In August, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, a national organization to evaluate and assure quality of engineering programs, accredited Cornell’s environmental engineering program for the first time. The specialized accreditation allows C.U. graduates to take exams that certify them as licensed professional engineers.

The environmental engineering degree, a joint program between the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, was created in 2002. Although the program had not been accredited, students could still receive a diploma from the program. The program was not accredited because the accrediting board only considers programs that have graduates.

“The intention was to accredit the program from the beginning,” Aneshansley said.

Unlike previous years, students can now major solely in the environmental engineering degree program and still be able to register for the licensing tests required to become a professional.

“We used to advise students to double major, especially in biology, in order to take licensing tests right out of college,” said Prof. Beth Ahner, associate chair of the department of biological and environmental engineering. Other students would often major in civil engineering.

Accreditation for the program allows students to take necessary exams to become professional engineers more easily and more quickly. “Lawyers have to take the Bar. Doctors have to take Boards. The test is a similar process,” Ahner said.

With accreditation, students take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam soon after graduation, work for an engineering firm for around four years to gain experience before being allowed to take the second round of testing, called the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam.

Without the accreditation, graduates must gain experience for around eight years, a much longer amount of time.

“There are certain fields where it is more important to have a professional license, including civil and environmental, so that you can look at designs and sign off on various projects,” said Prof. Dan Aneshansley, chair of the department of biological and environmental engineering.

This allows graduates to assert the validity and safety of their specific projects, he said.

Major projects like waste-water treatment, air pollution and hazardous materials require a licensed engineer to sign off on the designs in order to progress into the construction phase. With a license, environmental engineers can direct their own projects and get better jobs in consulting or designing.

“There are increasing demands on the industry. For environmental engineers there is pressure for more in-depth knowledge. ... Civil engineering is a lot more broad because students study structures and transportation,” said Prof. Philip Liu, director of the school of civil and environmental engineering.

At the moment, neither program offers enough flexibility for a student to get a more focused education in environmental engineering disciplines.

“We are one of the better programs in the country. We just hadn’t gone through the process yet,” Ahner said.

A potential program has to jump many hurdles before it receives ABET accreditation. The list of ABET requirement runs long — the program has to submit a 100-paged report and pass coursework inspections, among other things, before it can be accredited.

Environmental engineering as a discipline has grown quickly in importance and popularity in recent years. Forbes Magazine recently ranked environmental engineering as one of the new “green jobs” with the most growth potential.

At Cornell, the growing major has roughly 20 affiliates per year, but 30 freshmen from the incoming class declare environmental engineering as their major. In the coming years, the department expects up to 40 students majoring in the program in each class.

“Students are excited and looking at Cornell. We are getting better students to come here and that reflects well on the University,” Ahner said.

One of the main reasons students say they want to go into the field is to make a difference in the world.

“When it comes down to it, I just want to be able to make the world a better place to live. Cliché, I know, but hey, it’s true,” said Hillary Richard ’12, who plans to major in environmental engineering. “I had to evacuate with my family when Hurricane Katrina hit four years ago, and that experience definitely made me never want anything like that to happen to anyone else’s family ever again.”

“I chose the program because I like the environment. I’m particularly focused on water purification because there are tons of millions of people in the world that lack clean access [to water],” Max Petersen ’13 said.

“As for Cornell, the engineering school’s reputation made me come look, but the location and the campus made me want to stay,” Richard said.