What Is the FE Electrical and Computer Exam?

The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Electrical and Computer exam is the first step toward becoming a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in electrical or computer engineering. It is a computer-based, open-book exam (the NCEES FE Reference Handbook only) consisting of 110 questions in 5 hours 20 minutes. The exam is administered year-round at Pearson VUE testing centers.

Most candidates take the FE exam shortly after graduating or while still in school — the exam tests undergraduate-level knowledge, and the material is freshest close to graduation. You can take the FE exam as a senior in an ABET-accredited engineering program without waiting to graduate.

Exam Topic Areas

The FE Electrical and Computer exam covers 17 topic areas with the following approximate weighting:

  • Mathematics — 11%: linear algebra, differential equations, transforms
  • Probability and Statistics — 4%
  • Ethics and Professional Practice — 4%
  • Engineering Economics — 4%
  • Properties of Electrical Materials — 4%
  • Circuit Analysis (DC and AC) — 13%: KVL/KCL, Thevenin/Norton, phasors
  • Linear Systems — 5%: transfer functions, frequency response, convolution
  • Signal Processing — 5%: sampling, FFT, filtering
  • Electronics — 9%: op-amps, diodes, transistors (BJT, MOSFET)
  • Power — 9%: three-phase, transformers, motors, per-unit system
  • Electromagnetics — 6%: Maxwell's equations, transmission lines
  • Control Systems — 7%: Bode plots, root locus, PID control
  • Communications — 5%: modulation, noise, Shannon capacity
  • Computer Networks — 4%
  • Digital Systems — 8%: Boolean algebra, logic gates, state machines, microprocessors
  • Computer Systems — 4%
  • Software Development — 8%: algorithms, data structures, programming fundamentals

The NCEES FE Reference Handbook

The handbook is approximately 390 pages of formulas, tables, and reference data. It is available as a free PDF download from the NCEES website — study with this exact document. The key is knowing where every formula lives before exam day. Create a personal index of the most-used formulas so you can find them in seconds.

Study Strategy

Most candidates need 100–200 hours of study to pass. Focus your time on the highest-weighted topics first: Circuit Analysis (13%), Power (9%), Electronics (9%), and Digital Systems (8%) together account for nearly 40% of the exam.

Use NCEES practice exams as your primary benchmark — they are the closest to the actual exam format and difficulty. Supplement with PPI FE Electrical and Computer Practice Problems or the School of PE FE Electrical review course.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Not downloading and practicing with the actual NCEES handbook — the one on the exam has a different layout than any textbook
  • Skipping probability, statistics, and engineering economics (these are guaranteed points for relatively low study investment)
  • Not practicing timed sessions — 110 questions in 320 minutes is about 2.9 minutes per question
  • Neglecting the control systems and signal processing sections (high-yield for EE students who recently covered these)