A bachelor’s in electrical engineering puts you on the engineering side of the hardware world: circuit analysis, electronics, signals, electromagnetics, power, and a senior design project with real constraints. It is also the degree with the tightest accreditation logic on this site. ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission accredits BSEE programs, and most state boards treat an ABET-accredited engineering degree as the education requirement for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and the Professional Engineer license that can follow it.
Be realistic about the online market before you start shopping. Fully online, ABET-accredited BSEE programs are rare. What exists online in volume is degree-completion BSEE tracks for students who already have the calculus and physics core, bachelor’s programs in electrical engineering technology accredited under a different ABET commission, and hybrid programs that require you to come to campus for laboratory intensives. This page explains the difference, what the coursework actually demands, and what to verify before you enroll.
Quick answers
Can I get a bachelor’s in electrical engineering fully online?
Rarely in the pure form. The laboratory sequence is the obstacle: circuits, electronics, and power labs expect instrumentation and supervised measurement, and ABET criteria expect real experimental work. Most online offerings are degree-completion programs, hybrid programs with required campus lab weeks, or electrical engineering technology degrees. Read the program page for the phrase “ABET-accredited” and for the lab requirement, and ask admissions directly whether a remote student ever sets foot on campus.
What is a degree-completion BSEE?
A program that admits students who already finished calculus, calculus-based physics, and often the first circuits course, usually at a community college or a prior university, and delivers the upper-division engineering courses online. It is a two-plus-two structure. It is not a shorter degree so much as a differently sourced one, and it is the most common way an online BSEE actually gets finished.
Is electrical engineering technology the same degree?
No. Electrical engineering technology is accredited by ABET’s Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission rather than the Engineering Accreditation Commission. The coursework is more applied and less derivation-heavy, it usually stops before the full differential-equations and electromagnetics chain, and in many states it is a slower or blocked path to the Professional Engineer license. It leads to real technical careers. It is a different credential, and some employers screen on the difference.
How much math does the degree require?
Calculus I through III, differential equations, usually linear algebra, and calculus-based physics covering mechanics and electricity and magnetism. Probability and statistics for random signals is common. These are hard prerequisites in a chain, not general education boxes. If you are returning to school after time away, plan for the math sequence as its own project before the engineering core begins.
How many credits is a BSEE?
Commonly about 128 to 132 semester hours rather than the 120 typical of other bachelor’s degrees, because of the math, science, and laboratory load. Confirm the exact total in each catalog, since it affects both your timeline and your total cost.
Does the bachelor’s let me sit for the FE exam?
In most states, graduating from an ABET-accredited engineering program is the education path to the Fundamentals of Engineering exam administered by NCEES, and many students take it in the senior year. Rules are set state by state, so check your board. Passing the FE makes you an engineer-in-training; the Professional Engineer exam comes later, after documented experience.
At a Glance
- Common degree titles: BS in Electrical Engineering, BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, BS in Electrical Engineering Technology (a different accreditation)
- Typical duration: 4 years full-time from scratch; shorter as a degree-completion track
- Credits: Commonly about 128-132 semester hours
- Core skills: Circuit analysis, electronics, signals and systems, electromagnetics, digital logic, instrumentation, design under constraints
- Accreditation: ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission for the BSEE, plus recognized institutional accreditation
For a full map of this program area, start here: Electrical Engineering Program Guide
Schools to compare
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
- Graduation rate 30%
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
- Average net price (lower is better) 20%
- Retention rate 15%
- Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Graduation rate
93%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$102,772
Avg net price
$12,116/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 64
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
97%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$124,080
Avg net price
$13,807/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 100
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Acceptance rate
11%
Graduation rate
93%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$92,446
Avg net price
$13,481/yr
TuitionIn‑state$16,347
Out‑of‑state$50,547
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 127
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
98%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$110,066
Avg net price
$6,128/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 47
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
95%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$128,566
Avg net price
$16,075/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 30
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
85%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$83,847
Avg net price
$13,269/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 92%
- Programs offered: 8
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 28
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
96%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$143,372
Avg net price
$20,111/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 99%
- Programs offered: 53
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
The main undergraduate pathways
ABET-accredited BSEE, hybrid or degree-completion
The direct route to licensure eligibility and to the widest set of engineering job postings. Delivered online it almost always carries a physical component: mailed lab kits for lower-division circuits, remote-access instrument benches, a partner laboratory near you, or a week or two on campus per year. Ask exactly which. A program that will not answer that question in writing is telling you something.
BS in Electrical Engineering Technology
More widely available online, more applied, and often built for working technicians moving into engineering-adjacent roles. It maps well to test, field service, manufacturing support, and controls work. It maps less well to design roles at semiconductor and defense employers, and to the PE license in many states. Choose it deliberately, not by accident because it appeared first in a search.
General engineering with an electrical concentration
Some schools deliver a broad engineering degree with a specialization rather than a standalone BSEE. See the engineering program guide and its electrical engineering concentration for how that structure works. Check the ABET listing for the exact program name, because accreditation attaches to the named program, not to the department.
Typical coursework in a bachelor’s program
| Course Topic |
What You Learn |
| Circuit Analysis I and II |
Node and mesh analysis, transient response, phasors, AC power, frequency response |
| Digital Logic Design |
Boolean algebra, combinational and sequential logic, finite state machines, hardware description languages |
| Electronics and Semiconductor Devices |
Diodes, bipolar and field-effect transistors, amplifier design, operational amplifier circuits |
| Signals and Systems |
Convolution, Fourier and Laplace transforms, sampling, filter behavior |
| Electromagnetic Fields |
Maxwell’s equations, transmission lines, waveguides, antennas |
| Control Systems |
Feedback, stability, root locus, frequency-domain compensation |
| Power Systems |
Three-phase analysis, transformers, machines, distribution, protection |
| Probability and Random Signals |
Noise, estimation, and the statistics behind communications and measurement |
| Laboratory sequence |
Instrumentation, measurement, breadboarding, oscilloscope and analyzer use, lab reporting |
| Senior design capstone |
A team design project with standards, constraints, budget, and a working deliverable |
Skills you may build
- Modeling a physical circuit accurately enough to predict what an instrument will show
- Reading a datasheet and designing to its limits rather than to its headline numbers
- Debugging hardware systematically instead of by substitution
- Writing an engineering report that another engineer can act on
- Working inside standards and safety codes rather than around them
- Managing a design project with a team, a budget, and a deadline
Prerequisites and course sequencing
The prerequisite chain is the schedule. Circuits requires calculus and physics. Signals requires differential equations. Electronics requires circuits. Capstone requires most of the core. Before you enroll, confirm:
- Which math and physics courses the program expects you to bring, and which it teaches
- How often each upper-division course is offered online, and in which terms
- Whether laboratory courses run every term or only once a year, since a missed lab can cost you a full year
- How the senior design team is formed for remote students
- Whether any residency, campus lab week, or proctored practical exam is required
If you are trying to compress the timeline, read accelerated electrical engineering programs first. Compression works on lecture content and works badly on a lab-and-prerequisite chain.
Transfer credits and degree planning
Transfer credit does more work in this major than in most, because the math and science core is both large and highly transferable. Confirm with each school:
- The maximum number of transfer credits accepted
- The minimum grade required, which is often higher for math and engineering prerequisites than for general education
- Whether laboratory courses transfer, or only the lecture portion
- Whether upper-division engineering courses can transfer at all, which they frequently cannot
- Residency requirements, meaning the minimum credits you must complete at the degree-granting institution
Community college calculus and physics sequences are the usual entry point for degree-completion tracks. See Affordable Online Electrical Engineering Degrees for how those choices affect total cost.
Accreditation and program quality checks
Two checks, in order. First, recognized institutional accreditation, verified through the U.S. Department of Education database. Second, program-level accreditation through ABET, and specifically which commission accredits it.
ABET accreditation attaches to a named program at a named campus, not to a school as a whole. A university can hold an ABET-accredited on-campus BSEE while its online offering is a technology degree or an unaccredited variant. Look up the exact program title you would be enrolling in.
Bachelor’s vs a master’s in electrical engineering
The bachelor’s is the entry credential and the licensure-relevant one. Most electrical engineering job postings ask for a BS in electrical engineering or a closely related field, and an ABET-accredited BS is what state boards recognize. An online master’s in electrical engineering is a specialization degree, common for practicing engineers moving into power systems, signal processing, or microelectronics, and widely available online because graduate coursework is less lab-bound. A master’s does not repair a missing ABET bachelor’s for licensure purposes in most states.
Electrical engineers had a median annual wage of $120,630, with the 10th percentile at $76,550 and the 90th percentile at $184,300 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Employment is projected to grow 7.2 percent from 2024 to 2034, with 11,700 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034).
Compare degree options:
Data verified: September 5, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
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