# Masters degree required for the Civil PE?



## playboyman007 (Jul 15, 2008)

I've been hearing NCEES will make a requirement of an master's degree in civil in order to take the PE examination. Is this true? I know this requirement won't be soon, but when?

Currently, I barely recieved my bachelors, my EIT and beginning my 2 years journey to get a PE license in CA.


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## Casey (Jul 15, 2008)

Currently untrue....


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## IlPadrino (Jul 15, 2008)

playboyman007 said:


> I've been hearing NCEES will make a requirement of an master's degree in civil in order to take the PE examination. Is this true? I know this requirement won't be soon, but when?
> Currently, I barely recieved my bachelors, my EIT and beginning my 2 years journey to get a PE license in CA.


Not true... the change is B.S. (doesn't matter what field... doesn't have to be the same field as the PE) plus 30 credits of graduate education. You can search for discussion on these forums.


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## ramicoce (Jul 16, 2008)

From the NCEES Model Law dated August 2007:

Licensure by Examination (Effective January 1, 2015) – The following individuals shall be admitted to an 8-hour written examination in the principles and practice of engineering:

(1) An engineer intern with a bachelor’s degree, with an additional 30 credits of acceptable upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level coursework from approved course providers, and with a specific record of 4 years or more of progressive experience on engineering projects of a grade and a character which indicate to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering.

(2) An engineer intern with a master’s degree in engineering from an institution that offers EAC/ABET-accredited programs, or the equivalent, and with a specific record of 3 years or more of progressive experience on engineering projects of a grade and a character which indicate to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering.

(3) An engineer intern with a doctorate in engineering acceptable to the board and with a specific record of 2 years or more of progressive experience on engineering projects of a grade and a character which indicate to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering.

(4) An individual with a doctorate in engineering acceptable to the board and with a specific record of 4 years or more of progressive experience on engineering projects of a grade and a character which indicate to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering.


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## ramicoce (Jul 16, 2008)

Also, the requirement comes from the state; NCEES is just recommending the change.


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## wilheldp_PE (Jul 16, 2008)

ramicoce said:


> From the NCEES Model Law dated August 2007:
> Licensure by Examination ([SIZE=14pt]*Effective January 1, 2015*[/SIZE]) – The following individuals shall be admitted to an 8-hour written examination in the principles and practice of engineering:
> 
> (1) An engineer intern with a bachelor’s degree, with an additional 30 credits of acceptable upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level coursework from approved course providers, and with a specific record of 4 years or more of progressive experience on engineering projects of a grade and a character which indicate to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering.
> ...


Plus, 30 credit hours is enough to get a masters degree in most programs, so if you are going to meet this requirement, you might as well get a degree to show for it.


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## IlPadrino (Jul 16, 2008)

ramicoce said:


> Also, the requirement comes from the state; NCEES is just recommending the change.


Right... no state *has* to use the model law and I'd imagine implementation will happen at different times (if it happens).


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## IlPadrino (Jul 16, 2008)

wilheldp_PE said:


> Plus, 30 credit hours is enough to get a masters degree in most programs, so if you are going to meet this requirement, you might as well get a degree to show for it.


Really? My MS was over 100 credit hours. I've never looked at other programs, but 30 seems awful light... assuming a class is three hours, that's just ten classes. I could do that in six months!


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## wilheldp_PE (Jul 16, 2008)

IlPadrino said:


> Really? My MS was over 100 credit hours. I've never looked at other programs, but 30 seems awful light... assuming a class is three hours, that's just ten classes. I could do that in six months!


Mine was 10 classes, but they were all night classes. It took me 2 years.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jul 16, 2008)

Mine was 10 classes as well. I did it in a year.

You may be thinking quarter hours, IlPadrino.


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## Casey (Jul 16, 2008)

My masters was only 30 credits as well...

12 credits for my thesis and 18 credits of course work. I finished in 2 years. It could have been shorter if my lazy ass didn't waste so much time avoiding writing my thesis.


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## IlPadrino (Jul 16, 2008)

Capt Worley PE said:


> Mine was 10 classes as well. I did it in a year.
> You may be thinking quarter hours, IlPadrino.


Yup, I forgot about that.. so one of my 3-credit quarter classes is analogous to a 4.5-credit hour semester class? If so, then 100 quarter credit hours is like 68 semester credit hours - still a lot more than 30!

Casey: Your class work was just six courses? Would you mind listing them for my curiosity?


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## benbo (Jul 16, 2008)

IlPadrino said:


> Yup, I forgot about that.. so one of my 3-credit quarter classes is analogous to a 4.5-credit hour semester class? If so, then 100 quarter credit hours is like 68 semester credit hours - still a lot more than 30!
> Casey: Your class work was just six courses? Would you mind listing them for my curiosity?


Where did you get your masters? Does it still require so many units? Did you have to take extra classes because your undergrad was different? Because I think 10 classes is very typical.


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## Casey (Jul 16, 2008)

Well don't discredit my thesis so quickly! It took quite a bit of work, not hard work, but lots of work.

Logging into my old student account, it tells me that the courses I took were:

-Reliability and Structural Safety (3 cr)

-Seismicity and Seismic Design Parameters (2 cr)

-Seismic Response of Structures (2 cr)

-Dynamics of Structures (3 cr)

-Behaviour of steel structures (3 cr)

-Computational Mechanics I (3cr) (i.e. finite element analysis)

-Fabrication of steel structures (3 cr) (this was an independent project a professor gives you, worth 3 credits.)

-Seminar (1 cr) (I had to present my thesis to the department, there was coffee and cookies)

Plus I audited a few Chinese language classes.

And of course my thesis which was about reliability engineering applied to civil engineering. Of course, I don't do that at all today and never want to touch that crap again.


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## Casey (Jul 16, 2008)

A quick correction... The 1.0 credit for the seminar wasn't for me presenting my thesis as I had thought earlier. That extra 1 credit course meant that you had to show up once a week to watch someone present their thesis. If you didn't earn that credit, you didn't graduate.

Presenting your thesis was optional; however, my prof guilt-tripped me into doing mine.

Edit: Also, there were two masters programs at my school.

The M.Eng which meant your 30 credits were all coursework and the M.A.Sc. which had the 12 credit thesis plus 18 credits coursework for a total of 30 credits.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jul 16, 2008)

I got my M Eng because I didn't want to do a thesis. I'm gonna have to get my transcripts and see what I took. I actually took more classes than I needed because I was working for the DoD and they required a full course load.


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## squishles10 (Jul 16, 2008)

Mine was 30 plus a project, or 27 plus a thesis (or 24? don't remember). My project was about half a thesis, maybe a quarter- it took me 9 months. The MS took me 4 years but I did it part time and took off 2 semesters.


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## gymrat1279 PE (Jul 16, 2008)

My MS was 27 + a 3 credit project or 24 + a 6 credit thesis. I did the 3 credit project. There was also an MEng that was 33 credits of classes.


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## Adrock (Aug 23, 2008)

ramicoce said:


> From the NCEES Model Law dated August 2007:
> Licensure by Examination (Effective January 1, 2015) – The following individuals shall be admitted to an 8-hour written examination in the principles and practice of engineering:
> 
> (1) An engineer intern with a bachelor’s degree, with an additional 30 credits of acceptable upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level coursework from approved course providers, and with a specific record of 4 years or more of progressive experience on engineering projects of a grade and a character which indicate to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering.
> ...


So this is for sure going to happen? I thought it was still being researched.


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## ramicoce (Aug 23, 2008)

SapperPE said:


> My master's degree program is 30 credits ~ 10 classes. It is through Virginia Tech, so I'm assuming that since it is among the top engineer schools in the WORLD!!!! (just kidding) it is probably about the same for most programs.


SapperPE, what are you kidding about? It IS among the top engineer schools in the world!! Of course, I'm completely unbiased despite that both my BS and MS are from Virginia Tech (02 and 05).

You said it's "through" Virginia Tech... are you studying somewhere outside of Blacksburg?


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## ramicoce (Aug 23, 2008)

Adrock said:


> So this is for sure going to happen? I thought it was still being researched.


Yes, it appears so. However, again, it's just "model law," so it's up to each state to incorporate it or not.


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## IlPadrino (Aug 24, 2008)

benbo said:


> Where did you get your masters? Does it still require so many units? Did you have to take extra classes because your undergrad was different? Because I think 10 classes is very typical.


I went to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey (MS in Information Technology Management). I think you hit the nail on the head... just about anyone in the Navy that qualifies for grad school can do it in ITM so there's a bit of baselining to bring different undergraduates to the right level. I had forgot that I validated almost a quarter of the requirements (my undergrad was in Computer and Systems Engineering) and took whatever interested me (OR stuff was crazy-hard - I'm glad I didn't take it for credit).

Yes... NPS is still the same - a two-year program for ITM. The MBA program is 18-months.

Thanks everyone for calibrating me...


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## Jtiger (Oct 21, 2008)

IlPadrino said:


> Right... no state *has* to use the model law and I'd imagine implementation will happen at different times (if it happens).


I think my MS was 33 credit hours. You might have been on the quarter system rather than semester


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## Supe (Oct 21, 2008)

Jtiger said:


> I think my MS was 33 credit hours. You might have been on the quarter system rather than semester


Even the quarters system shouldn't be that high. Ohio State does quarters, and their masters is only 45 credit hours.


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