MSEE for Professionals?

[jmbelectrical]

So, last year, I graduated with a BSEE. I have a little over 10 years working in MEP consulting and I would love to do this for the duration of my career. I won't be eligible to take the PE exam for another 2 to 3 years, however, I fully intend to take it once I am.

My university recently created a new MSEE program called MSEE for Professionals (MSEE-P for short). It's a 30 credit hour, 16 month degree program hosted entirely online. Courses are completed one at a time. I believe that my employer has a full tuition reimbursement program. Given its $30,000 price tag, reimbursement would be the only way I would pursue this. If they do indeed offer full tuition reimbursement, would a degree such as this be worth obtaining? I have a few concerns:

1. Are graduate-level degrees valuable in the MEP consulting industry? I know *very* few people in this industry who went beyond a Bachelor's degree.
2. No disrespect to anyone holding such a degree, but its curriculum doesn't seem nearly as rigorous as a traditional MSEE degree. It seems a little watered down.

What are everyone's thoughts on this? Should I just concentrate on the PE exam or would this be beneficial to my career, as well?

 

[Pmatherne]

I just got out of the MEP industry so I might be able to offer a little bit of advice. I was looking into getting a MS, but I decided against it. I would have had to pay my own way and in that industry I did not see the MS being worth it.
My reasoning was that we were paid based on a percentage of the cost of the project, which I figured most people would hit thier ceiling cap naturally. To me the PE would be the bigger item. It would basically allow you to produce your own product instead of relying on someone else to stamp it for you

Now if your company will reimburse you for it, I will tell you to take that offer.

Future PE Engineer
Pet project I am working on to help other engineers, not much yet hoping to get it grow as I learn more

http://www.peexamquestions.com

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Bit of a sidenote, but...

Will the fact that it's an online degree cause you any issues getting a job? Some employers/interviewers (myself included) are highly skeptical of online degrees. I have taken many online courses to keep up to date with certain fields, but I did not consider any of them to be top notch teaching moments (and I'm talking classes from Stanford, MIT, etc.), and therefore I have to look at entire degrees gained in such fashion to be suspect. Your prior experience would count significantly more to me in an interview situation than an online degree...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[jmbelectrical]

MacGyverS2000,

You raise an excellent point about the fact that it's an online degree. The univeristy that's offering this degree is the same one that I attended for my undergraduate degree. It's ABET accredited and, overall, I have great things to say about its engineering program, but it's nowhere near the same league as Stanford, MIT, and similar institutions. I'm surprised that you found their online courses to be lacking.

I spoke with a few coworkers about this yesterday. One person said that, at his previous consulting firm, HR would toss any resumes from applicants with graduate-level degrees. Their reasoning is that such people are much better suited for an academic or more theory-intensive environment. Plus, of course, they can command a higher salary. This isn't the first time that I've heard about such a practice, so it might have some truth to it. It seems that, with obtaining a Master's degree, I could run the risk of being perceived as overqualified.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

HR would toss any resumes from applicants with graduate-level degrees. Their reasoning is that such people are much better suited for an academic or more theory-intensive environment. Plus, of course, they can command a higher salary. This isn't the first time that I've heard about such a practice, so it might have some truth to it. It seems that, with obtaining a Master's degree, I could run the risk of being perceived as overqualified.

I can see that happening with PhDs in many fields, but Masters? I would only expect such tactics in very low-tech fields. Sure, post-grads command more money, but that's because they have a better understanding of the theory involved (well, theoretically speaking) and should provide a better end-product (again, theoretically speaking).

I have a feeling, however, the bean counters just don't like the "more money" thing, period.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[oldestguy]

I don't know about other fields, but in civil eng'r a Masters usually included with some form of practical thesis project, not just a summary of research. In these cases that thesis work was the clincher, not the grad courses. In several cases I know of, including myself, it projected the individuals into a job that a BS would have to wait a long time for. Generally the first job was more of a management level than a design level. Therefore, the pay level was higher all through the years. The money is in management.

 

[PeterVenkman]

With the power engineering programs at Michigan Tech and University of Idaho, the online coursework is the same as the in class. Same exams, same projects, and same homework. In class is most definitely better than online but what do you say if someone submits homeworks, projects, and exams that are better then most of the in class students? I don't think the coursework is any worse. My online motors class was better than the one I took in person years ago. A good prof. makes a good class online or not.

I though think most learning at a graduate level is teaching yourself. The coursework helps save you time but by that point you should have a solid enough foundation to pick up most things if you put the time into it. Also, there aren't that many universities that cover certain specialties like power engineering anymore. If you want to go deeper into subject, online coursework might be your only option.

 

[jmbelectrical]

oldestguy,

I can see where the difficulty of the thesis would far outweigh that of the coursework. Many universities offer two different Master's degrees: the MS and the MEng. The MS is usually used as a pathway towards a PhD whereas the MEng is a terminal degree. The degree in question, the MSEE-P, appears to be something else entirely, as there's no thesis component, like the MS, and it's shorter and more compressed than the MEng. I'm sure that it's a terminal degree and not intended for pursuit of a PhD. I had a conversation with my supervisor yesterday and he essentially reiterated the same thing as you: the money is in management.

 

[jmbelectrical]

AnthonyHopkins,

I just took a look at Michigan Tech's certificate programs found here: [URL unfurl="true"]http://www.mtu.edu/ece/online/certificates/[/url]. Since my concentration is in power systems, it seems that the certificate in Advanced Electric Power Engineering would be perfect for me. What's your opinion of this? And how is the quality of their courses?

 

[PeterVenkman]

If you don't care getting a masters, the certificate probably is all you want. You get your power analysis and one protection and controls classes in. A lot of the other classes, while interesting, probably won't be very appicable with anything you do. The only thing that I would wonder about with a certificate vs a masters degree is what employers would make of it.

I think the classes were in general good. The older profs tended to be better than the younger ones. Overall, I think it was good. When I took the P.E exam, I passed easily with only 20 hours of studying and that was mostly just on NEC stuff so I think I learned something. I kind of think that a lot of people would do better on the exam if they just took one or two power analysis classes instead of doing something like Testmasters, which just spoon feeds you stuff that will probably be on the exam but you'll quickly all forget because you don't understand all the theory. One class, I think cost about as much as a Testmasters cram session, too.