Approved Changes for Licensure Requirements for PE

[Tiger]

Perhpas this has already been discussed, but is everyone aware of the change that the board has made in regards to liscensing requirements effective 2015? Starting then, you will have to have 30 additional upper level undergrad/graduate coursework or a Masters or PhD in order to sit for the PE exam.

http://www.ncees.org/news/index.php?release_id=1

Just wondering what others thought about that. I wasn't aware of this until Friday. I don't think I would have taken the test if those were the requirements. I have never been interested in going back to school for a Masters Degree, and I am not sure this would have convinced me.

Any thoughts?

 

[kevo_55]

I believe this has already been discussed.

Still, it'll suck for others but make people licensed by 2015 (ie: us) very much in demand.

 

[jeb6294]

Yep...that info already made the rounds. We decided that there would start to be a lot of Engineers coming out of school with an Engineering/Gym Teacher double major.

 

[Tiger]

I personally think it is just going to lead to a large decrease in the number of PEs, but perhaps that is what they were going for.

I'll go back and see if I can find the old discussions. Thanks.

~Lindsey

 

[Dark Knight]

What bothers me is that they can do that unilaterally(ie...they can do whatever they want without any constraint). No hearings, no consult, nothing. Is the way the Gods of the NCEES Mountain work. They did the same with the exam format, with the calculator and with everything they wish to change for the sake of it.

Don't get me wrong, I respect whatever they decide. They make the rules and that is the bottom line. I just don't like the imposition. At least they are giving a good "in advance" notification. We will see a decrease of the number of engineers coming out of college. That will be the main result of this.

 

[Mike in Gastonia]

Doctors are required to have education beyond Bachelor's degree.

Attorneys are required to have education beyond Bachelor's degree.

Even CPAs:

Students who wish to pursue the CPA designation are encouraged to plan early. The curriculum that must be followed in order to satisfy all of the requirements is fairly demanding and there is little room for deviations from the prescribed course path. It is particularly important to keep up with the sequence of Accountancy courses.
For candidates taking the exam for the first time after January 1, 2001, completion of 150 hours of college credit and baccalaureate or higher degree are required. In addition, demonstration that studies have included a concentration in accounting is required. This requirements can be met in a variety of ways.

Graduate degree with a concentration in accounting

Any graduate degree and completion of 24 hours in accounting (including one class in taxation, auditing, financial accounting, and management accounting) or

Baccalaureate degree and completion of 24 hours in accounting (including one class in taxation, auditing, financial accounting, and management accounting)

Just food for thought..........

 

[JohnNevets]

If I remember the thread right, didn't we decide that this one NCEES couldn't institue unilaterally, since it was just a recomendaion for state review boards? The others you mentioned are directly related to the test itself, and the states just say you have to pass the NCEES test. And in Wi at least, a chnge this big (since it would change the statute) would have to be voted on by the state legislature I believe. Now the state leg is going to do what the review board asks them to do, and I'm pretty sure the review board is going to do what the NCEES asks them to do, but there is a process at least. Either way I agree it is a raw deal, especially since it looks like it could relate to what they consider experience as well.

Any way we got years to debate this ahead of us,

John

 

[Road Guy]

should a non engineering related masters degree such as an MBA count?

 

[Mike in Gastonia]

should a non engineering related masters degree such as an MBA count?

I am guessing no. It seems the reason for the +30 is because universities are requiring less credits to graduate and the feeling is that the BS is getting watered down. I'm guessing the 30 hours will need to be technical, but that's JMHO.

 

[Road Guy]

lol, they have obviously never had an international finance class then. :w00t: I would rank that class right up there with steel design or diff equations.

I recall getting peeved about this until I realized my undergarduate degree was already way over the # hours requested.

Fact though, in Georgia you can get a PE without sitting in college one day (I know a couple who got theirs this way)

 

[DVINNY]

RG, I think our state used to have a 10 years of experience for the FE without school, and another number of years for the PE, but I'm not sure if they still do or not.

I think that this change will not cause a decrease in PE's, it may cause a decrease in the number of people sitting for the exam, but I think it will increase the pass rates for those who do qualify for it.

My wife's profession required a Master's when she graduated, and now requires a Phd for most cases, and she gets paid alot more $$$ than I do, so maybe it will help the next generation of engineers.

Myself, if I don't pass the PE before 2015, I'm going into something else anyway, so I'm not worried about going back to school. :w00t:

 

[Hill William]

All I know is.... Thank god for grandfather clauses.

 

[Road Guy]

no matter how much education we require engineers to have before getting licensed, and no matter how many things we "build" for mankind, we will basically always be "that ***** who wont pave my subdivision street" or those idiots that cant patch a pothole, etc, etc,

 

[Slugger926]

should a non engineering related masters degree such as an MBA count?

How about the master's degree I am working on through an acredited engineering school. www.msetm.com

I also wonder if you will need a master degree to transfer your license between states.

 

[user 788]

I think it's a good thing to increase the education requirements. However people like me will never be able to get licensed once this becomes effective. I received my education overseas and not all of it is accepted by the state board. Apart from the fact that it's close to impossible to have my school send a sealed transcript in english to my state board. I don't see why I should get the same education over again here in the US just to get a license. Somehow that doesn't make any sense to me. I'm pretty sure I'll get my license before that. But it'll suck for everyone else in the same situation after 2015.

 

[kevo_55]

I think it's a good thing to increase the education requirements. However people like me will never be able to get licensed once this becomes effective. I received my education overseas and not all of it is accepted by the state board. Apart from the fact that it's close to impossible to have my school send a sealed transcript in english to my state board. I don't see why I should get the same education over again here in the US just to get a license. Somehow that doesn't make any sense to me. I'm pretty sure I'll get my license before that. But it'll suck for everyone else in the same situation after 2015.

Not to get this off topic, but where'd you go to school Tina?

My wife is from Taiwan and we just got her transcripts accepted for grad school. It wasn't a fun proccess.

 

[user 788]

Not to get this off topic, but where'd you go to school Tina?
My wife is from Taiwan and we just got her transcripts accepted for grad school. It wasn't a fun proccess.

I'm from Germany and went to a technical college there. I never bothered getting my transcripts because I've enough work experience and that's all you need to get your PE license in California. Man, I'd hate to go thru all the hassle.

 

[grover]

I see no reason a PE should be required to have a masters or any other graduate education. I mean, hell, most of us don't use 99% of what we learned getting our 4-year degrees, why should we take more courses we'll never get any value from?

Maybe I'm just cynical of the difference between academia and the real world, and all those %#$@&$@ high-level calculus courses I suffered through and will never ever use because the most complex math any engineers use in the real-world can be done in excel.

 

[Road Guy]

Theres always a strong push to equate engineers with doctors and lawyers, I would like to make $250,000 a year as well, but I just cant see that happening across the board.

The only way I see that ever happening is if all engineers colluded to raise rates & fees dramatically, which would most likely be illegal in most states.

And not to mention that the public is already tax heavy (in their minds) regarding civil work anyways, we are not evening earning enough revenue on the federal gas tax to do much more than repair / maintain 20-30 year old interstates, let alone do anything new that can actually help provide congestion relief, and elliminate safety hazards.

And not many politicians are talking about raising taxes (at the local level anyways)