Bachelor of Technology

Bachelor of Technology is an undergraduate academic degree conferred after completion of a three or four year program of studies at an accredited university or accredited university-level institution. The common abbreviation for Bachelor of Technology is B.Tech.. The degree is conferred in the Commonwealth of Nations, Republic of Ireland, the United States and elsewhere

In general, the degree is awarded to those who have undertaken a Bachelor of Science degree program which is "additionally" supplemented by either occupational placements (e.g., supervised practica or internships) or practice-based classroom courses. Due to these requirements, the degree normally takes at least four years.

In some countries the degree is awarded following completion of a curriculum which is career oriented, emphasizing practice as opposed to theory. Here, by contrast, occupational placements and practice-based courses are more heavily weighted within the program (see Cooperative education).

By country

*In Australia, the Bachelor of Technology programs are three to four years in duration. Honours degrees are awarded to graduates who successfully complete a four year program.

*In Canada, most programs are four years in duration. An example is the Canadian Coast Guard College programs for Officer training which have a placement component onboard ships, whose graduates are awarded a Bachelor of Technology in Nautical Sciences degree. The Bachelor of Technology degree was used by Ryerson University for programs with an additional laboratory component or studio component. Those taking such programs are now awarded a Bachelor of Science degree, although a Bachelor of Technology is still offered in Graphic Communications Management. However, the British Columbia Institute of Technology still offers a full B.Tech. degree in a variety of fields. Care should be take not to confuse the B.Tech. degree with the applied degree of Bachelor of Applied Technology (B.A.Tech.) offered by some Community Colleges in Canada. Community Colleges are represented by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) [http://www.accc.ca/] but are not accredited as university-level institutions by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), the national accrediting body of universities in Canada.

*In India, the Bachelor of Technology degree is used by the highly ranked government institutes like Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs), The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) and a host of other prestigious universities (both public and privately funded ) for their professional engineering programs. However most other institutions in India use the Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree and many are in the process of replacing over to the B.Tech programme.

*In Israel, the B.Tech. degree is awarded only by academic colleges in fields of engineering. The minimum duration of the B.Tech. degree is eight semesters and 160 credit hours. [http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/Owl/English/Organization/] It is also awarded to those who have upgraded from a Practical Engineering certificate to a B.Tech. degree by taking supplemental studies of minimum five semesters and 100 credit hours. [http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/Owl/English/Organization/]

*In Pakistan: B.Tech. with Honours awarded by Polytechnic Institutions/Universities was originally considered at par with B.Sc. in Engineering awarded by other Institutions/Universities in Pakistan (Minutes of the 10th meeting of the Equivalence Committee of erstwhile UGC held on 25th November,1981. Item No.9/10 Equivalence of B.Tech. (Hons.) Degree with B.Sc. Engineering Degree.) However, later on HEC reproduced the following discussion: The degree of B.Tech (Hons) is not similar to B.E/B.Sc Engineering degree. Both the degrees of B.E. and B.Sc in Engineering and B.Tech (Hons) be considered as two distinct disciplines of knowledge in the field of Engineering and Technology and should run parallel to each other. However, B.Tech (Hons) may be treated at par and compatible with B.E/B.Sc. Engineering degree holders as far as grades, pay and promotions and other benefits are concerned. The Committee further noted that it was up to the employer to determine the type of qualification required for a particular job.

*In South Africa, the degree is awarded by Universities of technology and Comprehensive universities (as distinct from Traditional universities), and is often offered in areas to which there is no corresponding B.Sc. Although the B.Tech often carries the same amounts of points as a B.Sc. in terms of South Africa's [http://www.nqf.org.za/c/portal_public/layout?p_l_id=1.2 National Qualifications Framework] , the B.Tech. usually does not grant admission to the corresponding M.Sc. program; students instead pursue the Master of Technology (M.Tech.) and Doctor of Technology (D.Tech.) degrees.

*The degree is no longer awarded in the United Kingdom. Those who take such programs are more commonly awarded a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree. Care should be taken not to confuse the B.Tech. degree with the United Kingdom's "Business & Technical Education Council" (BTEC) designation, which is not a university degree. BTEC functions have now been overtaken by Edexcel.

*In the USA, The Bachelor of Technology degree is awarded after completion of a 4 year program. The colleges offering this degree are rare and only located in the states of Alaska (INDS), Florida, New York (New York City College of Technology part of the City University of New York (CUNY) and The State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton), Illinois (Chicago), Nevada, South Carolina, and Oklahoma.