For nearly fifty years, different organizations and authors engaged in engineering practice and education have grappled with the adequacy of the baccalaureate degree as preparation for a career in engineering, especially licensed professional practice. Technological advances and expanding societal needs demand that coursework cover more content, while the credit hours required to obtain a bachelor's degree continue to decline. Up until the early 1960's the average engineering curriculum required 145-150 credit hours of coursework. Many programs today have curricula approaching 120 credit hours for a baccalaureate degree.