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Montana State University-Northern is pleased to announce that their 4-Year Diesel Technology Degree is fully accredited with the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) Foundation. Attaining accreditation demonstrates the school’s commitment to academic excellence and continuous improvement through the process of accreditation.

Diesel technology student, Trevor Davis works on a state of the art Komatsu loader as part of his advanced engines class at MSU-Northern.

MSU-Northern is a comprehensive university offering programs and services at the associate, baccalaureate, and master's levels. MSU-Northern’s Diesel Technology program has been highly respected in the diesel equipment industry for many years.

“I want to recognize the faculty and staff at MSU-Northern who worked so hard to achieve the AED accreditation,” said MSU-Northern Chancellor, Greg Kegel. The AED accreditation is a good example of one of the projects recommended and supported by our diesel advisory board. Our industry partners are very familiar with the AED Accreditation. Therefore, it is important to us to give our students the credentials they will need to succeed in industry,” said Kegel.

This accreditation shows equipment industry stakeholders that the program has met rigorous industry-specific national construction equipment technical standards. This includes the areas of diesel engines, hydraulics-hydrostatics, electrical-electronics, power trains, A/C-heating, and safety-administration. Current and prospective students can know that the program provides the best in diesel-equipment technical education as defined by the industry it serves.

“We began the process of accreditation many semesters ago,” said Steven Don, Chair of MSU-Northern’s College of Technical Sciences and Professor. “The AED Foundation has been identified as a leader in industry standards. Therefore, it made perfect sense to gain this accreditation. The standards covered in the accreditation are industry standards, not some random standard that has been put in place. Industry persons, educators, service persons, etc., all had input into the standards, and all have input into updates to the standards on a regular basis,” said Don.

“The accreditation now gives us national recognition for what we teach in our courses,” said Dr. Neil Moisey, MSU-Northern Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. “This nationally recognized accreditation also allows for the seamless transfer of students from an AED Foundation-accredited 2-year diesel schools into our 4-year diesel technology program as all of the students have been educated to the same standards. This will also allow more students to continue their education in the diesel industry,” said Moisey.