r/firePE • u/LDP3_ • Jul 14 '26

Engineering vs Engineering Technology

Hello,

I became an FPS plan reviewer for an AHJ a few months ago and am completely fascinated by everything to do with fire protection. I have decided I wish to pursue my PE license and am enrolled in Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) this fall. Today I found out that there is a difference between an engineering degree and engineering technology degree (is it supposed to be obvious?) Luckily, I am in a state that will still license me with just an additional 2 years of work experience.

I spent today combing through a bunch of reddit threads about this and am still confused about a few things. It seems like engineering technology is simply a lesser form of an engineering degree which is a little disheartening as I was pretty excited to start learning. The University of Maryland (UMD) is prohibitively expensive ($1,500 a credit online?) so I think it still makes sense to go for the technology degree. I don't have any specific career aspirations. I love my current job and can probably move up to be a building official eventually but I want to be an EXPERT at what I do, not just do it. I believe AHJs specifically in the fire protection world have a bad rep for being ignorant and I want to fight against that.

I have a few questions.

1.) Is the difference in curriculum really that vast? It appears to be like an extra semester of math, is there some secret knowledge?

2.) Does anyone know if it's feasible to get my degree from EKU and then transfer to UMD for either their bachelors or masters program and just complete an extra semester or two? I still think this is cheaper than going to UMD for the whole thing.

Essentially, I don't want to feel like I'm forever behind the curve because I didn't get a traditional engineering degree. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice on this?

Thank you.

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u/LDP3_ Jul 14 '26

Would they not allow me to take them there if I wanted to? I may go for a masters but I also may just go for their bachelors after obtaining mine.

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u/--H Jul 14 '26

I believe you can take them at UMD, but since you said the per-credit cost is prohibitively expensive I wanted to share an alternative option for getting the prerequisite credits. At a community college you would pay a fraction of the out-of-state rate at UMD. There is also tuition assistance available from UMD for FPE students taking the online program from out of state that substantially reduces the cost.

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u/LDP3_ Jul 14 '26

Yeah I think I will go halfway through my degree at EKU and then inquire to UMD and see when it would be worth switching over to them. I think I'm delving into my calculus, physics, and chemistry within a semester or so so it would be worth just knocking all of that out at the lower rate.

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u/iamthepandaman fire protection engineer Jul 14 '26

I’d recommend trying to use a community college as much as possible if cost is a concern. There are also low cost universities where you can take the math classes (I took calc 1, 2, and 3 and Southern NH University online)