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Hi,
Since I'm not very familiar with the U.S. education system, I was hoping someone could give me some insights about the following:
My ultimate goal is to earn an ABET-accredited degree in electrical engineering fully online, at the lowest possible cost.
I found an online undergraduate Electrical Engineering "upper-level two-year program" at Stony Brook University.
More info: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/eeonline/
I read their requirements and it seems I have a chance of getting in, because my previous degree is not related to Electrical Engineering at all (it's a B.A. in English). ( https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/eeonl...ns/faq.php)
According to their admission requirements ( https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/eeonl.../index.php), the following courses need to be completed beforehand:
College Calculus I
College Calculus II
College Calculus III
Introduction to Differential Equations
An English composition course equivalent to WRT 102 (U.S. academic writing course), with at least a grade of C
My question is: are there any recommended (preferably inexpensive) online courses I could take as an international student to fulfill these prerequisites?
I came across some very low-cost online classes at New Mexico Junior College, but I’m not sure if they would be accepted.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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My suggestion is to provide a bit more details, your exact age, country/location, a clearer picture of your scenario by filling in the addendum and template more, not just one or two letter/word answers. For reference, your previous posts/thread: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...sia-and-EU
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The list of ABET accredited online degrees can be found on the ABET website: https://amspub.abet.org/aps/name-search?...nstitution
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Calculus I and English Composition can be done on Sophia. Straighterline offers Calculus II. Not sure about DE or Calc III.
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Our enrollment specialists can help you find schools with your program that accept our Calculus courses! You can set up a chat with them here: https://info.straighterline.com/es-info-request
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The only schools with 100% fully online electrical engineering degrees are:
Arizona State University
Florida International University
National University
University of North Dakota
Stony Brook University
The tuition prices are pretty steep, but last time I checked the University of North Dakota had the best rate at about 1200 per course but not sure how far the ACE evaluated course credits will go at any of these schools.
You need to reach out to the registrars and see which on will take the credits earned from SDC, Sophia and StraighterLine.
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(09-06-2025, 09:22 PM)jeremyminni Wrote: The only schools with 100% fully online electrical engineering degrees are:
Arizona State University
Florida International University
National University
University of North Dakota
Stony Brook University
The tuition prices are pretty steep, but last time I checked the University of North Dakota had the best rate at about 1200 per course but not sure how far the ACE evaluated course credits will go at any of these schools.
You need to reach out to the registrars and see which on will take the credits earned from SDC, Sophia and StraighterLine.
National University accepts some Sophia: https://www.nu.edu/credit-for-prior-learning-at-nu/
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There are more remote options available at lower tuition costs if you are open to Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies degrees. It depends on your goals.
Working in power generation or needing a PE license, I could see the need for an EE degree. If you are not too concerned with getting a PE immediately or not planning to work in a highly regulated industry/role, then EET would suffice.
For reference, I'm a senior lead electrical automation controls and industrial robotics engineer in the automotive manufacturing industry in the US. I got into this role without a degree at all. Much of the manufacturing industry is not concerned about the degree, but it does check the box for HR. Having a functional understanding of electrical engineering is helpful, but 90% of the work can be learned by reading manuals.
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09-25-2025, 08:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-25-2025, 08:30 PM by Mint Berry Crunch.)
(08-25-2025, 03:06 AM)cheeseberserk Wrote: Hi,
Since I'm not very familiar with the U.S. education system, I was hoping someone could give me some insights about the following:
My ultimate goal is to earn an ABET-accredited degree in electrical engineering fully online, at the lowest possible cost.
I found an online undergraduate Electrical Engineering "upper-level two-year program" at Stony Brook University.
More info: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/eeonline/
I read their requirements and it seems I have a chance of getting in, because my previous degree is not related to Electrical Engineering at all (it's a B.A. in English). (https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/eeonl...ns/faq.php)
According to their admission requirements (https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/eeonl.../index.php), the following courses need to be completed beforehand:
College Calculus I
College Calculus II
College Calculus III
Introduction to Differential Equations
An English composition course equivalent to WRT 102 (U.S. academic writing course), with at least a grade of C
My question is: are there any recommended (preferably inexpensive) online courses I could take as an international student to fulfill these prerequisites?
I came across some very low-cost online classes at New Mexico Junior College, but I’m not sure if they would be accepted.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Not specifically Electrical Engineering, but TESU offers a B.S. in Electrical Technology
https://www.tesu.edu/degrees-programs/ba...nology.php
(08-25-2025, 03:06 AM)cheeseberserk Wrote: Hi,
Since I'm not very familiar with the U.S. education system, I was hoping someone could give me some insights about the following:
My ultimate goal is to earn an ABET-accredited degree in electrical engineering fully online, at the lowest possible cost.
I found an online undergraduate Electrical Engineering "upper-level two-year program" at Stony Brook University.
More info: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/eeonline/
I read their requirements and it seems I have a chance of getting in, because my previous degree is not related to Electrical Engineering at all (it's a B.A. in English). (https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/eeonl...ns/faq.php)
According to their admission requirements (https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/eeonl.../index.php), the following courses need to be completed beforehand:
College Calculus I
College Calculus II
College Calculus III
Introduction to Differential Equations
An English composition course equivalent to WRT 102 (U.S. academic writing course), with at least a grade of C
My question is: are there any recommended (preferably inexpensive) online courses I could take as an international student to fulfill these prerequisites?
I came across some very low-cost online classes at New Mexico Junior College, but I’m not sure if they would be accepted.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Not specifically Electrical Engineering, but TESU offers a B.S. in Electrical Technology
https://www.tesu.edu/degrees-programs/ba...nology.php
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Apologies if I'm too late to respond but I wanted to give some input as I ended taking the online EE route. I might go a little off topic because I want to document how I feel about it all. I went with NDSU's EE. I was aiming to complete my degree at around 37K USD total but they suddenly removed the tuition cap and it ended up hiking up my total estimated tuition to around 60K USD total... yikes. After receiving helpful advice from here, I am taking only the engineering courses at the university that the university won't allow to be transferred in or I can't find anywhere online. I'm still expecting myself to spend around a huge sum amount of 45K USD total including the external credits despite this. Will I ever be able to have a good ROI for this degree? Only time can tell.
So first and foremost before I list the "cheapest" options I think you have for a pure EE degree, research the university you want to study in. Take all the gen eds externally and Math classes for cheap before enrolling. Make sure that these credits you take can be transferred in by talking to the university directly. If the university only accepts "RA credits", I'd personally expect to spend between 4000-8000 USD on these credits depending on how many you take them. Seems expensive until you realize you're saving around 15K USD just because of this. I still have to research where to get cheaper RA credits as an international student.
USA wise, there are only three "cheapest" options if you want a pure EE degree.
MS State's EE. Caveat is that they require Physics 1 and 2 and Engineering Mechanics 1 to be done externally and I personally couldn't find them but someone might be able to help you out. They allow up to 64 hours of transfer credit. If you take rest of the 64 credits through them, the total cost excluding the equipment purchases and the external credit seems to be around 30K USD.
University of Southern Indiana's EE. it's a degree completion program so they expect you to take the gen eds somewhere else. I think the total cost for this excluding the external credits seems to be around 33K USD.
Lastly, Stony Brook's online EE which you listed. They accept maximum 84 credits so you can easily cover the gen eds and their pre required courses in this. I estimate this costing around 25K total excluding the external credits. The issue? You can find the gen eds for cheap easily but their pre requirement courses are the ones I haven't been able to find for cheap.
Why I'm sticking to NDSU despite these cheaper offerings because... the admissions procedure is very hectic for an international student. It just takes a lot of time and effort. I might switch to Stony Brook's online EE later because it seems high quality program wise but the only possible issue I've had is that the transcript will have the course designator as EEO and I really don't want employers to discriminate me for the course delivery if they ever ask me for the transcript (not sure if they will though).
Still too expensive? Try Asia. I think Phillipines has an university that offers an online EE degree though I'm not sure about its accrediation at all. The same university however has an ABET accrediated CS program. As someone said here, EET is a great option for an EE student too. Many online EET programs I've inquired into require you to purchase equipment to ensure you have hands-on experience which seems like a huge plus for today's market and this field in general. Sadly, there aren't cheap options for online engineering and it really can be tough for people like me who are in a rela life tough situation.
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