As of November, 2006, 42 undergraduate biomedical engineering programs have been accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), a 91% increase since 2002. The first of these began giving degrees in the late 1960’s. There are a few other long-standing programs that are not accredited. A large number of new programs have started in the late ‘90’s and early 00’s.

Growth in the number of undergraduate and undergraduate programs since ~1960

                  Growth in the number of accredited undergraduate programs since ~1972

Source of data: http://www.abet.org/accrediteac.asp.

Universities offering a BS in biomedical engineering or bioengineering with a biomedical emphasis. Accreditation requires that a class has graduated from a program.

In December of 2000, the Whitaker Foundation held a summit meeting to discuss the state of the art in undergraduate Biomedical Engineering education. The analysis that follows used data obtained at that time. Some subjects were regarded as basic, and others as emerging.

Biomechanics, bioinstrumentation, biosystems, cell/molecular engineering, biomaterials were regarded as basic subjects.

Functional genomics, biomems, cell/tissue engineering, computational biology, and biomedical imaging were considered to be emerging areas

What is the educational experience provided by the accredited programs? This is a complex question, but our analysis shows that there are currently no universal bioengineering content requirements among accredited BME programs (beyond basic math, chemistry and physics). Biomechanics and Physiology were required most often. Lab and design experiences are universal, as required by ABET, but it is difficult to tell from available data whether any content is common across programs.

The number of programs requiring different basic bioengineering topics

Specialization areas or tracks available nationally in bioengineering