FE Electrical – FAQs

You can retake the exam once throughout every 2 month-period, and up to three times a year.

• It is the first step to PE Licensure, which allows you to become a licensed engineer in the US and can greatly enhance your career prospects.
• Certain jobs either require completion or reward completion of the FE Exam with improved salaries.
• The sooner you take the exam, the easier and more beneficial it’ll be.

The FE Exam has 110 questions that need to be completed in under 5 hours and 20 minutes. Although that content itself is not widely considered to be difficult, the broad scope of topics can make the exam quite challenging. Additionally, the sooner you take the exam, the easier it will be to pass.

As of January 2021, the passing rate for the FE Electrical and Computer Exam was 72%. This, however is a percentile scoring system which means that 72% of the people that took the exam on that date passed.

As a guideline to aid your preparation for FE examination, you should roughly aim to get at least 65-70 questions out of the 110 correct to be in a safe position for passing.

1. ID
2. An NCEES Approved Calculator.
3. Locker Key (Food and drink can be stored in lockers outside the testing room, locker is accessible during breaks)
4. Face Mask during Covid-19

Depending on the state you live in, you may have to visit the state board’s website and fill out a form to receive the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) certification.

• 110 questions to be solved in 5 hours and 20 minutes. Around 55 in the first section, followed by a 25 minute break and then around 55 in the second section.
• You can go back to a previous question only within the current section. Once you’re in section 2, you cannot go back to section 1.
• The only reference material you have access to during the exam is the NCEES FE Reference Handbook that will appear on the left side of the screen.
• The only items you can bring to the testing room is an ID, an NCEES approved calculator, locker key, and a face mask.

A number of changes were made to the FE Electrical and Computer Exam sections:

• Mathematics: Added ordinary differential equations
• Probability and Statistics: Removed point and confidence intervals, removed conditional probability.
• Engineering Economics and Ethics: Added safety topics
• Properties of Electrical Materials: Removed mechanical and chemical topics. Added semiconductor materials.
• Engineering Sciences: Section Removed
• Linear Systems: Removed 2-port theory
• Signal processing: Removed convolution, difference equations, Z-transforms
• Electronics: Removed Solid-state fundamentals
• Electromagnetics: Removed electromagnetic compatibility
• Control Systems: Removed root locus and state variables
• Computer Networks: Added network intrusion detection and prevention
• Digital Systems: Removed data path/controller design
• Computer Systems: Removed architecture
• Software: Removed software design methods
• Engineering Economics, Circuit Analysis, Power Systems, Communications: No changes