​​What is a professional engineer?
To become licensed, engineers must complete a four-year college degree, work under a Professional Engineer for at least four years, pass two intensive competency exams and earn a license from their state's licensure board. To retain a license, PEs must continually maintain and improve their skills and education throughout their careers.
 
Yet the results are well worth the effort. By combining their specialized skills with their high standards for ethics and quality assurance, PEs help make us healthier, keep us safer and allow all of us to live better lives than ever before.

A century ago, anyone could work as an engineer without proof of competency. In order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the first engineering licensure law was enacted in 1907 in Wyoming. Now every state regulates the practice of engineering to ensure public safety by granting only Professional Engineers (PEs) the authority to sign and seal engineering plans and offer their services to the public.

To the public, the PE credential is the assurance that competent professionals are engaged in the practice of engineering.  
To a client, it means you have the credentials to earn their trust. 
To an employer, it signals your ability to take on a higher level of responsibility.  
Among your colleagues, it demands respect.
​To yourself, it's a symbol of pride and a measure of your own hard-won achievement.

​What distinguishes PE from other engineering graduates?

• In Illinois, you must be licensed to call yourself an engineer.
• PEs must also continuously demonstrate their competency and maintain and improve their skills by fulfilling professional develop requirements..
• Only a licensed engineer may prepare, sign and seal, and submit engineering plans and drawings to a public authority for approval, or seal engineering work for public and private clients.
• PEs shoulder the responsibility for not only their work, but also for the lives affected by that work and must hold themselves to high ethical standards of practice.
• Licensure for a consulting engineer or a private practitioner is not something that is merely desirable; it is a legal requirement for those who are in responsible charge of work, be they principals or employees.
• Licensure for engineers in government has become increasingly significant. In many federal, state, and municipal agencies, certain governmental engineering positions, particularly those considered higher level and responsible positions, must be filled by licensed professional engineers.

​​Advantages of a PE License

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• Employment  - Licensed employees enhance the reputation of engineering firms and become symbols of competency, professionalism, experience, and character.
• Promotability - Getting licensed demonstrates motivation, responsibility, and success orientation. The same qualities are demanded for positions requiring individual thought, discretion and responsibility.
• Quality Assurance - As the demand for consumer protection continues to grow, so will the demand for licensing among the engineers designing the products and processes affecting the public.
• Global Competitiveness - Engineering projects increasingly cross national borders. Most countries require some form of professional licensing and will expect the members of the international team to be licensed in their home countries.
• Back to Basics - Industry increasingly demands licensing to better identify qualified designers in an effort to restore quality engineering and limit product liability.
• Narrow the Wage Gap – The Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing found that professionally licensed minorities and females saw an hourly wage increase of 8.1% and 6.1% respectively.  View Source

​​​Benefits of Becoming a Licensed Engineer Intern (EI)

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• Distinguishes you as positive, committed and success oriented.
• Boosts your resume - for young engineers short on experience, your credentials as an EI or PE will demonstrate your seriousness of purpose.
• Offers you networking opportunities by putting you in closer contact with licensed professional engineers.
• Provides you with certification that is transferable to other parts of the country.
• Gives you a psychological advantage with people respecting you as a professional.

Steps for Licensure

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​In order to become licensed as a PE in Illinois, a prospective PE must:

• Earn a four-year degree in engineering from an accredited engineering program.
• Pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam.
• Pass the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam.
• Complete four years of progressive engineering experience under a PE.

Path to Licensure