What Is A Registered Fe

Principles and Practice of Engineering Examination
Acronym	FE
Blazon	Estimator-based exam (since 2014)
Developer / ambassador	National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying
Knowledge / skills tested	Analytical reasoning, quantitative reasoning, bailiwick-specific subjects
Purpose	Professional person licensure
Duration	6 hours
Score / grade range	Laissez passer/Fail
Countries / regions	United states
Languages	English language
Prerequisites / eligibility criteria	Varies per state
Fee	Varies per state
Scores / grades used by	Professional state licensing boards
Website	ncees.org/engineering/iron/

The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) test, also referred to every bit the Engineer in Training (EIT) examination, and formerly in some states as the Applied science Intern (EI) exam, is the get-go of 2 examinations that engineers must pass in society to be licensed every bit a Professional Engineer (PE) in the The states. The second examination is Principles and Do of Engineering Examination. The FE test is open to anyone with a degree in engineering or a related field, or currently enrolled in the last yr of an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Engineering science (ABET) accredited applied science caste program. Some state licensure boards let students to have it prior to their final year, and numerous states permit those who accept never attended an canonical program to take the exam if they have a state-adamant number of years of work experience in engineering. Some states permit those with ABET-accredited "Engineering science Engineering science" or "ETAC" degrees to take the examination. The state of Michigan has no access pre-requisites for the Fe.^[1] The test is administered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).

Structure [edit]

As of 2014, the FE and FS exams are offered only via Computer Based Testing (CBT). The test consists of 110 questions and is given during a half dozen-hour session, of which five hours and twenty minutes is designated every bit fourth dimension for answering the questions. The remaining time includes a tutorial, presented at the beginning of the session, and an optional 25-minute interruption. Examinees must utilize to be tested in one of seven fields: chemical, civil, electrical and figurer, environmental, industrial and systems, mechanical, and other disciplines.

Prior to 2014, the examination was divided into two iv-hour sessions with a lunch break in between. The morning session consisted of 120 questions in a range of scientific/applied science subjects and had to be taken by all examinees, while the afternoon session consisted of sixty questions and could be taken either in a specific discipline or as a full general applied science test. In 2015, content changes in the exam were instituted to make it entirely discipline-specific, with a plan of weaving general engineering science subject area matter (eastward.g. math and science fundamentals) throughout the exam.^[2] Less of the "full latitude" of most traditional applied science undergraduate curricula volition be captured with this arroyo - such equally the broad math and scientific discipline foundation spanning chemistry, physics, mechanics (i.e. statics and dynamics), materials science, informatics, electronics/circuits, engineering design, and the standard range of engineering mathematics (i.east. calculus, differential equations, statistics). A concern was that, while most undergraduate engineering students are in fact exposed to virtually of these subjects, they may non necessarily take courses in specialized topics such every bit thermodynamics and fluid mechanics.

Since July 2020, the NCEES has made updates across all Iron test disciplines.^[3] For example, the topic "Computational Tools" was removed for the ceremonious and mechanical disciplines. In other cases, topics and subtopics have been merged or combined. The NCEES also published an updated version of the 10th edition of the FE Reference Handbook. The handbook was revised incorporating a coherent single-folio layout instead of a two-column layout, the improver and removal of a few new equations, and updated FE Exam Specifications.

Those who pass the exam are sometimes designated Engineer In Training or Engineer Intern depending on their state's licensure board's arroyo to recognizing those who are partway through the licensure process. Many engineering firms will estimate an engineering job applicant based on whether they have passed the FE exam and registration as an EIT. Passing the Fe Exam shows that an applicant has not forgotten the basic primal engineering principles they learned as an undergraduate student.^[4] After obtaining a given corporeality of work experience (the length of which is fix past state law and may exist based on the type of degree received), an EIT/EI may authorize to take the Professional Engineer (PE) test. Actual licensure tin can then be applied for and awarded upon successful completion of the PE exam. The standard fourth dimension of work experience (which may need to be under a Professional Engineer) is four years in most US states, for graduates of an Advocate-accredited engineering program.

Passing rates [edit]

FE exam laissez passer rates over time

The NCEES posts passing rates bi-annually on their website, but these passing rates are restricted to a few criteria:^[five]

Took the FE test for the first fourth dimension
Attended EAC/ABET-accredited engineering programs
Took the Atomic number 26 test inside 12 months of graduation

This subset of passing rates tends to be between seventy to fourscore% for each discipline. They also postal service complete passing rates annually in their Squared Written report which includes all examinees.^[6] These reports have been available since 2014 and show an interesting full general trend of gradually decreasing over fourth dimension.^[vii]

Passing scores [edit]

NCEES does not officially state how many questions must be right to laissez passer. Instead, NCEES claims that a passing score is based on psychometric statistical methods without revealing what the actual passing score is.

To protect the integrity of the test, examinees are taking unique exams, generated from a big, volunteer-sourced NCEES problem bank. This is why the NCEES provides a scaled score study, then while examination difficulty is generally about the aforementioned for everyone, they do vary some, and the scaling is necessary for comparison purposes. Passing scores are established by the NCEES and are not curved relative to other examinees' performances. This is fabricated articulate when you see that each examination'due south laissez passer rates are different from others and vary yr to year in the plot higher up.

U.S. Patent Function [edit]

Passage of the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam, along with graduation with any Bachelor's degree or equivalent, satisfies the Usa Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)'southward technical requirements for sitting for its registration examination to go either a registered patent chaser or patent amanuensis.^[8]

References [edit]

^ "Professional Engineers Examination".
^ "The Evolution of the FE - National Order of Professional Engineers". National Gild of Professional Engineers.
^ "NCEES Iron examination information". National Council of Examiners for Engineering science and Surveying.
^ "Are your undergraduate studies preparing you for the FE examination?". DirectHub.
^ "NCEES FE exam information". NCEES . Retrieved September 29, 2020.
^ "NCEES archived annual reports and Squared". NCEES . Retrieved September 29, 2020.
^ "Is the Atomic number 26 Examination hard?". PrepFE . Retrieved September 29, 2020.
^ "Full general Requirements Bulletin for Admission to the Examination for Registration to Practise in Patent Cases Before the The states Patent and Trademark Office" (PDF). Usa Patent and Trademark Function. p. 8. Archived from the original (pdf) on April 26, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2021.

External links [edit]

Official NCEES website
NCEES website on Fundamentals of Engineering Examination
NCEES Calculator Policy
State Licensing Boards
PrepFE website and iOS apps offer Fe exam preparation
School of PE Website offers FE Examination review courses