Several post-secondary technical schools offer engineering technology programs that certify students to be engineering technicians upon graduation and award them with an Associate's degree in engineering technology. According to BLS, students looking to enter into an engineering technology program should expect to take courses that focus on "electrical circuits, microprocessors, and digital electronics." Theory and general education are all but absent from technical schools and students instead receive their education through hands-on training and practice.
Community colleges offer programs that result in an Associate's either degree in electrical engineering technology (similar to technical schools) or the student transferring to a four-year institution. Courses range from electrical fundamentals, to Visual Basic programming and give students the hands-on training to enter the field as an electrical engineer technician upon completion. What differentiates community and junior colleges from technical schools is the general education required of community college students, as well as the ability of these students to transfer to a four-year university upon completion of the program.
A four-year college or university is the only true way to obtain a degree as an electrical engineer. Since electrical engineers must "design, develop, test and supervise the manufacture of electrical equipment," they must also be proficient in computer sciences and mathematics and hone their skills over a four-year period. Upon completion of a four-year program, the graduate earns a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering allowing her to enter into the electrical engineering field as an engineer rather than a technician.
Commonly known as the top school for electrical engineering, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is followed by Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. As of February 2011, roughly 45 percent of the 2,800 students enrolled at MIT are enrolled in its engineering program, while Stanford and U.C Berkeley boast roughly 3,300 and 1,100 engineering students, respectively. U.S. News reports a full list of the nation's top electrical engineering schools in an article on its site (see Resources).