FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Sacred Heart University now has an agreement with all 12 Connecticut community colleges that enables the colleges’ engineering science graduates to transfer their course credits to SHU’s computer engineering program. It’s a 2+2 program: two years of study at a community college, followed by two years at SHU, earns them their bachelor degrees.
Entering SHU as juniors, these students will not lose a single one of their hard-earned credits on their way to their bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. With these degrees, graduates can work in computer engineering, software development and various other related professions.
Computer hardware engineers earn a median salary of $114,600 per year, and software developers earn $105,590 per year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The demand for computer engineering majors remains high, but tangible skills are a must.
“Employers are ultimately looking for skills. What makes our computer engineering program unique is that we immerse students in diverse projects. From the very beginning of their first year here, they’re doing a lot of hands-on projects. It’s also student-centered. Our engineering lab fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. Our students are truly at the center of the operations,” said Tolga Kaya, director of SHU’s computer engineering program.
The program takes a transdisciplinary approach, in that students study computer engineering from multiple perspectives, including business and ethics. “Students have plenty of transdisciplinary interactions within and outside the campus community through curricular and extra-curricular activities,” Kaya said.
Also of interest to prospective students is the use of drones as the teaching platform, so students learn while playing—an uncommon feature among computer engineering programs.
This 2+2 program caps a broader initiative between SHU and Connecticut’s community colleges that enables graduates of the colleges’ two-year engineering programs to transfer their credits to any of SHU’s engineering and business programs.
Martha Crawford, dean of SHU’s Jack Welch College of Business and Technology, said she is pleased the University was able to “construct a clear ‘on-ramp’ for graduates of two-year engineering programs at any of Connecticut’s community colleges to our engineering and business programs, without losing any time or credits. For example, a community college graduate in engineering technology could come here and graduate two years later with a degree in marketing or management and go into a career in tech sales—or finish a four-year degree in engineering. We are committed to helping students make the most of their education and align with their career paths.”
For more information on the computer engineering program, visit https://www.sacredheart.edu/academics/schoolofcomputerscienceengineering/undergraduateprograms/engineering/computerengineering/
As the second-largest independent Catholic university in New England, and one of the fastest-growing in the U.S., Sacred Heart University is a national leader in shaping higher education for the 21st century. SHU offers more than 80 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its Fairfield, Conn., campus. Sacred Heart also has satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland and offers online programs. More than 9,000 students attend the University’s eight colleges and schools: Arts & Sciences; Communication, Media & the Arts; Computer Science & Engineering; Health Professions; the Isabelle Farrington College of Education; the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology; Nursing; and St. Vincent’s College. Sacred Heart stands out from other Catholic institutions as it was established and led by laity. The contemporary Catholic university is rooted in the rich Catholic intellectual tradition and the liberal arts, and at the same time cultivates students to be forward thinkers who enact change—in their own lives, professions and in their communities. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its Best 385 Colleges–2020 Edition, “Best in the Northeast” and Best 252 Business Schools–2019 Edition. Sacred Heart is home to the award-winning, NPR-affiliated radio station, WSHU, a Division I athletics program and an impressive performing arts program that includes choir, band, dance and theater. www.sacredheart.edu