Española, NM - Northern New Mexico College Bachelor of Information Engineering Technology (IET) program has been officially accredited by the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET, making it the most affordable engineering degree in the Southwest.

Following a rigorous development process that began in 2009, Northern's IET program underwent an accreditation review process during the past year that included a site visit by program reviewers.

"Accreditation means that we have shown continuous improvement in student advisement, curriculum, course material and lab facilities," IET Program Director Jorge Crichigno said. "Certain employers, both private and public as well as some graduate schools prefer graduates from ABET-accredited programs."

ABET-Accreditation applies retroactively to degrees awarded from Northern's IET program since October 1st, 2012. The College's engineering program is also the first to be accredited in northern New Mexico.

The IET program helps students develop expertise in the areas of software engineering computer networks, cyber security, web engineering and databases. For the last three years, Northern's Engineering Department has been the most active engineering school in New Mexico in the American Society of Engineering Education in terms of participation and publications.

In 2013, Cisco recognized Northern's Engineering Department in its headquarters of Silicon Valley for its innovative IET educational program, among more than 2,000 institutions.

Northern's Engineering Department has received support from institutions such as Google and the National Science Foundation. Scholarships are currently available for students interested in the IET program, which may cover full tuition and living expenses.

ABET is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that accredits university programs in applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology. ABET accredits over 3,300 programs at more than 680 colleges and universities in 24 countries.

For more information, contact:

Jorge Crichigno, PhD., Director
Information Engineering Technology
Northern New Mexico College
921 Paseo de Oñate
Española, NM 87532
(505) 747-5429
jcrichigno@nnmc.edu