[SBE] defining broadcast engineering education

[Jeff Carter]

The subject line "Defining Broadcast Engineer" has made me wonder
about the details.  Education level comes to mind.  I have seen SBE
handouts about granting college credit for SBE certification or maybe
the other way around, so it's on the collective SBE mind at some
level.

It seems to me that most of the engineers I have worked with over the
years did *not* have a Bachelor's.  I worked with some who came up
through the military and some who came up through the
vocational/technical school systems and a small handful with Associate
degrees, but off the top of my head I can't remember a single person
with a BSEE or even a BS in Telecommunications Engineering.
Personally, I got into it via Amateur Radio, but I was also a graduate
of the vocational/technical electronics program and I'd been in the
Air Force, too, as an Aircraft Electrician.  College came later as the
opportunity arose.  I never remember seeing a broadcast position
announcement/job opening that required a Bachelor's, the emphasis was
on experience as I recall.

On a national level, though, I notice at least one of you has a PE,
which requires a familiarity with enough college-level material that
while you may not have to have a Bachelor's to pass the PE exam, it
would be difficult.  My perception is that we're all over the map in
terms of training and I wonder how that affects us as we deal with
management, or if it has hurt us in some way.

Is it more common to have a Bachelor's or even a Master's in
Engineering in other markets/regions than it is in my market?
Expressed as a percentage, how many SBE members have a BS or MS in
*any* discipline?  Are there any stories out there about how it would
have helped to have had a Bachelor's?

Thanks in advance,

Jeff
Atlanta