University of Dayton - MyLife

FE Review Course

All engineering students have the opportunity to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, which is a prerequisite to the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam that qualifies you as a Professional Engineer (PE). The FE exam covers all math and basic engineering subjects required for an engineering degree in a 4-hour portion of the test. In the other 4-hour portion, an engineering discipline specific subject test is taken. This extensive test will make the end of the semester that much more hectic. It will be given on April 25, the Saturday at the start of exam week. Since the exam is not offered in Dayton, I'll travel to Cincinnati to take it.

Most engineering students take the FE at the end of their senior year, while the material is still fresh. At UD, almost all civil engineers take the FE while quite a few mechanical engineers take it. Only a handful of other engineering majors take the test, since civils and mechanicals are the most likely to become professionally licensed. In addition to passing the FE exam, there are several other requirements before someone can take the PE exam and become a professional engineer. An engineering degree from an ABET accredited institution plus four years of experience under a professional engineer is also required. ABET, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, sets mandates for engineering curriculum and evaluates each engineering and technology program across the country. UD is evaluated every few years and must sufficiently demonstrate that its engineering programs meet ABET requirements. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is pushing to make 30 credit hours beyond an engineering Bachelors degree required for licensure. This would effectively make a Masters degree necessary before obtaining a PE license in civil engineering.

While each state has its own requirements and PE exam, an engineer usually takes the PE exam once (as long as he or she passes) and can be registered in any state as long as the appropriate fees are paid.

Every Monday and Wednesday evening from now until April, UD offers an FE review course for 2 hours. This is at no charge to students and is very convenient. Covering all subjects of the general FE exam section, this course provides a good review at a regular schedule. I appreciate being able to spread out my preparation rather than trying to study at the last minute!

Feb 5, 2009 10:48 PM Permalink