Florida Engineering Technology (ET) Education Continues Growing Strong - Ten Years of Success!

Florida Engineering Technology (ET) education continues growing strong! Back in 2007, there were three Florida colleges offering the ET AS degree. By the end of the 2017-18 academic year, the ET Degree community in Florida had grown to 21 out of 28 state and community colleges that could offer the FLATE-developed ET AS degree program. This represents an outstanding 75% of all Florida colleges. Table 1 illustrates ten years of hard effort building a strong AS ET degree program in Florida.

Table 1 - Ten Years - ET AS Degree Program Adoption by Academic Year

Year	07-08	08-09	09-10	10-11	11-12	12-13	13-14	14-15	15-16	16-17	17-18
# Colleges	3	5	10	11	13	13	15	19	19	19	21

FLATE AS ET Degree College Network: Table 2 shows the ET Education College Network in Florida and the specializations currently offered. The AS ET degree program has 3 major components: (I) general education; (II) an ET technical core; and, (III) specialization tracts that address regional industry needs. The ET Core aligns with the MSSC Certified Production Technician (CPT) national certification. A statewide articulation agreement provides 15 credit hours of the ET technical c0re for anyone holding a current MSSC CPT credential. The ET degree is also the core of the ET Community that gathers semi-annually at the ET Forum at various colleges around the state. This regular forum provides professional development, networking, and collaborations that now supports a strong community of practice focused on Engineering Technology education in Florida.  

Florida ET and Related Program Student Enrollments and Completions: Since year 2007, the Florida Advanced Technologic Education Center (FLATE), a National Science Foundation Regional Center of Excellence, annually compiles enrollment and completion data for the Engineering Technology (ET) and related degree and college credit certificate (CCC) programs for Florida colleges, and for related programs at the PSAV and secondary level.  These data, provided by the Florida Department of Education, are reliable, but they do not include enrollment for undeclared majors or enrollment in duplicate programs (such as certificates under degree programs). College Registrar reporting/cut dates also result in some reported enrollment discrepancies. Minor anomalies may occur as older program titles are collapsed and added program titles are added. FLATE’s report contains five sections and an appendix with individual ET adopting college performance and presents a 5-year trend study ending with the most current data provided from FLDOE. 

New data has been added to this year’s report to track AS ET Degree Female and minority enrollment per college and the total MSSC CPT (Manufacturing Skills Standards Council - Certified Production Technician) industry certification assessments delivered and certification attained by anyone in the state. but most of these new CPT credentials are students in Florida secondary, post-secondary and college programs. The large number of CPT's earned each year have kept Florida at the number two slot for numbers of these credentials earned in a state annually for the past several years.

Sections of FLATE’s Annual Enrollment Report include: engineering technology and related programs AA/AAS enrollments; engineering technology and related program AA/AAS completions; engineering technology and related program CCC (college credit certificate) enrollments; engineering technology and related program CCC completions; secondary manufacturing-related program enrollment and graduates; and post-secondary adult vocational (PSAV) enrollments and completions. Related programs are defined as the AS degree programs in the state that also support manufacturing and engineering technology but might be in specific industry sectors.  For example, Electronics Engineering Technology, Drafting and Design, and Aerospace Technology are considered "related" programs. 

Figure 1 shows the five-years Florida ET and Related AS Degree Program Student Enrollment. Student enrollment has been growing steadily during the years. Academic year 2017-18 shows 1,939 students enrolled in the AS ET degree program and 3,198 for the related AS technology. This steady growth trend, shown in Figure 1, demonstrates the program's broad acceptance within the Florida college system. That acceptance trend, indicated by the FLDOE enrollment data in Figure 1, is a key factor for its viability and sustainability. In 2017-18 ET AS Degree program represented 38% of total Florida technology AS degree program enrollment (n = 5,137).

Female and Minority Tends: In spite of all the recruitment efforts and outreach campaigns, women representation in STEM fields continues to be low in Florida and the USA. Table 2 shows the 5-years trend for selected demographic profiles of ET and Related Technology AS Degree Program Completion. Academic year 2017-18 shows that only 14% (n = 23) and 21% (n = 62) of females completed the ET and related AS technology programs respectively. Additionally, 37% and 38% of minorities completed the ET and related AS technology programs respectively. FLATE continuously invests significant effort in outreach campaigns and educational materials encouraging female and minorities’ participation in the enrollment pipeline. These efforts include All-Girls Robotics Camps, girl camp scholarships, strategic professional development sessions, workshops and webinars about recruiting and retaining females.

Table 2 - Selected demographic profile for ET and Related Technology AS Degree Program Completion

ET and related technology college credit certificate enrollment (CCC): The 5-years trend for the ET and related technology college credit certificate enrollment (CCC), Figure 2, denotes a continuous growth in Florida. The most recent academic year (2017-18) showed 49% (n = 457) ET & related CCC female completion and 48% (n = 450) for minorities registered in the ET and related technology AS degree program.

For the convenience of FLATE’s college partners, the Florida ET and Related Program Student Enrollment and Completion Report Appendix includes the five-year Engineering Technology enrollment and completion data trends for each individual college. These individual college reports also include data for any related AS technology programs (enrollment and completions for both degrees and CCCs). All data reported is extracted from reports annually provided by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE).

For more details about the Florida AS ET Degree program visit FL-ate.org/Engineering Technology Education and madeinflorida.org/engineering-technology-degree/e-t-overview/