Accreditation of a program refers to the process of assessing the adequacy and relevance of an engineering course being offered in universities. The purpose is to identify to the Board those engineering courses that meet the criteria for accreditation. These criteria are formulated to provide graduates with an education satisfying the academic requirements for registration. Accreditation of engineering programs is done by the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK).
Engineering programs that EBK accredits
The Board does not accredit Departments or Faculties but engineering programs. Courses considered for accreditation are offered by an institution of higher learning that is either a public university or a private university with a charter granted by the President of the Republic of Kenya as per the Universities Act.
To be accredited a program must include the word ‘engineering’ in its title and the title must be properly descriptive of the curriculum content. Any change in the title of an accredited program requires approval by the Board for that programme’s continued accreditation. Accreditation of a program is granted for a specific term, the maximum being five years.
Procedure for engineering program accreditation
Accreditation is initiated by an institution that seeks to offer engineering programs to students with the aim of practicing engineering in Kenya and getting registered by the Board as graduate engineers. An institution seeking accreditation of a programme submits to EBK a Request for Accreditation (RFA).
The RFA must be signed by the Institutions Chief Executive Officer (Vice Chancellor). The institution is expected to carry out self-assessment of its capacity to mount a program before lodging the same with the Board. The Board carries out a preliminary examination of the submitted documents to establish that;
- The submissions are complete in all respects.
- The submissions meet the minimum requirements with regards to curriculum content and faculty staff establishment.
An accreditation visit is then initiated only at the invitation of an institution. The visit provides an opportunity for the visiting team to assess qualitative factors such as intellectual atmosphere and morale, professional attitudes and quality of staff and students. The accreditation decision is then made by the Board as the result of information gained from the accreditation visit and the reports submitted by the institution at the request of the Board.
Criteria for engineering program accreditation
The Board assesses the capacity of the University to run the programme based on the following criteria:
- Programme design: This assesses whether the programme is intellectually credible, coherent and meet national needs, needs of students and other stakeholders. An assessment is made on whether the programme maintains an appropriate balance of theoretical, practical and experiential knowledge and skills.
- Curriculum design: The criterion for curriculum content assures a foundation in mathematics and basic sciences, a broad preparation in engineering sciences and engineering design and an exposure to non-technical subjects that complement the technical aspects of the curriculum.
- Faculty staff establishment: This criterion ensure that faculty devoted to the programme is large enough to cover, by experience and interest, all of the curricular areas of the programme. It assures that there is a sufficient number of full-time faculty members to ensure adequate levels of students-lecturer interaction, student counselling and faculty participation in the development, control and administration of the curriculum.
- Training facilities and infrastructure: This criterion ensures that the faculty has suitable and adequate learning venues, libraries, laboratories, workshops, IT infrastructure and all facilities necessary to adequately train competent engineering graduates.
- Duration of training: The Board recommends a training period of five years in Kenyan education system to adequately cover the engineering curriculum.
Accredited engineering programs in Kenya
Here are the accredited programs in Kenya.
| University | Engineering course |
| University of Nairobi | BSc. – (Civil Engineering) |
| University of Nairobi | BSc. – (Agricultural Engineering) |
| University of Nairobi | BSc. – (Mechanical Engineering) |
| University of Nairobi | BSc. – (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) |
| University of Nairobi | BSc. – (Electrical Engineering) |
| University of Nairobi | BSc. – (Biosystems Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Tech. – (Electrical & Communications Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Tech. – (Civil & Structural Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Tech. – (Textile Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Tech. – (Chemical & Process Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Tech. – (Production Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Tech. – (Mechanical & Production Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Eng. – (Mechanical & Production Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Eng. – (Chemical & Process Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Eng. – (Civil & Structural Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Eng. – (Electrical & Telecommunications Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Eng. – (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Eng. – (Industrial & Textile Engineering) |
| Moi University | B.Eng. – (Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering) |
| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology | BSc. – (Mechanical Engineering) |
| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology | BSc. – (Agricultural Engineering) |
| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology | BSc. – (Civil Engineering) |
| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology | BSc. – (Electrical & Electronics Engineering) |
| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology | BSc. – (Mechatronic Engineering) |
| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology | BSc. – (Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering) |
| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology | BSc. – (Marine Engineering) |
| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology | BSc. – (Mining and Mineral Engineering) |
| Egerton University | BSc. – (Agricultural Engineering) |
| Dedan University of Technology | BSc. – (Mechanical Engineering) |
| Dedan University of Technology | BSc. – (Mechatronic Engineering) |
| Dedan University of Technology | BSc . – (Civil Engineering) |
| Dedan University of Technology | BSc. – (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) |
| Kenyatta University | BSc. – (Mechanical Engineering) |
| Kenyatta University | BSc. – (Civil Engineering) |
| Kenyatta University | BSc. – (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) |
| Technical University of Mombasa | BSc. – (Civil Engineering) |
| Technical University of Mombasa | BSc. – (Mechanical Engineering) |
| Technical University of Mombasa | BSc. – (Electrical & Electronics Engineering) |
| Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology | BSc. – (Civil and Structural Engineering) |
| Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology | BSc. – (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering) |
| Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology | BSc. – (Electrical and Communication Engineering) |
| Multimedia University of Kenya | BSc. – (Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering) |
| Multimedia University of Kenya | BSc. – (Electrical & Telecommunications Engineering) |
| Technical University of Kenya | B.Eng. – (Civil Engineering) |
| Technical University of Kenya | B.Eng. – (Mechanical Engineering) |
| University of Eldoret | B.Eng. – (Civil & Structural Engineering) |
| University of Eldoret | B.Eng. – (Mechanical & Production Engineering) |
| University of Eldoret | B.Eng. – (Agriculture & Biosystems Engineering) |
