Why Become Licensed?

Why is Becoming a Licensed Professional Engineer Important?

• Only a licensed engineer may prepare, sign and seal, and submit engineering plans and drawings to a public authority for approval, or seal engineering work for public and private clients. Most structural, environmental, transportation, geotechnical, water resources, and construction project require approval of a licensed engineer.
• Licensure is a requirement for consulting engineers who are in responsible charge of work, be they principals or employees.
• Many federal, state, and municipal agencies (including the military) require that certain governmental engineering positions, particularly higher level and responsible positions, be filled only by licensed professional engineers.
• Engineering accreditation requires that most individuals teaching engineering must be licensed.

More on licensure can be found at the NSPE website. http://www.nspe.org/lc1-advantages.asp

To become a Licensed Professional Engineer:

1. Obtain an accredited engineering degree (UNL's BS in Civil Engineering is an ABET accredited degree).
2. Pass FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) Examination (typically taken during last year of undergraduate coursework.).
3. Obtain Work Experience (depending on your situation and jurisdiction, about 4 years is required.).
4. Pass PE (Principles and Practices of Engineering) Examination (after completing the work experience requirement). The NCEES website (www.ncees.org) provides many details about the FE and PE exams.

UNL's BS in Civil Engineering provides excellent preparation for licensure:

• The B.S. in Civil Engineering has been designed by the faculty to prepare students for the FE and Civil Engineering PE exams.
• Chi Epsilon, the Civil Engineering honor society, sponsors FE Review Sessions each year to assist students in preparing for the FE.
• The B.S. in Civil Engineering, when supplemented with a few additional Civil Engineering graduate courses (in structures or environmental), is also an excellent preparation for the PE exam in Structural Engineering or Environmental Engineering. A professional who passed the FE can take any of the PE exams for which they are qualified through study and work experience.
• Civil Engineering is one of six disciplines for which an afternoon discipline specific module is offered on the FE exam, along with Chemical, Environmental, Electrical and Computer, Industrial, and Mechanical Engineering.
  • The most recent survey of UNL CIVE alumni (1999-2001 graduates) found that 94% of graduates had taken and passed FE exam.
  • Typically pass rates are higher for students that take the discipline specific afternoon exams than the general afternoon exam (source: NCEES - link the work NCEES here to: http://www.ncees.org/exams/pass_rates/)
• The Civil Engineering PE Exam is one of the four exams offered in all 55 US Licensing Jurisdictions. The others are Chemical, Electrical and Computer, and Mechanical Engineering. (According to a 2005 NCEES Survey of Licensing Boards).
• The Environmental Engineering, Structural Engineering I and Structural Engineering II PE exams are offered in all but three, three, and nine US Jurisdictions, respectively.