How well are EAC-ABET Accredited Civil Engineering Programs Preparing Graduates for the PE Exam?

Matthew K Swenty; Brian J. Swenty

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: ABET, PE, and CEBOK
Tagged Division: Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)
Page Count: 17
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/56716

Paper Authors

biography

Matthew K Swenty P.E. Virginia Military Institute orcid.org/0000-0002-1166-3817

visit author page

Matthew (Matt) Swenty obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in Civil Engineering from Missouri S&T and then worked as a bridge designer at the Missouri Department of Transportation. He then earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech followed by research work at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center on concrete bridges. He is currently a professor of civil engineering and the Jackson-Hope Chair in Engineering at VMI. He teaches engineering mechanics, structural engineering, and introduction to engineering courses and enjoys working with his students on bridge related research projects and the ASCE student chapter. His research interests include engineering licensure policies, civil engineering curriculum, and the use of innovative materials on concrete bridges.

visit author page

biography

Brian J. Swenty P.E. University of Evansville

visit author page

Brian J. Swenty, Ph.D., P.E. is a professor in the School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Evansville. He earned his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Missouri-Rolla (Missouri S & T) and his M.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of Florida.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

During the past 25 years, there have been many changes to the Principles and Practice (PE Exam) examinations and licensure policies affecting civil engineers. In 2000, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) transitioned the PE exam to a multiple-choice format and began allowing PE examinees to choose one of five civil engineering (CE) discipline specific exams instead of a broad problem-based exam. Beginning in 2022, all CE discipline specific PE exams transitioned to computer-based testing (CBT). In 2024, NCEES modified the CE discipline specific PE exams to focus on depth. Another change has involved state boards of registration decoupling the experience requirement from the PE exam. This allows many civil engineering graduates the flexibility to take the PE exam prior to gaining a requisite number of years of experience for licensure. Currently, nearly two thirds of jurisdictions allow graduates of EAC-ABET accredited civil engineering programs to take the Principles and Practice (PE Exam) immediately after graduation.

The changes to the PE exam provide more options and choices for civil engineering graduates from accredited programs. Many examinees will choose to take the examination prior to gaining experiential knowledge. In that case they will rely primarily on knowledge from their undergraduate education. The question is whether graduates have gained sufficient knowledge to pass the PE exam upon graduation. The following study focused on how closely the curriculum from a statistically averaged EAC-ABET accredited civil engineering program aligns with the content on the five new civil engineering specific PE exams.

The average civil engineering curriculum from a study of 87 EAC-ABET accredited programs was compared to the content (232 unique subtopics) on the revised CE discipline specific PE exams. The NCEES topic list for each exam was mapped to course descriptions in undergraduate required and elective courses. The results indicate that 1) the range of civil engineering topics varies significantly in each of the five NCEES civil engineering PE exams, 2) required courses in the average civil engineering curriculum cover 48% to 68% of the topics on each of the five NCEES civil engineering PE exams, and 3) most civil engineering curriculums have the flexibility to cover 82% to 95% of the topics on each discipline specific PE exam if specific electives are included. Students who plan to take the PE exam in their first year after graduation must carefully plan their undergraduate elective courses around the specific topics on the NCEES PE examination of their choice.

Citation
Format

Swenty, M. K., & Swenty, B. J. (2025, June), How well are EAC-ABET Accredited Civil Engineering Programs Preparing Graduates for the PE Exam? Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/56716

TY - CPAPER
AB - During the past 25 years, there have been many changes to the Principles and Practice (PE Exam) examinations and licensure policies affecting civil engineers. In 2000, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) transitioned the PE exam to a multiple-choice format and began allowing PE examinees to choose one of five civil engineering (CE) discipline specific exams instead of a broad problem-based exam. Beginning in 2022, all CE discipline specific PE exams transitioned to computer-based testing (CBT). In 2024, NCEES modified the CE discipline specific PE exams to focus on depth. Another change has involved state boards of registration decoupling the experience requirement from the PE exam. This allows many civil engineering graduates the flexibility to take the PE exam prior to gaining a requisite number of years of experience for licensure. Currently, nearly two thirds of jurisdictions allow graduates of EAC-ABET accredited civil engineering programs to take the Principles and Practice (PE Exam) immediately after graduation.

The changes to the PE exam provide more options and choices for civil engineering graduates from accredited programs. Many examinees will choose to take the examination prior to gaining experiential knowledge. In that case they will rely primarily on knowledge from their undergraduate education. The question is whether graduates have gained sufficient knowledge to pass the PE exam upon graduation. The following study focused on how closely the curriculum from a statistically averaged EAC-ABET accredited civil engineering program aligns with the content on the five new civil engineering specific PE exams.

The average civil engineering curriculum from a study of 87 EAC-ABET accredited programs was compared to the content (232 unique subtopics) on the revised CE discipline specific PE exams. The NCEES topic list for each exam was mapped to course descriptions in undergraduate required and elective courses. The results indicate that 1) the range of civil engineering topics varies significantly in each of the five NCEES civil engineering PE exams, 2) required courses in the average civil engineering curriculum cover 48% to 68% of the topics on each of the five NCEES civil engineering PE exams, and 3) most civil engineering curriculums have the flexibility to cover 82% to 95% of the topics on each discipline specific PE exam if specific electives are included. Students who plan to take the PE exam in their first year after graduation must carefully plan their undergraduate elective courses around the specific topics on the NCEES PE examination of their choice.

AU - Matthew K Swenty P.E.
AU - Brian J. Swenty P.E.
CY - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DA - 2025/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - How well are EAC-ABET Accredited Civil Engineering Programs Preparing Graduates for the PE Exam?
UR - https://peer.asee.org/56716
ER -