The NCEES credentials evaluation is a $400 academic review that the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying performs on engineers whose degrees were not accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. Reviewers compare your transcripts against the NCEES Engineering Education Standard and send a report directly to the state licensing board where you plan to sit for the Fundamentals of Engineering or Principles and Practice of Engineering exam.1NCEES. Credentials Evaluations It exists because engineering programs around the world vary enormously, and state boards need a uniform way to judge whether your coursework prepared you for professional practice.
Do You Actually Need an Evaluation?
If your degree was EAC/ABET accredited at the time you graduated, you do not need one. That is true even when the program is located outside the United States, because ABET accredits programs in several countries and treats those graduates the same as domestic ABET graduates for licensure.2ABET. Accreditation Outside the U.S. Before anything else, check ABET’s program search for your school and your graduation year. A match ends the question.
Everyone else generally falls into one of two groups that must have the evaluation done:1NCEES. Credentials Evaluations
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering from any non-U.S. program that is not EAC/ABET accredited.
- Degree in engineering, engineering technology, a related science, or mathematics from a U.S. institution, but only when paired with a master’s or doctorate in engineering.
That second category catches people off guard. A bachelor’s in physics or chemistry alone will not qualify you for an evaluation; you generally need a graduate engineering degree layered on top. Anything outside these two categories is reviewed only when a state board specifically asks NCEES to do so on your behalf.3NCEES. NCEES Credentials Evaluation FAQs
One boundary worth naming: graduating from a Washington Accord signatory’s accredited program does not, on its own, exempt you. Most U.S. state boards still require the NCEES evaluation for any non-U.S. degree that lacks direct EAC/ABET accreditation, regardless of Washington Accord status.
What NCEES Is Measuring
Reviewers do not weigh institutional reputation. They map your coursework against the NCEES Engineering Education Standard, which sets minimum semester credit hours in two buckets:4NCEES. NCEES Engineering Education Standard
- 32 hours of higher mathematics, basic sciences, and additional sciences. Higher math must go beyond algebra and trigonometry and include differential and integral calculus. Basic sciences require at least two courses drawn from general chemistry, calculus-based physics, or biological sciences, and those two courses cannot be in the same subject.
- 48 hours of engineering science and engineering design. Design coursework must emphasize objectives-setting, synthesis, analysis, construction, testing, and evaluation.
Two exclusions matter. Engineering technology courses do not count toward the 48-hour engineering bucket, no matter how applied or relevant they look on paper. Computer programming courses do not satisfy mathematics or basic science requirements. If your transcript leans heavily on either, expect those credits to sit outside the counted totals.
One subtlety: NCEES does not declare your education “substantially equivalent to an ABET degree.” It reports whether your coursework meets the NCEES standard. State boards retain the final word on how to interpret that report.
Documents You Need to Gather
You need records from every post-secondary institution you attended, not just the school that granted your engineering degree. Graduate work, community college enrollment, transfer credits, and CLEP exams all count. Missing a single institution causes processing delays.5NCEES. Academic Transcript FAQs
Transcripts
Each institution must send its official transcript directly to NCEES. You cannot serve as the intermediary, even if you hold a sealed copy.5NCEES. Academic Transcript FAQs Most schools offer electronic delivery or mail. If a school has closed or cannot produce records, open a help ticket in your MyNCEES account before assuming you’re stuck.
Diplomas
Ideally the diploma arrives with the transcript. If your school will not send it separately, NCEES will accept a notarized color copy that you send yourself, as long as the notary stamp and contact information are clearly visible.6NCEES. Official Diploma or Certificate of Graduation FAQs
Translations
Any document not in English must be accompanied by a translation from a certified translation company, and both the original and the translation must be submitted. Translations should go from the agency directly to NCEES.6NCEES. Official Diploma or Certificate of Graduation FAQs Budget for this. Professional certified translation typically runs $20 to $60 per page depending on language and complexity, and a full transcript can span several pages.
Course Descriptions and Syllabi
For every engineering, science, and mathematics course on your transcripts, you need a detailed course description or an official syllabus reflecting the curriculum as it existed when you were enrolled, not the current catalog. Vague one-line descriptions hurt you, because reviewers use this material to decide whether a course has the depth required in its credit-hour category. Design courses should visibly emphasize objectives-setting, synthesis, analysis, and testing.4NCEES. NCEES Engineering Education Standard
Submitting Through MyNCEES
Everything runs through a MyNCEES account. You enter the exact credit hours earned and categorize each course into subject areas such as general education, basic science, or engineering science. Discrepancies between your entries and the official transcripts trigger delays, so cross-check carefully.
Make sure the name on every document matches your current legal identification. Applicants who have changed names through marriage or legal proceedings should resolve any mismatches before submitting, because administrative name discrepancies are a routine and entirely avoidable holdup.
You can gather and send documents before paying. The $400 fee is due when you’re ready for the review to begin.7NCEES Help Center. NCEES Credentials Evaluation FAQs Be careful though: NCEES will close applications if required documents are not received within a specified window, and reopening means paying a new fee. Do not start until you are confident your institutions can deliver transcripts in a reasonable timeframe.
Fees and Processing Time
The pricing is simple:1NCEES. Credentials Evaluations
- Initial evaluation: $400.
- Re-evaluation to add new coursework or degrees: $100.
- Transmission to an additional state board: free.
Refunds are available but carry a $50 administrative fee, and NCEES will not process refund requests for applications submitted more than one year earlier.1NCEES. Credentials Evaluations
Once all documents are received and the fee is paid, NCEES typically completes the evaluation within 15 business days.7NCEES Help Center. NCEES Credentials Evaluation FAQs That assumes everything is in order. Missing syllabi, untranslated documents, or transcripts that never arrived will push you well past that window.
What Happens If You Have Deficiencies
Your report will either say your education meets the NCEES standard or identify specific credit-hour categories that fall short. A deficiency finding is not a dead end. The report tells you exactly which category is lacking, so you know what coursework to add.
The NCEES standard itself does not require remedial coursework at an ABET-accredited institution. It simply flags the shortfall “for any action deemed appropriate by a member board.”4NCEES. NCEES Engineering Education Standard Your state board decides what it will accept. Some insist on ABET-accredited coursework; others accept courses from regionally accredited institutions. Ask your board before enrolling anywhere.
NCEES accepts certain CLEP exams to fill math and science gaps: Calculus (one semester of credit), Chemistry (two semesters), and Biology (two semesters).8NCEES. ETAC Credential Evaluation Breakdown If your deficiency is in basic sciences, a well-placed CLEP can save months compared to a traditional course.
When you complete the additional work, you submit the new transcript and pay the $100 re-evaluation fee rather than starting over.
Some state boards will also grant conditional permission to sit for the FE exam while you address minor gaps. That’s a board-by-board decision and worth asking about directly.9NCEES. International Professionals
Where the Report Goes
The report goes directly to the state licensing board you select through MyNCEES. NCEES will not send it to you, your employer, a university, or any other party; the evaluation exists solely for licensure.7NCEES Help Center. NCEES Credentials Evaluation FAQs Additional state transmissions later on are free.1NCEES. Credentials Evaluations
The evaluation also becomes a permanent part of your NCEES Record, the file used for comity licensure when you want to practice in additional states. For engineers without an EAC/ABET-accredited degree, the credentials evaluation is a required component of that Record and is the only educational evaluation service accepted by all state licensing boards.1NCEES. Credentials Evaluations If you expect to work across state lines over your career, completing it early pays off: sending a Record to a new board is far simpler than reassembling international transcripts and translations each time.
A Narrow Alternative for U.K. Engineers
One pathway bypasses both the FE and PE exams and, in effect, the standard evaluation route. Under the U.S.-U.K. Mutual Recognition Agreement, engineers who hold both Chartered Engineer (CEng) and International Professional Engineer (IntPE) status can apply for a P.E. license in participating U.S. states without taking the FE or PE.9NCEES. International Professionals Participating states include Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Applicants still need an NCEES Record, five professional references, and a $100 transmittal fee to the participating board. The route is narrow but genuinely useful for qualified U.K. engineers aiming at those states.