how and ded­i­ca­tion to the field. When weigh­ing the pros and cons of elec­tron­ics engi­neer vs elec­tri­cal engi­neer, it’s impor­tant to take stock of what you are good at and pas­sion­ate about, so you don’t get in over your head.

What About Online Electrical Engineering Degrees?

There are many online pro­grams for full-time stu­dents who want to work in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing. Be sure when you are look­ing at pro­grams that they have accred­i­ta­tion from the Accred­i­ta­tion Board for Engi­neer­ing and Tech­nol­o­gy (ABET). ABET-accred­it­ed pro­grams are the high­est qual­i­ty. Right out of high school many stu­dents want a tra­di­tion­al on-cam­pus pro­gram, but work­ing adults can keep their jobs as online students.

The admis­sion require­ments for enroll­ment (such as GPA) may be low­er for online engi­neer­ing stu­dents. In-state learn­ers have an advan­tage in-per­son, but online tuition is often the same. Schools like Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty (ASU) charge the same for out-of-state and in-state online students.

Online cours­es can help stu­dents devel­op the same prob­lem-solv­ing and crit­i­cal think­ing skills as an on-cam­pus course. Plus, most online schools use the same fac­ul­ty mem­bers as on-cam­pus. Prospec­tive stu­dents may have to meet some pre­req­ui­site require­ments, and online pro­grams might not offer all spe­cial­iza­tions to trans­fer students.

There are many branch­es and career paths in the engi­neer­ing field, and pro­fes­sion­als with an elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing bachelor’s degree have a place in all of them:

• elec­tro­mag­net­ics
• ener­gy systems
• con­trol systems
• robot­ics
• aero­space
• bio­engi­neer­ing
• engi­neer­ing design
• nan­otech­nol­o­gy
• com­put­er programming
• com­mu­ni­ca­tions systems

The Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics shows that we will like­ly nev­er have enough pro­fes­sion­als to meet demand for engi­neer­ing careers!

Relat­ed Rankings:

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Elec­tri­cal Engineering