Now More Than Ever: The Need for a Common Engineering Core Curriculum

For decades, the hallmark of engineering educational programs was a “common core curriculum” that provided all engineering students, regardless of engineering discipline, with a foundation of standard, lower-division courses in mathematics, science and engineering topics. These core courses (e.g., calculus, differential equations, physics, chemistry, drafting, freshman design, statics, dynamics, strength of materials, thermodynamics, programming, circuits, etc.) were common to all disciplines. Over the past decade or so, increasing divergence of lowerdivision requirements among different four-year institutions and among the different fields of engineering, has led to fading of the common engineering core. This paper addresses the factors that have led to the gradual erosion of the lower-division core curriculum and the effects that these curriculum changes have on students, faculty, and pre-engineering programs. In addition, the paper explores the implications on the future of the engineering educational system, the cost to taxpayers, and the system’s effectiveness at producing the engineers that are needed to ensure the viability of the engineering profession.