Engineering students from all disciplines are feeling the stress as Fundamentals of Engineering, FE, exams begin.  

In order to graduate, engineering students must take the FE exam, with students taking it during the first semester of their senior year. Part of the process of becoming a professional engineer involves passing the exam.

In order to become a professional engineer licensed in Arkansas, students must complete an undergraduate degree accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, or ABET. Next, they must pass their FE exams and then complete four years of post-college work experience verified by a licensed professional engineer. Finally, they must take and pass the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam.

“The importance of that is to allow our students to advance in the workplace. It opens up a lot more career opportunities for them,” said Jason Stewart, director of civil engineering. “For our graduates entering the workforce, a big help for their employment and for their job offers is to have passed the FE exam which signifies to their employer they are on their way to licensure.”

The exam is five hours and 20 minutes long, with a 40-minute break in between sections. The first part of the exam covers the engineering fundamentals, while the second half focuses on the student’s specific discipline. For Arkansas State University students, this is mechanical, electrical or civil engineering.

Students can take the exam once for free through A-State’s testing center in November. If they don’t pass the exam, it will not affect or delay their graduation. However, they will have to retake it on another date and have to pay.

To help students prepare for the exam, the senior seminar class offers review sessions, with a different topic covered each week. Noah Sanders, a senior mechanical engineering major from Cabot, Arkansas, said the senior seminar review sessions help him.

“It’s a lot of information to deal with at one time and you just need to break it up when you’re studying,” Sanders said. “That’s been really helpful for me to get some practice questions in and see more of what I need to focus on.”

 In addition, professors encourage students to study on their own. Shivan Haran, who has a doctorate in mechanical engineering and serves as director of mechanical engineering, said he encourages students to begin studying two to three weeks before their exam.

With Thanksgiving break being so close, students said professors are piling on the work, making completing assignments and studying for the FE exams difficult.

 “Right now, my stress levels are very high. I don’t think that they would be as high if I didn’t have so much other schoolwork going on with it being the week before Thanksgiving,” said Brooke Hessling, a senior civil engineering major from Dexter, Missouri. “Every professor is trying to get everything done before break. That has made my stress level for the FE very high because I can’t just focus on the FE, I have to focus on passing my classes as well.”

Students use a variety of methods to help manage their stress levels. Madison Walker, a senior civil engineering major from Tuckerman, Arkansas, said she exercises and does hot yoga to relieve stress. 

“It’s just kind of a quiet time. You get to go and be by yourself and honestly, you’re so hot and you can just forget about the FE and the stressors that you may have, or if you’re worried at all or whatever, just a little break from what you’re dealing with,” Walker said.

In addition to attending senior seminar review sessions, students have been studying on their own using online review materials.

Nicolas Palacios, a senior electrical engineering major from Cabot, Arkansas, said he’s been using FE prep guides on the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying website. 

There are two review manuals: a bigger workbook with examples and solutions and a smaller book for just diagnostic exams. He bought the bigger book and studies when he has time. 

 Engineering professors recognize the stress the exams can cause students.

Haran said he tells students to prioritize studying for the FE and then to come back and complete his assignments. Yeonsang Hwang, who serves as associate dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science and has a doctorate in civil engineering, said students should not stress themselves out trying to get a perfect score. 

“We acknowledge and understand it can be a big stressor. We’re trying to do the best we can to help students manage that and to encourage them,” Stewart said. “The other thing is you want to go in with a positive attitude. It’s a long test, so it’s not something you’re gonna knock out in five minutes. So try to just manage expectations for what that full day of testing is gonna be like.”

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