# Master's Degree Credit



## Titus Barik (May 11, 2008)

I didn't see this anything about this on the PELS website for Georgia, so I'm assuming the answer is no. Does an advanced degree count any towards meeting the licensing requirements for a PE in the state of Georgia?

http://sos.georgia.gov/plb/pels/

Thanks,

Titus


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## Chucktown PE (May 11, 2008)

Titus Barik said:


> I didn't see this anything about this on the PELS website for Georgia, so I'm assuming the answer is no. Does an advanced degree count any towards meeting the licensing requirements for a PE in the state of Georgia?
> http://sos.georgia.gov/plb/pels/
> 
> Thanks,
> ...


Titus,

With a Masters degree you only need three years of experience to sit for the PE exam. See the language in Georgia State Law below:

(5) The satisfactory completion of graduate study in an approved engineering curriculum may,

in the board's sole discretion, be credited for not more than one year's experience.


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## Titus Barik (Nov 11, 2008)

Charleston Engineer said:


> With a Masters degree you only need three years of experience to sit for the PE exam. See the language in Georgia State Law below:


Another question related to this: is it correct to say that I must have all necessary experience (including the Master's Degree) at the time that I apply, rather than the time of the exam?


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## ktulu (Nov 11, 2008)

In Alabama, I received a 6 month credit for a Master's Degree.


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## Chucktown PE (Nov 11, 2008)

Titus Barik said:


> Another question related to this: is it correct to say that I must have all necessary experience (including the Master's Degree) at the time that I apply, rather than the time of the exam?


That is correct. They count the experience to the time you have your application notarized. This effectively requires an additional six months of experience. Also, I had a coworker that applied without a master's degree. Apparently the Georgia board only counted his first year of work for half a year. So he applied having met all the requirements of the law but the Georgia board rejected his application and made him reapply six months later.


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## Titus Barik (May 1, 2009)

Charleston Engineer said:


> Titus,With a Masters degree you only need three years of experience to sit for the PE exam. See the language in Georgia State Law below:
> 
> (5) The satisfactory completion of graduate study in an approved engineering curriculum may,
> 
> in the board's sole discretion, be credited for not more than one year's experience.


Resurrecting somewhat of an old thread here, but I actually did end up receiving my Master's degree finally!. One issue that I think is important: I did my Master's degree part time while working full-time. I am unclear on the rules in Georgia on this. Is this considered "double dipping" or can I still get the one year credit for the master's degree in this case? I can't find anything explicit about it in the Georgia PELS.

Thanks!


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## Chucktown PE (May 2, 2009)

Titus Barik said:


> Resurrecting somewhat of an old thread here, but I actually did end up receiving my Master's degree finally!. One issue that I think is important: I did my Master's degree part time while working full-time. I am unclear on the rules in Georgia on this. Is this considered "double dipping" or can I still get the one year credit for the master's degree in this case? I can't find anything explicit about it in the Georgia PELS.
> Thanks!



No, you can't. That's considered double dipping. During the time you were pursuing the Master's you'll either get credit for the Mater's or credit for the work.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (May 2, 2009)

^ Not everywhere. I got my master's degree at night while working full time. I applied after 3 years of working experience + the '1 year' of experience the master's got me. They let me sit for the exam in Vermont, and I believe it also works the same in New York (where I grew up and went to college) so that's a state by state thing.


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## Chucktown PE (May 2, 2009)

VTEnviro said:


> ^ Not everywhere. I got my master's degree at night while working full time. I applied after 3 years of working experience + the '1 year' of experience the master's got me. They let me sit for the exam in Vermont, and I believe it also works the same in New York (where I grew up and went to college) so that's a state by state thing.



I know it's a state by state thing but I tried to do it in Georgia as well as a couple of other people I worked with and they wouldn't let us sit. I suppose there's no harm in trying but the Georgia Board is notoriously difficult.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (May 2, 2009)

^I'm not trying to dispute you, just commenting on my own experiences.

Nationally administered licensing exam vs. whatever the hell states want to do.

Gotta love that consistency!


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## Chucktown PE (May 3, 2009)

VTEnviro said:


> ^I'm not trying to dispute you, just commenting on my own experiences.
> Nationally administered licensing exam vs. whatever the hell states want to do.
> 
> Gotta love that consistency!



I knew you weren't trying to dispute me. I was just trying to note that I, as well as most of my colleagues, had personal experiences with the Georgia Board being a pain in the ass.


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## Road Guy (May 4, 2009)

~ All you can do is fill out the form and see what they say, the GA board is pickey, but I live here so maybe I just only hear the GA stories.

When in doubt... fill it out


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## KEG (May 4, 2009)

Chucktown PE said:


> I knew you weren't trying to dispute me. I was just trying to note that I, as well as most of my colleagues, had personal experiences with the Georgia Board being a pain in the ass.


The GA board is most definitely not a well oiled machine. I called just to get an explanation about them not counting some of my experience the first time I applied. Almost two and a half years later (after I had changed jobs) some administrative assistant called to say the board member had been trying to get in touch w/ me for almost a week! When I asked what took so long, she replied "Well he does have a full time job in addition to being on the board" My reply "If he doesn't have time to fulfill his duties as a board member, maybe he should let someone else do it". She didn't really seem interested in helping me after that comment.


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## vanesssa99 (May 27, 2009)

It's really interesting :multiplespotting:

simulationcredit


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## NOLaEng2015 (Aug 5, 2015)

Louisiana does not accept double dipping of a masters gained while working full-time and Florida has recently changed their rules to do the same thing.

Can someone explain to me why you would not want to allow double dipping? It seems to me that by allowing 1-year credit for a masters in the first place you are proving the masters has a year worth of value to an engineer. Why does it matter if you were working at the same time?

I appreciate any opinions as I am just curious and always seem to get the same response from Professional Engineering Boards of "you just can't double dip" without any explanation or their thought process.


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## cupojoe PE PMP (Aug 5, 2015)




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## cupojoe PE PMP (Aug 5, 2015)

NOLaEng2015 said:


> Louisiana does not accept double dipping of a masters gained while working full-time and Florida has recently changed their rules to do the same thing.
> 
> Can someone explain to me why you would not want to allow double dipping? It seems to me that by allowing 1-year credit for a masters in the first place you are proving the masters has a year worth of value to an engineer. Why does it matter if you were working at the same time?
> 
> I appreciate any opinions as I am just curious and always seem to get the same response from Professional Engineering Boards of "you just can't double dip" without any explanation or their thought process.


To answer your question...I don't think you should be allowed to double dip. In fact I don't understand why you would get any credit for simply having a masters degree. Nothing can replace hard knocks type experience. That being said....if you are working as a research assistant during grad school (after graduating with BS), I see no reason why you shouldn't get work credit for that if it is applicable.


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## knight1fox3 (Aug 5, 2015)




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## ptatohed (Aug 6, 2015)




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## Mike in Gastonia (Aug 6, 2015)

NOLaEng2015 said:


> Louisiana does not accept double dipping of a masters gained while working full-time and Florida has recently changed their rules to do the same thing.
> 
> Can someone explain to me why you would not want to allow double dipping? It seems to me that by allowing 1-year credit for a masters in the first place you are proving the masters has a year worth of value to an engineer. Why does it matter if you were working at the same time?
> 
> I appreciate any opinions as I am just curious and always seem to get the same response from Professional Engineering Boards of "you just can't double dip" without any explanation or their thought process.




I think the reasoning is if you claim a "year" for two different things, then you probably were "half-time" for each. Perhaps if someone could show that they were working full-time for a year (2080 hours) and also earning a masters at night, Louisiana might be willing to allow it.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Aug 6, 2015)

So Louisiana will grant a PE license based purely on work experience and no need to take the PE exam but they're giving folks a hard time about credits for an MS degree done while working? WTF is that all about?


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## NOLaEng2015 (Aug 6, 2015)

Mike in Gastonia said:


> NOLaEng2015 said:
> 
> 
> > Louisiana does not accept double dipping of a masters gained while working full-time and Florida has recently changed their rules to do the same thing.
> ...


That's what is going on in LA and FL now, if someone works full-time (2080 hrs) and gets a masters at the same time, they can only count one year, for either work or masters.

If you only get a masters in during a year, you are allowed to count that as a year of experience.

If you were working 20 hours a week and working on a masters I'd understand it but the fact they are willing to accept EITHER full-time as a year or masters as a year, it seems to me they are accepting the value of a masters degree, no matter if you work on it at night over 10 years or 1 year.

I really want someone to chime in that accepts the value of a masters degree as a year, but don't think you should be able to double dip as that's what the states opinion is.


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