NCEES Credentials Evaluations
NCEES Credentials Evaluations is a service for state licensing boards and applicants. It is designed primarily for candidates who have earned their degrees outside the United States and are pursuing licensure through one of the member licensing boards of NCEES.
- The first step toward licensure typically involves passing the FE exam.
- Examinees usually have to be approved by a state licensing board or foreign entity before they can sit for an NCEES exam.
- Applicants who earned degrees through non-EAC/ABET-accredited programs (including most programs outside the United States) are usually required to have their credentials evaluated by NCEES before being approved.
You will need your credentials evaluated if you have one of the following:
- A foreign degree (non-ABET accredited)
- A non-ABET accredited US degree
- A non-engineering degree
If you aren’t sure whether you need a credentials evaluation through NCEES, contact your state licensing board before you begin the process. Most applicants are referred to NCEES Credentials Evaluations by a state licensing board.
You do not need an evaluation if your degree was accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET at the time of your graduation. ABET also accredits some programs in other countries, click here for a list of foreign entities.
If you aren’t sure whether your degree program is EAC-accredited, you can search for it at ABET’s website: accredited program search.
To earn a license to practice engineering or surveying, candidates must meet requirements in three areas: education, experience, and examinations. Licensing is handled at the State board level and they sometimes require that a candidate’s educational background be evaluated to ensure that it is comparable to an accredited degree in the United States. The evaluation process helps ensure that a candidate is qualified academically for licensure. Usually, this takes place when a candidate applies to sit for a licensing exam offered by NCEES.
DISCLAIMER: NCEES is not involved in granting licenses or clearing applicants for taking the exam. Your evaluation will serve as a reference for the licensing board, which will make any decision regarding your eligibility to obtain a license.
The State boards are looking for licensees to have an ABET accredited degree or one that is equivalent to an ABET accredited program. NCEES credential evaluation services serves as an advisor to the state boards. In other words, the reports that they generate help to fill in the missing information about an applicant’s educational background.
When it conducts an evaluation, NCEES compares the candidate’s college-level education against the NCEES Engineering Education Standard.
This standard reflects generally agreed-upon educational qualifications for entering the profession. If your college-level coursework meets the standard, your evaluation report will indicate this. If it does not, your report will indicate any areas of deficiency.
This standard is based on a 128-hour/4-year program with hours designated as such:
- 48 hours engineering and design
- 32 hours upper-level math and basic sciences
- 16 general education
- 16 hours electives or other
The evaluation will contain
- an applicant summary
- a comparability summary, which includes the evaluation result (whether the NCEES Engineering Education Standard has been met), and any area(s) of deficiency relative to the standard
- an education summary, including institution(s) attended, major(s), and degree(s) earned
- a criteria analysis, which breaks down coursework corresponding to the NCEES standard
The credential evaluation is a course-by-course evaluation of your college coursework.
Once the application is received by NCEES, the evaluator will send you a message letting you know what documents are needed for the evaluation.
Evaluation: $350
Re-evaluation: $100
Once your evaluator contacts you, you will have access to a transcript request form that you can send off to your institution and lets your institution know what exactly is required and what they must send back to NCEES.
Once all documents are in and verified, your report should take no more than 15 business days.
NCEES transmits the completed evaluation to the state board and you have access to an unofficial copy on the NCEES website.
You must follow up with the state board. It’s the State board that will give you direction on your next course of action. [i]
[i] https://ncees.org/records/ncees-credentials-evaluations/