Requiring an FE Discipline-Specific Exam Module
( From the NCEES publication LICENSURE EXCHANGE, June 2010, ISSN NO. 1093-541X, VOLUME 14, ISSUE 3 – PAGE 8 )
Requiring a Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Discipline-Specific Exam Module
The FE exam includes a common session in the morning and a discipline-specific module in the afternoon. The majority of examinees fit into the larger engineering disciplines with their own afternoon modules: civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, environmental, and industrial engineering. The Other Disciplines module is offered for disciplines with smaller numbers of examinees.
Many examinees from disciplines that have afternoon modules choose to take the Other Disciplines module instead, despite data indicating that pass rates are higher for those who select the module matching their degree when available. This practice causes the outcomes assessment data that NCEES provides to engineering programs at colleges and universities to be less precise.
The EPE and EPP committees investigated whether NCEES should require FE examinees to take the discipline-specific module if there is one available in their discipline. The committees agreed that, while it is preferable for examinees to take the appropriate discipline-specific module, NCEES should not require it. Instead, the committees recommend that NCEES and its member boards continue to encourage examinees to choose the afternoon module in their discipline.
