Shippensburg University students will have a new option in the fall semester of 2015 as the Board of Governors just approved the first electrical engineering degree program.

The electrical engineering degree will be the first one offered in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). SU already has had two series of engineering programs introduced in recent years. The first one was computer engineering, followed by software engineering.

SU’s new electrical engineering program will be the first of many of this type of program to be added to PASSHE. The program will prepare students for a career in a broad array of fields involving the degree.

“This program will help fill these unmet needs, and, in addition, will be an affordable alternative. In short, we will have a high-quality program that meets national standards at a price that is affordable for the average Pennsylvanian,” SU interim president George “Jody” Harpster said, according to a PASSHE news release.

With the cost of tuition rising in recent years, it is important for the program to be affordable to students, according to SU officials.

Schools such as Carnegie Mellon University and Stanford University are two institutions whose electrical engineering degrees are considered some of the best, but they come at a steep price. SU hopes that it will be able to attract students with the less expensive tuition.

Kyle Fellman, a sophomore, is considering the new major. “I could see myself picking the electrical degree for multiple reasons — the main one being it’s something that interests me.”

SU students who complete the electrical engineering program will acquire the skill set to design, build, test and manage systems that are in high demand in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of now, SU plans to start with just five students in the major in the fall of 2015. The hope is that the program will grow by 18 to 20 students per year.

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