Engineering Licensure and Online Degrees

Earning an engineering degree online does not, by itself, help or hurt your chances of becoming a licensed Professional Engineer (PE). What matters to a licensing board is which program you graduated from, how it is accredited, which exams you pass and what experience you document, all under the rules of the state where you apply. This guide explains how those pieces fit together and where online students need to be careful. It is general information, not a determination of your eligibility; only a state board can make that.

Who licenses engineers

Licenses are issued by state and territorial boards, not by schools or national organizations. NCEES, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, says its members are 68 engineering and surveying licensing boards from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NCEES develops and administers the national exams; each board decides who is licensed.

NCEES describes the most commonly accepted path in three steps:

• Education: boards generally require PE candidates to have a bachelor's degree from an EAC/ABET-accredited program.
• Experience: most states require four years of acceptable, progressive and verifiable work experience.
• Exams: candidates typically must pass the FE exam and the PE exam.

NCEES adds that many states provide additional paths and that candidates should verify the requirements in the state or territory where they plan to practice. That is the state whose rules apply to you, regardless of where your school is located.

Why the program's accreditation matters more than the format

ABET says it accredits "programs only, not degrees, departments, colleges, institutions, or individuals." It has four accreditation commissions, including the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) and the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (ETAC). NCEES's description of the usual education requirement refers to EAC/ABET accreditation specifically.

Because accreditation attaches to a specific program, an online version needs its own check. In our directory (October 2026), 30 of the 35 online engineering bachelor's programs match a current EAC of ABET accreditation record, and 17 of those 30 records list the online pathway itself (how we match records). When a record names only the campus program, ask the school whether the online route is covered. Our ABET accreditation explainer shows how to read a record, and the ABET-accredited list collects the programs we have matched.

Graduate programs are rarely ABET-accredited, and that is normal. A master's is usually not what a board looks at first. It also does not automatically make up for a bachelor's that is not EAC-accredited; how a state treats that combination is set by its own rules.

The FE exam

NCEES calls the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam "generally your first step" toward the PE license. It is designed for recent graduates and students close to finishing an undergraduate engineering degree from an EAC/ABET-accredited program. According to NCEES, it is a computer-based exam given year-round at NCEES-approved Pearson test centers, with 110 questions in a six-hour appointment, and a $225 fee paid to NCEES.

Some online master's programs also refer to the FE in admissions: Kennesaw State's online MS in Mechanical Engineering, for example, accepts passing the FE as one alternative for applicants just below its GPA threshold.

Experience and the PE exam

NCEES says the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam tests for a minimum level of competency in a particular discipline and is designed for engineers with at least four years of post-college work experience in their field. NCEES offers more than 20 PE exams.

Boards define acceptable experience in their own words. Texas, for example, says acceptable experience most commonly falls into design or analysis, must be progressive and should be documented as you go; applicants submit a Supplementary Experience Record and confidential reference statements from licensed professional engineers. California says that if education is used as part of the required qualifying experience, the actual work experience must be gained after graduation, and it issues licenses in specific branches such as civil, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Engineering technology and non-accredited degrees

Boards often treat these degrees differently, and the difference can be large. The Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors is one example:

Texas also requires every degree or combination to include at least 8 hours of math beyond trigonometry and 20 hours of engineering sciences, plus the Texas Ethics of Engineering exam. Other states set different terms, so read your own board's rules. Our guide to engineering vs. engineering technology and the engineering technology section explain the academic differences.

Moving between states

According to NCEES, licensed engineers who want to practice in an additional state or territory apply to that board for comity licensure. NCEES runs a Records program that compiles your transcripts, exam results, employment verifications and references and sends them to boards on your behalf. NCEES says every U.S. state board accepts an NCEES Record, but that a Record "does not guarantee licensure in any jurisdiction" and some boards ask for more information.

A checklist for online students who want a PE license

• Find your state board through the NCEES member board directory and read its education rules before you enroll.
• Confirm that the specific online program you will graduate from is EAC/ABET-accredited, and whether ABET's record covers the online route.
• If you are considering an engineering technology degree, a non-engineering bachelor's or a degree from outside the United States, ask the board how it would treat it.
• Look at the FE exam early; NCEES designs it for students close to finishing and recent graduates.
• Look for work that your board would count as engineering experience, and keep a detailed record of projects from the start.
• Treat any school statement about licensure as a starting point; the board in your state makes the decision.