Engineering
Engineering licensure exams — starting with the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, the first step toward the PE license.
Which exam are you taking?
Exams are grouped with their close relatives — the other tiers of the same licence, the same exam in other states. Open a group to see each exam with its free practice questions, study guide and cheat sheet.
- FE exam (Fundamentals of Engineering)2 exams122 free questionsNCEES Fundamentals of Engineering computer-based exams, by discipline.FE CivilFE MechanicalExplore FE exam (Fundamentals of Engineering) →
Which FE exam, and what comes after it?
The Fundamentals of Engineering exam is the first of two exams on the road to the Professional Engineer licence. It is written and scored by NCEES, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, but the licence itself is issued by a state licensing board, and the board decides when you may sit the FE — typically in the final year of an ABET-accredited engineering degree or after graduation — and how many years of supervised experience follow before the PE exam. Pass the FE and you become an Engineer in Training or Engineer Intern in your state's terminology; the PE comes later.
There is one FE exam per discipline, and the discipline is your choice: Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Computer, Chemical, Environmental, Industrial and Systems, and Other Disciplines. Choose the one that matches your degree, because the specification differs and the reference handbook is shared. Both disciplines covered here are computer-based, delivered year-round at NCEES-approved Pearson VUE centres, closed book with the NCEES reference handbook supplied on screen.
Scoring is pass or fail. NCEES does not publish a passing score; results are based on correct answers only, with no penalty for wrong ones, and every candidate's answers are counted the same way. Attempts are limited to one per testing window and a fixed number per twelve-month period.
Pick your discipline
Links go to the exam guide, where the question count, appointment length, fee and specification come from NCEES.
FE Civil: statics, mechanics of materials, structural analysis and design, geotechnical, transportation, water resources and environmental, construction, surveying, plus the mathematics, ethics and economics common to every discipline.
FE Mechanical: mechanics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, materials, mechanical design and analysis, measurement and controls, plus the common core.
Most boards allow seniors in ABET-accredited programs to sit the FE before graduation, and NCEES lets you register directly. Sitting while the coursework is fresh is the usual advice.
One attempt per testing window and a capped number of attempts in any twelve-month period. The diagnostic report shows performance by topic area against the specification.
Engineer in Training status with your state board, then the PE exam after the board's required years of progressive experience under a licensed engineer. The FE result does not expire, but the board's experience clock starts from graduation or from EIT certification depending on the state.
From degree to licence
- 01Register for the FE. NCEES administers it year-round and most state boards let a candidate sit it in the final year of an accredited program rather than waiting for the degree; a minority require board approval first, which is the one point where the route differs by state.
- 02Register with NCEES, choose the discipline and book a Pearson VUE appointment; the exam is offered year-round.
- 03Sit the exam closed book with the on-screen reference handbook. Results are pass or fail with no published cut score.
- 04Apply to the board for Engineer in Training or Engineer Intern certification, accrue the supervised experience the board requires, then sit the PE exam in your discipline.
Fee, format and passing standard
All 2 exams on this page. Each figure is that exam's verified fact, cited to the regulator's page on the exam guide it links to. A blank cell means the regulator publishes no fixed figure.
| Exam | Fee | Questions | Time | Passing | Written by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FE Civil | $225 | 110 | 5h 20m | — | National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) |
| FE Mechanical | $225 | 110 | — | Pass/Fail (NCEES does not publish the passing score; scored on correct answers only, no penalty for wrong answers) | National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) |
Who writes these exams
- NCEES
- Writes, delivers and scores the FE and PE exams and publishes the specifications and reference handbook. It does not issue licences.
- State engineering licensing boards
- Decide who may sit the FE and when, certify Engineers in Training, set the experience requirement, and issue the Professional Engineer licence.
Official pages this section is drawn from
- NCEES · FE Exam
- NCEES · Exam Scoring
- NCEES · NCEES Examinee Guide
What you'll find on every Engineering exam
Each exam has up to four pages, one per job to be done: practice the questions, understand the exam, study the outline, or revise the morning of. Flashcards and glossary terms sit inside the study guide rather than on pages of their own.
- Practice tests2
- Free question banks with a worked explanation on every answer.
- Exam guides2
- Cost, format, eligibility and difficulty, straight from the official outline.
- Study guides2
- Full outline coverage, plus the exam's flashcards and glossary terms.
- Cheat sheets2
- One-page summaries built for the last review, with a PDF download.
Frequently asked questions
The NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering exam — the first step toward a PE license, typically taken by engineering students and recent graduates. It is computer-based and offered in discipline versions such as FE Mechanical.
NCEES does not publish a fixed passing score: the FE is scored pass/fail against a scaled standard, and results arrive with a diagnostic report by knowledge area rather than a percentage.
Mathematics, statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, thermodynamics and fluids, and ethics, per the NCEES exam specifications — the free practice test and study guide here follow the same spec sections.
Work problems, not chapters: take a timed practice set, read the diagnostic, then drill your two or three weakest spec areas. Familiarity with the reference handbook's layout saves real exam minutes.
Official sources
Every exam number on this page traces to a document published by the body that sets or administers the exam. These are the primary publishers cited across Engineering.
- National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES)ncees.orgcited by 2 exams
Last verified against these documents: