Professional engineering registration requirements and processes

Engineering Registration

The website for the Society of Professional Engineers provides a link to the application one may fill out to become a member of the organization. To obtain full membership privileges, one must be licensed and registered as an engineer. The laws vary from state to state regarding licensing. They and are exclusively under the control of the individual state legislatures. But generally, according to the TSPE website, "the licensure laws for professional engineers require graduation from an accredited engineering curriculum followed by approximately four years of responsible engineering experience, and finally the successful completion of a written exam," in the engineering filed of the candidate's choice." (Official Website of TSPE, 2004)

Some states may waive the written exam "on the basis of education and experience, but the trend is toward an examination requirement," which is often taken in the applicant's senior year of college in the field of the applicant's choice, as more and more schools are encouraging that this step be completed as early as possible in an engineer's career. However, one need not be a fully licensed engineer to be a member of the society of professional engineers. The organization's downloadable pdf membership application allows one to be a student member, or obtain a recent graduate membership for reduced fees, with reduced levels of qualification. One only needs to be a member of an accredited program in engineering at a college or university to be a student member, or a recent graduate of such a program to register with the organization.