Becoming a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) requires an engineering degree, passing two exams, and accumulating several years of supervised work experience. The process typically takes eight to twelve years from the start of college to holding your PE license, but the timeline depends on your educational path and the experience requirements in your state. Here’s what each step looks like.
What a PE License Gets You
A PE license allows you to stamp and seal engineering drawings, approve design plans, and take legal responsibility for engineering work. Only a licensed PE can sign off on public infrastructure projects, building designs, and other work that affects public safety. In many fields, particularly civil, structural, and environmental engineering, a PE license is essential for career advancement. Without it, you’re limited in the work you can approve and the roles you can hold.
Education Requirements
The foundation of PE licensure is a bachelor’s degree in engineering from a program accredited by ABET (specifically, the Engineering Accreditation Commission, or EAC). ABET accreditation is the gold standard that licensing boards look for, and graduating from an accredited program gives you the most straightforward path. With an EAC/ABET-accredited degree, most states require four years of post-graduation engineering experience before you can apply for your PE license.
If your degree is in engineering technology rather than engineering, you can still pursue licensure, but the path is longer. A bachelor’s from an ETAC/ABET-accredited engineering technology program typically requires six years of experience instead of four. The same six-year requirement generally applies if your degree comes from a program that a state board considers “substantially equivalent” to an accredited program, which is common for graduates of international engineering programs.
There’s also a graduate degree pathway. If you hold a bachelor’s in a related field (such as physics, math, or architecture) and then earn a master’s or doctoral degree in engineering with at least 24 graduate-level semester hours of engineering coursework, you may qualify with six years of experience. This route is less common but useful for career changers.
Step One: Pass the FE Exam
The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam is your first licensing milestone, and you can take it while you’re still in school or shortly after graduating. The exam is administered by NCEES (the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying) at Pearson testing centers year-round, so you don’t have to wait for a specific testing window.
The FE exam contains 110 questions and takes about five hours and 20 minutes of actual testing time, with the full appointment running six hours including a tutorial and a scheduled break. You’ll choose one of seven discipline-specific versions:
- FE Chemical
- FE Civil
- FE Electrical and Computer
- FE Environmental
- FE Industrial and Systems
- FE Mechanical
- FE Other Disciplines
The “Other Disciplines” option is designed for engineers whose specialty doesn’t fit neatly into the other six categories. It covers a broader range of general engineering topics. Most candidates choose the discipline that matches their degree program.
Passing the FE exam earns you the designation of Engineer in Training (EIT) or Engineer Intern (EI), depending on your state. This isn’t a license to practice independently. It simply means you’ve cleared the first exam hurdle and can begin accumulating your required experience.
Step Two: Gain Progressive Engineering Experience
After passing the FE exam, you need to work under the supervision of a licensed PE for the number of years your state requires (four years with an EAC/ABET degree in most states). This isn’t just any engineering job. Licensing boards look for what’s called “progressive engineering experience,” meaning your responsibilities should grow over time and expose you to increasingly complex engineering judgment.
The work should develop competencies that go beyond pure technical skills. Boards want to see evidence that you’ve built capabilities in areas like design, project management, engineering economics, risk assessment, communication, and professional ethics. Think of it as a structured apprenticeship: you start by supporting more experienced engineers and gradually take on work that requires your own engineering judgment.
Working under a licensed PE’s supervision is essential. Your supervising PE will typically need to verify your experience when you apply for licensure, confirming that you performed legitimate engineering work and demonstrated professional growth. If you work for a company where no one holds a PE license, some states will still accept the experience, but you may need a PE outside your organization to review and vouch for your work. Check your state board’s rules early so you don’t accumulate years of experience that won’t count.
Step Three: Pass the PE Exam
The PE exam is the final and most challenging test in the process. Like the FE, it’s administered by NCEES at Pearson testing centers and is computer-based. The PE exam is discipline-specific, and the available disciplines are more narrowly defined than the FE options. For example, civil engineers choose from sub-disciplines like structural, transportation, water resources, or construction.
The PE exam tests your ability to apply engineering principles to real-world practice problems. It assumes you have working experience and focuses on the kind of judgment calls you’d make on the job, not just textbook calculations. Pass rates vary by discipline but are generally lower than the FE exam, reflecting the higher difficulty level.
Most states require you to submit an application to your state licensing board before you can register with NCEES to schedule the exam. This application typically includes documentation of your education, your work experience records, and references from licensed PEs who supervised you. Some states require you to have completed all your experience hours before applying, while others let you sit for the exam slightly before you’ve finished.
Costs Along the Way
The expenses add up across the multi-year process. NCEES charges exam fees directly for both the FE and PE exams. On top of NCEES fees, your state board charges its own application and licensing fees, which vary widely by state. Budget for state application fees, exam fees, and your initial license fee, which together can total several hundred dollars or more depending on where you’re applying.
Many candidates also invest in exam prep courses, especially for the PE exam. Commercial review courses range from a few hundred dollars for self-study materials to over $2,000 for live or on-demand instruction. Some employers reimburse these costs or offer study time as a benefit, so it’s worth asking before paying out of pocket.
If you don’t pass on your first attempt, NCEES charges the full exam fee again for each retake, minus the option to receive a partial refund (less a $50 processing fee) if you withdraw before your scheduled exam date.
Maintaining Your License
Once you earn your PE license, you’ll need to renew it periodically, usually every one to two years. Most states require continuing education as a condition of renewal, typically 15 to 30 professional development hours per renewal cycle. Continuing education can include courses, seminars, conferences, published papers, or teaching. Some states accept self-study hours, while others require structured coursework with verifiable completion.
Renewal fees vary by state but are generally modest compared to the effort of earning the license in the first place. Letting your license lapse can create headaches, as reinstatement often requires additional fees and documentation, so set a reminder well before your renewal deadline.
Getting Licensed in Multiple States
If your engineering career takes you across state lines, you’ll likely need licenses in more than one state. Each state has its own licensing board with its own application process. However, NCEES offers a Records program that stores your credentials (education, exam scores, experience documentation) in a single verified file. When you apply for licensure in a new state, you can transmit this record directly to that state’s board, which simplifies the process considerably. This is called comity or reciprocity licensing, and while it doesn’t guarantee automatic approval, it makes multi-state licensure far more manageable.
A Realistic Timeline
For someone on the most common path, the timeline looks like this. You spend four years earning your bachelor’s degree, ideally passing the FE exam during your senior year. You then work for four years under a licensed PE, building your experience record. Near the end of that fourth year, you apply for and take the PE exam. If everything goes smoothly, you’re a licensed PE roughly eight years after starting college. If your degree requires six years of experience, or if you need an extra attempt at either exam, the timeline stretches to ten or twelve years. Starting the process early, particularly by taking the FE exam while coursework is still fresh, saves time and keeps the material top of mind.