Society will continue to benefit from Bachelor of Engineering graduates with a 3.5-year programme. This is clear after a political agreement for the professional education programmes was reached today.
'It's a great relief that the quality of education for the popular Bachelor of Engineering programmes will not be compromised, and I would like to acknowledge that politicians have listened to the good arguments,' says DTU President Anders Bjarklev.
The plan was that the Bachelor of Engineering programme, along with the country's other professional bachelor's programmes, would be shortened in ECTS credits. Among other things, this would mean saying goodbye to a final project where theory and practice are linked in close collaboration with industry.
The political goal of the plans has been to create shorter courses and more teaching on the major welfare programmes, but according to DTU's President, it was a mistake from the start to include the Bachelor of Engineering graduates.
'Graduate engineers are responsible for some of the biggest tasks facing society - including the production of defence and energy technology. They can do this because they have an education of a certain duration and quality,' says Anders Bjarklev.
Popular degree programmes
In addition to the value the Bachelor of Engineering programme will continue to create for society, DTU President Anders Bjarklev is pleased that with the new agreement it will still be possible to continue studying directly after graduation.
"We know that many people choose to stay at DTU and continue their studies to become a civil engineer after completing the Bachelor of Engineering programmes. Fortunately, this is an option that will be maintained,' he says.
Anders Bjarklev also points out that the latest figures for quota 2 applications show that the Bachelor of Engineering programmes are popular. Here, the number of applications has increased by 23 per cent, and 30 per cent of them have DTU as their first priority. This applies to both the Bachelor of Engineering and the Bachelor of Science in General Engineering.
At the same time, there is a high demand for Bachelor of Engineering graduates in the business world, where unemployment during the first two years is only 3.2 per cent.
'The figures clearly show that the programmes are popular - both among students and in the business community. It wouldn't make sense to change something that already works, and fortunately the politicians have come to the same conclusion,' says Anders Bjarklev.
