Trine ups FE passing rate

Seniors above national average

 

Trine University engineering seniors taking the fundamentals of engineering (FE) exam administered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) in April improved their passing percentage and topped the national passing average for engineering students taking the test nationwide. The NCEES test represents the first licensing step on the pathway to professional engineer status. 

One hundred percent of Trine chemical and electrical engineering seniors taking the exam passed it. Nationally, 87 percent of chemical engineering seniors and 76 percent of electrical engineering seniors who took the test passed.

While all of the Trine chemical and electrical engineering seniors taking the test passed, the university’s civil engineering seniors also fared well, with 80 percent of those taking it passing, topping the national average of 71 by nine percent. Seventy-three percent of Trine’s mechanical engineering seniors taking the test also passed.

Trine engineering seniors out-performed their national counterparts in the combined areas of chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering at 81 percent, versus 76 percent of seniors nationally passing the test.  

The national figure pulls pass-and-fail data from schools of chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering to create a passing rate for all the disciplines. While students passing the test fell by one percent nationally since last year, Trine University’s passing average increased by two percent during that time.

Engineering majors must pass the national FE exam during the senior year to become engineers in training (EITs), the first level of professionalism. After about four years of experience with an engineering firm, they can apply to take the professional engineer (PE) exam. Passing the exam is part of several other requirements to be licensed as a PE and use the PE designation after one’s name.

While not all engineering schools require the FE exam for graduation, Trine’s Wade Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering require the exam for degree completion. “What’s most important to me is we proved that we’re better than we were last year and that we are continuing to move forward as a premier institution,” said Dr. Roger Hawks, dean of the Allen School of Engineering & Technology.

Visit the NCEES Web site at www.ncees.org/ for more information about the organization and the FE exam.