Index to FAQ’s

1. Is it the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam, or is it the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) Exam?

2. As an engineering student, what does the FE Exam have to do with me?

3. Do I have to take the FE Exam to graduate from Texas Tech University?

4. Who is eligible to take the FE Exam?

5. What exactly is the FE Exam?

6. What is the best way to prepare for the FE Exam?

7. Is there a downside to not passing the FE Exam?

8. In the afternoon portion of the FE Exam, should I take the Discipline-Specific Exam or the General  Exam?

9. I hear Texas Tech has what is called a “Mock FE Exam.”  What is the “Mock FE Exam?”

10. What materials can I take into the FE Exam?

11. Does Texas Tech University offer review courses to help me prepare for the FE Exam?

12. More FAQ’s…

1. Question: Is it the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam, or is it the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) Exam?

Answer:

The official name of the exam you will take is the Fundamentals of Engineering, or FE, exam.  According to the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), this (or something very close to it) has always been the actual name of the exam.

The “EIT” name comes from the FE Exam’s close relationship to professional engineering licensure. Successful completion of the FE Exam is one of the first steps toward licensure, typically occurring as the engineering student is about to graduate from an ABET-accredited engineering program.

Upon graduation, the student enters an internship (typically 4 years) where they learn the practice of engineering under the direct supervision of licensed engineers.  Many state licensing boards formalize this internship, and they designate those persons enrolled therein as “engineers-in-training” or “EIT’s.”  (Some states use the phrase “engineer intern” or “EI.”)

Since the FE Exam signals entry into the EIT internship, it has been common to refer to it as the EIT Exam.  Many engineers still refer to the test as the EIT exam, and it is common to see both terms used interchangeably.  But the official name is the “Fundamentals of Engineering Exam.”
 

2. Question:  As an engineering student, what does the FE Exam have to do with me?

Answer:
The FE Exam has to do with professional licensure for engineers.  Licensure emerged in America in the 1920s and 1930s and is recognized as a fundamental element of the broader professionalization process whereby engineering sought to claim the status of a learned profession in American society.

Engineering licensure continues to evolve in response to increased mobility of engineers and advances in information technology, the trend being toward standardization and mutual recognition of licensees among the state licensing boards.

A professional engineering license (P.E.) allows engineers to legally represent themselves to the public as an engineer, offer consulting engineering services to private and public entities, and perform engineering design or construction on public works.

Today’s standard model for engineering licensure in most states requires an individual to (1) possess an approved engineering degree, (2) pass the national Fundamentals of Engineering Examination, (3) complete at least a four-year internship, (4) pass the national Principles and Practice of Engineering Examination, and (5) submit an application documenting these qualifications.  Thus, the FE Exam is one step on the journey to licensure as a professional engineer.

For more information on licensure, click here.
 

3. Question: Do I have to take the FE Exam to graduate from Texas Tech University?

Answer:
The Texas Tech University College of Engineering encourages all of our engineering students to graduate with their engineering degrees and become licensed professional engineers.

In saying this, we strongly encourage our students to prepare for and successfully take the FE Exam during their senior year at Texas Tech.  However, taking the FE Exam is not required as a condition for graduation.
 

4. Question: Who is eligible to take the FE Exam?

Answer:

The individual state boards of registration (in our case, the Texas Board of Professional Engineers) are the ones who determine eligibility for the FE Exam.

Per the rules of the Texas Board of Professional Engineers, “Non-students”, “Students”, and “Professional Engineers” are eligible to take the FE Examination.  Students typically take the examination at their school where the exam is administered as prescribed by the Board and NCEES.

Student eligibility requirements to take the exam consist of the following:
 

1. An undergraduate student who is within two full-time semesters (not including summer sessions) of graduating and who is enrolled in an EAC/ABET-accredited engineering program, a TAC/ABET-accredited four year baccalaureate technical program or an engineering-related science program of four years or more that has been approved by the Board.

2. A graduate student enrolled in a Master's or Ph.D. engineering program.

To register for the exam at Texas Tech University, students obtain scheduling forms from the Dean of the Engineering office.  The current fee for the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination is $35 for students.  The scheduling form and fee must be received on or before the examination deadline.

For official detailed information on eligibility, click here.
 

5. Question: What exactly is the FE Exam?

Answer:

The Fundamentals of Engineering Examination is an eight-hour supplied reference examination.  It is offered in April and October every year.  The exam consists of 120 one-point questions in the four-hour morning session and 60 two-point questions in the four-hour afternoon session.  Each question has four answer choices.

The morning exam generally covers the first 2 years of the engineer's education and is common to all disciplines. The afternoon exam focuses on approximately the last 2 years of the engineer's education in his or her specific branch of engineering, and is administered in five disciplines and one general, non-specific discipline examination.

The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) is the organization that oversees the development, distribution, and grading of the FE Exam.  Founded in 1920, NCEES is comprised of engineering and surveying licensing boards representing all states and U.S. territorial jurisdictions.  The various state licensing boards, as members of NCEES, administer the FE exam in their respective states.
 

For detailed information on the exam content, click here.
 

6. Question: What is the best way to prepare for the exam?

Answer:

The Texas Tech University College of Engineering encourages all of our engineering students to prepare for and successfully take the FE Exam during their senior year at Texas Tech.

We do not encourage students to approach the FE exam in a cavalier fashion, to make “trial runs” at the exam, or to take the exam without preparing for it.

To be prepared, an examinee must know the subject material--but that is not all.  He or she must also be familiar with the NCEES Reference Handbook (the 128-page booklet that is only resource allowed during the exam).  The examinee must be capable of answering test questions quickly, under pressure. And to avoid "reading things into" problems and making the test more difficult than it actually is, the examinee must have exposure to the types of problems on the exam.

Everyone needs to prepare for the FE exam in one way or another.  Regarding the question “What's the best way to study for the FE exam?” the advice given by recent examinees is virtually unanimous:  work practice problems, find out where your weaknesses lie, study those areas, and then work more practice problems.  Taking a timed practice exam (or a partial exam) is a popular strategy. This not only gives the examinee more practice solving problems but also lets you find out how well you perform under pressure.

NOTE:  If you are taking the exam for the second (or later) time, click here.
 

7. Question: Is there a downside to not passing the FE Exam?

Answer:

All actions have consequences.  It is the same with the FE Exam.  Significant consequences exist for both passing and failing the exam.

A fallacy exists that there are no real negative consequences for failing the FE Exam.  After all, the cost of the exam is minimal, and you are allowed to take the exam as many times as you need to pass it… or so the logic goes.

This line of reasoning is flawed.  Real and negative consequences result from failing the FE Exam.  On the “minor” side, indeed you will have lost your investment in the exam fee and the money you spend on review, plus you will have lost the time you spent in these activities.

Many who choose not to adequately prepare for the exam but take it anyway see this risk as minimal, thinking what they stand to loose is certainly worth the gamble for what they may gain.  After all, they tell themselves, a person can always take the exam again (which is true), and the exercise will provide valuable test taking experience (which can also be true).

Regrettably, however, test taking experience is not enough.  NCEES historic data indicates that repeat takers of the exam typically do no better than their first attempt – in fact, they tend to do exactly the same (for details, see Second Time Takers).  The FE Exam is not a practice field.  It is for real, and they do keep score.

This serves to highlight a more serious negative consequence of failure on the FE Exam.  Results for the FE Exam are nationally normed.  This means that your performance is placed within the context of other students across the nation who take the exam.  NCEES provides pass rate data to you as an individual, but they also collect and sort this data for many different examinee populations.  You and your classmates in your program at your college form one sample group; all students at your college form another group.  In turn, all colleges get pooled together by state, and finally, NCEES rolls all these up to obtain an overall average national pass rate.

This is highly visible data.  Every school can see how their school does.  They can also see how every other school does (to see how Texas Tech is doing, click here).  As with athletics, intercollegiate competition in the realm of FE pass rate data is strong.  Personal pride is at stake.

Equally significant (if there can be anything equally significant to personal pride in your program and your school), recently the Texas Legislature has begun to link certain types of funding for University and college programs directly to FE Exam percentage pass rate data.  This directly impacts all public engineering colleges and universities in Texas.

To sum up, failing the FE Exam has real and significant negative consequences.  Among other things, percentage pass rates for the FE Exam are highly visible indicators of our performance in both the state and national arenas.  FE performance (both good and bad) reflects on the student, their Department, the College of Engineering, and the University.

The Texas Tech University College of Engineering believes in the quality of our programs and in our student’s ability to perform well on the exam.  More importantly, we believe in our student’s preparation for successful professional engineering careers.  We encourage our students to prepare for and successfully take the FE Exam.  We do not encourage students to approach the FE exam in a cavalier fashion, to make “trial runs” at the exam, or to take the exam without adequately preparing for it.
 

8. Question: In the afternoon portion of the FE Exam, should I take the Discipline-Specific Exam or the General  Exam?

Answer:
Students often have questions about which afternoon session exam they should take – the General exam or the discipline-specific exam in their own field. In the absence of a specific requirement that the student take the exam for the student’s major or working discipline, the choice is left to the student.  The advantage of taking the general exam is that examinees have to study all the same subject areas anyway to prepare for the morning session.  Many engineers, however, will be most comfortable with an afternoon exam that focuses on their own field.

At the beginning of the afternoon session, the examinee may look at the six exams in the test booklet to determine which one he or she wants to take.  However, this “review” is done within the four-hour allotment of the exam, so it cuts into problem-solving time.  Obviously, a decision must be made quickly.

NCEES tracks the performance, by discipline, of examinees who take the General afternoon exam. The following table allows comparison of the pass rates of, for example, civil engineers who took the general exam versus civil engineers who took the civil discipline-specific exam.

The NCEES data, as well as data from various sources on the Internet  suggests that most of the time, students do better when they take their own discipline-specific exam.

Note:  When NCEES first offered the discipline specific exam, there was some confusion and differences of opinion about which exam would be best to take.  Occasionally, you will find information that recommends that students take the general exam.  This is in error.  NCEES’ most recent publications discuss their data (results from more than 66,000 examinees) and they resoundingly recommend the Discipline Specific exam for the afternoon session.
 

9. Question: I hear Texas Tech has what is called a “Mock FE Exam.”  What is the “Mock FE Exam?”

Answer:

The Mock FE Exam is a half-length (4 hour) practice-type exam provided at no cost to students as a means to help them prepare for the actual FE Exam.  It consists of 60 “morning session” questions and 30 “afternoon session” questions (2 hours, each part), although the Mock FE Exam will actually be given in one four-hour morning session.  The Mock FE Exam questions are derived from actual FE Exam questions supplied by NCEES and other sources.  The afternoon session questions only cover both the discipline specific and the general exam.
The Mock FE Exam is intended to give a true exam experience to students and provide an alternative to those students who would take the actual FE Exam as their “trial run” without preparing for it.

The Mock FE Exam will be an integral part of helping students prepare for the actual FE Exam in the following ways:

•  It provides a realistic exam type experience, with the question format, timing, and pressure similar to that of the actual FE Exam.
•  It gives students practice in using the NCEES Reference Handbook
•  It provides an overall gauge of student preparedness
•  It reveals weak areas to the students to help them focus in their study for the actual exam
•  It helps the Departments gauge their effectiveness at preparing the students for the exam.

The Texas Tech Student Chapter TSPE will proctor the Mock FE Exam, will maintain student performance data on the exam, and will provide this data to the students.  With assistance from the Dean’s office, we will provide overall exam performance data and specific analysis by topic to the Departments. For more information, click here.
 

10. Question: What materials can I take into the FE Exam?

Answer:

The FE Exam was open-book up until October 1993.  Now it is a "limited reference exam," which means that the only reference material an examinee can use during the exam is the NCEES FE Reference Handbook. This is a 128-page publication containing equations and data needed during the exam.

Texas Tech University strongly encourages examinees to review this book prior to the exam, and to be familiar with the charts, formulas, tables, notation, presentation style, and other reference information it provides.  Note: personal copies of this handbook will not be allowed in the exam room; another copy will be supplied at the exam site.  Examinees are not allowed to bring any reference books into the exam.

The Reference Handbook is available on-line at the NCEES web site at no cost. You must have Adobe Acrobat installed as a plug-in to your browser to view and print this manual. You may also purchase a hard copy of this Reference Book from NCEES for $10.00.  You may also obtain a free copy from the Dean’s office in the College of Engineering, while supplies last.
 

11. Question: Does the Texas Tech University College of Engineering offer review courses to help me prepare for the FE Exam?

Answer:

The College of Engineering does not offer a college-wide review course.  Certain departments in the College, however, do offer review courses in varying forms.  Review courses are open enrollment – you need not be in a particular program to take their review course.  In particular, the Civil Engineering FE Review course has both general and discipline-specific (civil) review tracks.  The following table presents the review courses for the different Departments at Texas Tech.

Texas Tech Student Chapter TSPE
Texas Tech University
E-mail: Bill.Lawson@coe.ttu.edu