Faculty Liaison Teresa Larkin, Department of Physics
American University offers a cooperative five-year engineering program with the University of Maryland in College Park. American University students can combine the advantages of both liberal arts and professional education. Students are awarded two bachelor’s degrees in a five-year period. Students typically spend their first three years on the American University campus concentrating in a major field in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Students are strongly encouraged to choose a major field in one of the natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, or computer science at American University. If however, the student chooses to complete a major in the arts, humanities, or social sciences, he or she may do so, provided that the engineering program requirements are also satisfied. This option requires careful planning and may result in an extra semester or more of coursework.
In the third year, with the recommendation of the preengineering faculty liaison, students apply to the engineering program at the University of Maryland. The engineering program options at the University of Maryland include aerospace, bioengineering, chemical and biomolecular, civil and environmental, electrical and computer, fire protection, materials sciences, and mechanical engineering. After admission to the engineering program, the fourth year of study is spent there. Once the student completes the requirements for the American University major (generally at the end of the fourth year), the first bachelor’s degree is awarded. After completion of the engineering requirements during the fifth year, the student receives a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Maryland.
Students work closely with the preengineering faculty liaison and an advisor in their major field of study. The faculty liaison and advisor will work together to individually tailor course selections to meet the student’s interests and needs. Throughout the course of their studies students should maintain a high grade point average. Completion of basic courses must be done during the first three years of study in order to complete the requirements for an engineering degree in five years. Courses with grades below C will not transfer to the University of Maryland.
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