Civil Engineering Grads' Performance on PE Exam Exceeds National Average
January 31, 2012
The Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering is proud to announce that recent civil engineering graduates have achieved a passing rate on the Professional Engineer (PE) exam that far surpasses the national average — including a 100 percent pass rate on the most recent exam.
Scores from the October 2011 exam arrived this month from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), and they show that civil engineering graduates from the Class of 2007, the youngest class eligible to take the exam, achieved a 100 percent passing rate.
“I am proud to say that I am a graduate of the University of Evansville, and the education I received definitely prepared me for my career and success on the PE exam,” said Matt Jamniczky, a project engineer for Graber Construction in Washington, Indiana, who graduated in 2007 and passed the PE exam in October. “UE not only offers the necessary curriculum, but teaches students how to work hard and solve problems that cannot be found in a textbook.”
The PE exam, offered every April and October, is designed for engineers who have at least four years of post-college work experience in their chosen engineering discipline. For civil engineers, exam choices include construction, geotechnical, structural, transportation, and water resources/environmental engineering. The exam is the last step in the process of becoming a licensed Professional Engineer.
“I took a review course for the exam, and at no time during the course or the exam itself did I feel like there were subjects I had not seen during my undergraduate studies,” said Matt Melton, an engineer with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, also a 2007 graduate who passed the PE exam in October. “UE’s well-rounded civil engineering curriculum was very beneficial in preparing me for the PE exam.”
Amanda Ranck, a fellow 2007 graduate who works as a field/office engineer with Traylor Bros., Inc., in Evansville, agrees. “At UE, I took classes in construction management, transportation, water resources, geotech, and design — all of the areas covered on the PE exam,” she said. “When I started studying for the exam, I had familiar textbooks to use as references and had been exposed to most of the material in my classes at UE.”
Over the past three years, UE civil engineering alumni have attained an 84 percent passing rate on the PE exam, compared to a national rate of 65 percent for the same time period.
The overall national pass rate for first-time takers of civil engineering exams is 65 percent. For each of the last six PE exams, UE graduates have collectively posted a pass rate of over 70 percent, including two exams with a 100 percent pass rate.
“When our alumni take the PE exam, they join the ranks of graduates from large universities known for their engineering prowess, such as Purdue, Georgia Tech, the University of Illinois, and the University of California Berkeley,” said Brian Swenty, chair of the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering. “The exam results indicate that UE graduates are just as prepared to succeed as their counterparts from some of the nation’s most well-known and highly renowned engineering schools.”
“Our sustained success on the PE exam demonstrates that graduates of UE’s civil engineering program not only are prepared for careers as practicing engineers, but they have a strong work ethic,” Swenty added. “The PE exam is a grueling eight-hour exam, and between 40 and 80 hours of preparation over six months is recommended. The commitment engineers must make to pass this exam is truly remarkable, and UE’s high passing rate shows that our graduates have both the knowledge and the dedication they need to succeed.”