Augustana University launches new 5-year dual engineering degree with UND

Augustana University is launching a new five-year dual-degree engineering program next fall for students.

The program will offer online courses in a traditional on-campus setting for a unique hybrid learning experience. As engineering students start in the program, they’ll take foundational courses at AU to earn their bachelor of arts degree in chemistry, physics or mathematics.

By their second year, these students will take online engineering courses offered through the University of North Dakota (UND), then take lab courses over the summer after their third year in Grand Forks, North Dakota, for hands-on learning experience, and to get introduced to the metaverse as part of a virtual learning community, according to a press release from AU.

More: Sioux Falls college enrollment reports: AU, STC welcome largest-ever student classes

Between the online courses and summer workshops, chemistry students will be able to earn a bachelor of science degree − accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology − in biomedical engineering, chemical engineering or petroleum engineering from UND. Physics students will eventually be able to do the same in electrical or mechanical engineering, and mathematics students in civil, electrical or mechanical engineering.

Carl Olimb, the AU program director of engineering and an associate professor of mathematics, said in a press release that the program opens up a new market because there are students who want to play football locally or compete in athletics for five years and also get an engineering program.

“This opens us up to students who want to be here at Augie, want a full Augie experience for five years,” he said.

AU offers similar dual-degree engineering options where students can get a bachelor of arts in a major of their choice at AU, then apply to get their bachelor’s or master’s degrees in engineering from Columbia University in New York, New York; Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri; or South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. With these options, students take courses at AU for two years and then finish out their degrees in-person at other universities.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Augustana University launches new 5-year dual engineering degree