Does he have a local college that offers engineering? What market/region will he be working (e.g. the Boston market is really saturated with engineers, so he'd be competing against kids from MIT, WIT, Northeastern, Olin...and hiring managers are fairly skeptical of a new engineer from an online program, in comparison)?
UND has an online ME program, but you have to go to their campus for short summer-session labs. AMU/APU's online EE is not ABET accredited (it's still too new - they actually have an ABET Past President on their Board, so I'd wager that it's coming, whenever they do graduate the first students and get the final review). ASU *is* ABET, for EE. I believe there are hefty equipment costs with both programs, though, as he'd need to have a decent bench setup (o-scopes, waveform generators, etc)...there are cheap-ish home versions, but industry will expect him to have familiarity with professional grade equipment, too, so he needs to think how he'll get that - his local IEEE and ACM chapters would be good places to start networking to find connections to help with the equipment/hands-on experience issues). For hands-on ME experience/networking, see if there's a local ASME chapter, plus join MeetUp to look for local CAD groups - he may be able to do some non-credit skill-building with SolidWorks or AutoCAD using their mentors.
One possibility for degree progress is to check local community colleges for an "Engineering Transfer" option (AS). That typically includes a lot of the math, and for ME, can include a lot of the basic physics: mechanics, statics, dynamics, material science, thermodynamics, heat transfer, possibly intro design/CAD. For the basics, too, TESU and Excelsior offer them as part of their Nuclear Engineering Technology degrees, but they're expensive. AMU/APU offers Fundamentals of MechE, but the prereqs include physics 2 and differential equations, so it's not accessible as an "intro" for freshmen. And he should take calculus-based physics, as opposed to algebra-based physics. That is an important distinction, if he's going to transfer the credit into an engineering program.
Also check local state universities for "degree completion programs" in engineering. He may be able to do a part-time/evening program...transfer in as much of the basics as he can, and then brick & mortar the upper level engineering subjects in the degree completion program. If the local schools don't have a formal program, he can go talk to the various engineering departments and beg. That might work...
If he's unsure about his path, he can start accumulating gen-eds on the cheap, as well as start the math/physics sequence while he figures out the engineering part. He may find that he doesn't much like the maths or the physics after all, and changes his plan accordingly.
Finally, it *may* be possible for him to do a masters in engineering without a bachelors in engineering. I've had friends do that (including Computer Engineering at MIT), and it's the path I'm pursuing (Controls Engineering & Engineering Design @ UWisc). If he goes that path, he'll want an undergrad degree heavy in math/phys...I would not go the generic BSBA/BALS if he thinks he might want to apply to a pure engineering masters. I'd also encourage him to talk with masters programs sooner rather than later, so he doesn't waste time doing the wrong things undergrad. And they'll probably have a list of pre-reqs for him, outside of his non-engineering degree. It really depends where/what he wants to end up doing long term. Another option, lots of math majors work in the engineering space, so even a maths degree would move the needle considerably, career-wise.
Whatever he winds up choosing as a final destination, I'd strongly encourage him to start on the gen-ed slog...get moving, in any direction. Time passes very quickly, it's easy for the degree to fall by the wayside and become a sudden hard-stop in a career later on.
UND has an online ME program, but you have to go to their campus for short summer-session labs. AMU/APU's online EE is not ABET accredited (it's still too new - they actually have an ABET Past President on their Board, so I'd wager that it's coming, whenever they do graduate the first students and get the final review). ASU *is* ABET, for EE. I believe there are hefty equipment costs with both programs, though, as he'd need to have a decent bench setup (o-scopes, waveform generators, etc)...there are cheap-ish home versions, but industry will expect him to have familiarity with professional grade equipment, too, so he needs to think how he'll get that - his local IEEE and ACM chapters would be good places to start networking to find connections to help with the equipment/hands-on experience issues). For hands-on ME experience/networking, see if there's a local ASME chapter, plus join MeetUp to look for local CAD groups - he may be able to do some non-credit skill-building with SolidWorks or AutoCAD using their mentors.
One possibility for degree progress is to check local community colleges for an "Engineering Transfer" option (AS). That typically includes a lot of the math, and for ME, can include a lot of the basic physics: mechanics, statics, dynamics, material science, thermodynamics, heat transfer, possibly intro design/CAD. For the basics, too, TESU and Excelsior offer them as part of their Nuclear Engineering Technology degrees, but they're expensive. AMU/APU offers Fundamentals of MechE, but the prereqs include physics 2 and differential equations, so it's not accessible as an "intro" for freshmen. And he should take calculus-based physics, as opposed to algebra-based physics. That is an important distinction, if he's going to transfer the credit into an engineering program.
Also check local state universities for "degree completion programs" in engineering. He may be able to do a part-time/evening program...transfer in as much of the basics as he can, and then brick & mortar the upper level engineering subjects in the degree completion program. If the local schools don't have a formal program, he can go talk to the various engineering departments and beg. That might work...
If he's unsure about his path, he can start accumulating gen-eds on the cheap, as well as start the math/physics sequence while he figures out the engineering part. He may find that he doesn't much like the maths or the physics after all, and changes his plan accordingly.
Finally, it *may* be possible for him to do a masters in engineering without a bachelors in engineering. I've had friends do that (including Computer Engineering at MIT), and it's the path I'm pursuing (Controls Engineering & Engineering Design @ UWisc). If he goes that path, he'll want an undergrad degree heavy in math/phys...I would not go the generic BSBA/BALS if he thinks he might want to apply to a pure engineering masters. I'd also encourage him to talk with masters programs sooner rather than later, so he doesn't waste time doing the wrong things undergrad. And they'll probably have a list of pre-reqs for him, outside of his non-engineering degree. It really depends where/what he wants to end up doing long term. Another option, lots of math majors work in the engineering space, so even a maths degree would move the needle considerably, career-wise.
Whatever he winds up choosing as a final destination, I'd strongly encourage him to start on the gen-ed slog...get moving, in any direction. Time passes very quickly, it's easy for the degree to fall by the wayside and become a sudden hard-stop in a career later on.
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