Exam

General Examination Information

The Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors encourages all applicants for exam and / or licensure to carefully review the applicable requirements for each before proceeding with the exam and / or licensure process.

Computer-based FE exams offered via NCEES are administered only at approved Pearson VUE testing centers. At present, Pearson Vue testing centers in Mississippi include Jackson and Tupelo.  There are also centers in Memphis, Tuscaloosa, Mobile, and New Orleans; you do not have to take the exam in Mississippi.

There will be four testing windows for the FE annually. Each of these windows will last for three months. Therefore, exam appointments will be available year round. Candidates for a computer-based testing (CBT) exam may take the exam only one time per testing window and no more than three times in a 12-month period.

Fundamentals of Engineering exam:

Students seeking approval to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam must be seniors in their respective engineering disciplines and should be listed on their schools official senior status list. Students should notify the Board that they have registered for the exam on the NCEES website and are awaiting Board approval.  Notification can be sent via email at information@pepls.state.ms.us.

Professional Engineer Applicants:

As of February 2020, Professional Engineer (PE) applicants who qualify will no longer make application to the Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors to take the PE exam.  

Instead, individuals will be allowed to register directly with NCEES, prior to having obtained the four years of engineering experience, provided they already meet the following criteria:

• hold a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from an EAC/ABET-accredited program
• have taken and passed the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering Examination
• are a Mississippi resident
• have the FE exam and your education VERIFIED in your NCEES account

Learn more about the decouple instructions for the PE Exam here.

Computer-Based testing

The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and the Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exam, also known as the Engineer Intern (EI) exam and the Surveyor Intern (SI) exam, respectively, are CBT exams.  FS applicants no longer require approval from the Board to schedule the FS exam through NCEES.  

Both FE and FS Examinees should register with NCEES to schedule an exam.    

Additionally, the following exams are also CBT exams:

• Principles and Practice of Engineering (various disciplines)
• Principles and Practice of Surveying

Neither PE or PS examinees require board approval for exam scheduling; however the FE and FS are prerequisites to these exams, respectively.

NCEES will strictly enforce materials that are allowed in examination rooms.  The only calculators allowed in the examination rooms are those approved by NCEES.  For the current “approved” list, please refer to the NCEES web site at www.ncees.org.   If an unapproved calculator is found in your possession after the exam begins, you will be dismissed from the exam room and your exam will not be scored.

Be advised that examination results are reported only as pass or fail; numerical scores are not given.  All failing candidates will be provided with a diagnostic report to indicate performance on those sections attempted.

We encourage applicants / licensees to review the exam-day policies and videos available at the NCEES website found at the following link:

https://ncees.org/surveying/exam-day-policies/

The Mississippi PS Examination (2 Hours)

* The two-hour Mississippi PS exam has been converted to a computer-based test (CBT) and is CLOSED BOOK.  It consists of 100 multiple choice questions counting one point each; the minimum passing grade is 70 points out of 100 points. The examination subjects are as follows:

SUGGESTED STUDY MATERIALS :

• Instructions for Surveying in the State of Mississippi and The Survey of Mississippi’s State, Indian, and Township Boundaries   (available from the Miss. Association of Professional Surveyors – www.mississippisurveyor.com
• Rules and Regulations of the Mississippi Board of Licensure and Mississippi Licensure Law;
• Manual of Surveying Instructions, 1973 or 2009, Bureau of Land Management;
• Land Surveyor Reference Manual, A. Harbin;
• Senate Bill 2131, passed in 1992 by Mississippi legislature, item “o” of the surveying standards (Rule 21) can be found on our website.  Go back to the home page, scroll down and click on Surveying Standards; it’s the last item on that page.
• Brown’s Boundary Control/Legal Principles, 2003, Robilllard et al.;
• Surveying Practice (2nd ed.), P. Kissam;
• Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms, ACSM, available at www.ACSM.net.

CALCULATOR REQUIREMENTS:

Unless otherwise specified, the Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers & Surveyors will follow the calculator policy recommended by the National Council of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors (NCEES).  You can find the latest NCEES calculator policy here:  https://ncees.org/exams/.

DIRECTIONS TO FOLLOW UPON RECEIVING YOUR EXAM RESULTS

IF YOU PASSED:


• FE examinees: Congratulations!

If you have not done so, please apply for Enrollment as an Engineer Intern.  Once we have received your FE exam verification and official final transcript we will process your application for enrollment. 

• PE examinees: Congratulations!

Please submit your application for initial PE licensure.  You can find more information on the requirements for initial PE licensure at the following link.

• FS examinees: Congratulations!

If you have not done so, please apply for Enrollment as a Surveyor Intern.  Once we have received your FS exam verification, official final transcript and experience verification, we will process your application for enrollment.

• PS comity examinees: Congratulations!

Please allow up to four weeks to receive your Professional Surveyor licensure letter and certificate access notice.

• PS initial examinees: Congratulations!

Please allow up to four weeks to receive the results of your Mississippi state-specific exam. If you passed both exams, please allow up to four weeks to receive your Professional Surveyor licensure letter and certificate.

If you have not yet submitted your official transcript, then once you have graduated:

1. Arrange to have your official transcript sent directly from the university to the Board.  Official transcripts can be provided via email at the following email address: information@pepls.ms.gov.  If providing the transcript via regular mail please mail to 455 North Lamar Street, Suite 208, Jackson, MS 39202,
2. As needed, please update your contact information using the agency update your contact information form.  

If you are having your transcript mailed, allow AT LEAST one week for U.S. postal delivery and then VERIFY with our office that the transcript has been received.

MDOT, MDEQ & MSDH employees, or potential employees, needing EI enrollment issued by the 1st of the month should PLAN ACCORDINGLY. Verify that we already have your transcript; don't assume the postal service delivered it. Schedule your FE exam BEFORE the middle of the month to allow sufficient time for grading. If your exam result and your transcript are received AFTER EI enrollments are issued for the month, your EI enrollment will be issued at the end of the NEXT month.

IF YOU DID NOT PASS:

Remember, that you are allowed three consecutive citations (opportunities) to take the exam within a 12-month period. You can re-register to take the exam at www.ncees.org.

Directions upon receiving your Structural PE Exam Results

If you passed:

Congratulations!  Please allow two weeks to receive your Professional Engineer licensure letter and certificate or email notice.

If you did not pass:

The Structural PE exam is a sixteen (16) hour exam, composed of two eight (8) hour components – vertical forces and lateral forces.  For the initial application, the applicant is allowed three (3) citations per component to pass the examination for a maximum six citations. The citations “count”, whether the applicant actually takes the examination or not.  If the applicant is not successful on both components by the final citation, the initial application is closed.

1. To attempt the exam again, the applicant must submit a new application to be approved by the Board, and will be allowed only one citation per component per application, subject to the restrictions below.  The citations “count”, whether the applicant actually takes the examination or not.
2. An applicant having three or more unsuccessful attempts of any component, regardless of the jurisdiction in which the exam is administered, must submit an application to be readmitted to future administrations of the same exam.  If readmitted by the Board, the applicant may take the component no sooner than eleven months following the most recent attempt.
3. An examinee taking the Structural PE discipline must achieve an “acceptable” result on both eight hour components in order to pass this exam.  A Structural PE examinee may retain credit for an “acceptable” result on one of the two components for five years; if an “acceptable” result is not achieved on the remaining component within five years, this credit expires.

If you have questions about your eligibility to test again, whether or not you may re-register, or if you need to reapply, please contact the Licensing Officer.