Professional Credentials for Civil Engineers: What Do All of Those Letters Mean?

This is Part 1 of a 3 Part Series on Professional Credentials for Civil Engineers. 

While there are many credentials to obtain, EIT and PE are the essentials to focus on.

By Talmage Hansen, MSCE, GISP, SIT, ENV SP, LEED AP ND, PE, CFM

MSCE = Master of Science in Civil Engineering
GISP = Geographic Information Systems Professional
SIT = Surveyor In Training
ENV SP = Envision Sustainability Professional
LEED AP ND = Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, Accredited Professional, Neighborhood Development

PE = Professional Engineer

CFM = Certified Floodplain Manager

Although I would never use all of these letters on a business card or signature block, it goes to show that there are a ton of credentials that building professionals can pursue, and they aren’t all created equal. Some, like the PE (Professional Engineer), take years of experience, an ABET accredited degree and potentially thousands of dollars. The PE also carries with it a lot of clout as well as responsibility. On the other hand, others can be obtained in less than a week, e.g. Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP).

This post focuses on the essential credentials for young civil engineers, since the other categories can vary significantly from person to person.

First and foremost, if you want to be a successful Civil Engineer, you need to work towards becoming a PE. Other engineering disciplines may not require it, but Civil Engineering does. Sure there are those without a PE who are owners at the top of their civil engineering firms, but these are the exceptionsthe outliers. About 99.9% of the time, the path to becoming a PE starts with a BSCE (Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering), although there still exist professional experience paths. However, you must ensure it is an accredited engineering degree (EAC/ABET), not an engineering technology degree (TAC/ABET). Unless you want to jump through more hoops.

Once you have earned the right degree (or even during the last semester), you can take the NCEES FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) Exam—an 8 hour excruciating test over science, math and all engineering disciplines. The saying “Cs get degrees” may be true, but they usually don’t get you a passing score on the FE Exam. I know people who have spent the time and effort to get an engineering degree only to find out that they didn’t truly learn the material enough to actually pass the FE Exam. It is not one of those tests that you can’t simply cram for. But once you have passed, you can immediately begin using the EIT (Engineer In Training) designation.

You are now on the path to becoming a PE. You’ll feel pretty proud that first time writing “EIT” after your name. It’ll help you get that first (or second) job and give you some legitimacy. But after the 3rd and 4th years and getting more responsibility on projects, you’ll start to resent the diminutive title and long for the shortened, but more powerful “PE” designation. Keep getting “experience that is acceptable for licensing purposes,” and get ready for the FE Exam all over again, only this time with an increased focus on Civil Engineering. The Engineering Career Coach provides a great article on how you can pass the PE Exam without having to study everything.”

While there are many good and relevant credentials that young civil engineers can pursue (and which will be discussed in subsequent posts), focus on the two most important—EIT and PE.