Chemical Engineering - Undergraduate Program

The department offers a four- and five-year plan of study leading towards a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. Most chemical engineering students earn their undergraduate degree in four years, however some students like the flexibility that the five-year plan provides. The minimum number of credits required to get a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering is 128, not counting English 101, Math 143 and other courses that might be required to remove curriculum deficiencies. Only junior-certified chemical engineering students are allowed to enroll in upper-division ChE courses (see below for more information).

A 2.0 GPA is required for all chemical engineering courses used to satisfy the curricular requirements for graduation.

Important Information:

Certain courses must be passed before a student in the chemical engineering program can enroll in upper-division chemical engineering courses. These courses constitute the "certification process". A grade of "C" or better is required in each of the following: Chem 111, Chem 112, ChE 223, Engr 210, Engr 320, Engr 335, Math 275, and Math 310.

A non-certified student in the chemical engineering program may not accumulate no more than (4) grades of D or F in the above listed classes. Included in this number are multiple repeats in a single class or single repeats in multiple classes. A written warning will be issued to students who have accumulated two grades of D or F in these courses. (1998 general catalog, page 95). Students who acquire four or more grades of D or F can not register for upper division chemical engineering courses.

Placement exams are given at the beginning of each semester in the areas of Chemistry and Mathematics. Please contact the Student Counseling Center at 885-6716 for more information on the Math and Chemistry Placement Exams. Students who have not taken an advanced placement exam in these areas while in high school are encouraged to take the exams prior to the start of classes. Students who wish to challenge taking English 102 can contact the English Department at 885-6156 for information on how to challenge the course.

Incoming students with advanced placement credit (AP) for courses taken while in high school or transfer credit from college classes taken while in high school should have their transcripts sent to the Registrar's Office upon completion of the coursework. In most cases AP or transfer credit will significantly influence the number of classes required to complete a degree in chemical engineering. It normally takes six weeks for the Registrar's Office to process AP and transfer credit evaluations.

Students who receive AP credit for Chemistry AB will receive six credits of chemistry (Chem 111 and 112 without the labs). In order to receive lab credit students will need to bring their lab note book, exams, quizzes, syllabus and the name of the textbook (including author/editor/date of publication) to the Chemistry Department for evaluation.

Information for Transfer Students:

Transfer students are placed under the State Board of Education Core instead of the University of Idaho Core option.

If a course has been incorrectly evaluated, please bring in sample journals, lab notebooks, course outlines, homework problems, exams, even the textbook if possible. Other departments are quite willing to re-evaluate transfer courses if the appropriate material is brought to their attention.

Not sure how how YOUR transfer courses relate to OUR curriculum? Click here for information on transfer course evaluations. Click on the "info" button.

Students transferring ChE 223 or its equivalent from a university without an ABET accredited chemical engineering program must pass a test on the subject matter of this course before the course will be accepted for certification and degree requirements.

It is important that transcripts are sent in a timely manner to the Registrar's Office. Unevaluated transfer credits can hinder you from registering for courses which have prerequisites. Please allow at least 6 weeks for transcripts to be sent and evaluated by the Registrar's Office.

Picture legend: 2004 WERC team at White Sands, NM.