What is the FE Electrical and Computer exam pass rate?

In NCEES's most recent published data (fiscal year 2024-25), 64% of first-time takers passed, from 5,882 first-time examinees. Repeat takers passed at 33%. That places it fourth of the seven FE disciplines - five points below FE Mechanical's 69% and three above FE Civil's 61%.

Is the FE Electrical and Computer exam hard?

By pass rate it is squarely mid-table, so the honest answer is: about as hard as the other FE exams. What is unusual is its shape rather than its difficulty. It has 17 knowledge areas - three more than FE Civil, FE Mechanical or FE Other Disciplines, and level with FE Chemical - and they span two professions. Between 21 and 32 of the 110 questions are computer-side material (digital systems, computer systems, networks, software engineering), and 16 to 24 are physical electrical material (power systems, electromagnetics, materials). Most candidates are strong in one of those halves and rusty in the other.

What reference do you get in the FE Electrical and Computer exam?

The NCEES FE Reference Handbook, supplied on screen as a searchable PDF. It is the only reference permitted - no personal copies, and unlike the PE exams, no design codes or standards are supplied at all. Every formula you need is in it, which moves the difficulty from recall to selection: knowing which relationship applies, and finding it quickly.

Should a computer engineer take FE Electrical and Computer or FE Other Disciplines?

NCEES does not advise on this, so it is a judgement call. What the specifications show is that FE Electrical and Computer gives computer-side material real weight - up to 32 of 110 questions across digital systems, computer systems, networks and software engineering - while also requiring power systems, electromagnetics and semiconductor materials that a computer engineering degree may only touch briefly. FE Other Disciplines has a lower first-time pass rate (61%) and spreads across general engineering instead. Compare both specifications against your own coursework rather than against the pass rates.

Is the FE Electrical exam harder than the PE Power exam?

They are hard in different ways, and the gap is wider than for most FE/PE pairs. The FE is a breadth exam - 110 questions across 17 knowledge areas at under three minutes each. PE Power is a depth exam in one field, with codes and standards supplied, and it has the lowest first-time pass rate of the major PE depths at 58%. Breadth is harder to revise for; depth is harder to solve.

How hard is the FE Electrical and Computer exam?

Sixty-four percent of first-time takers pass, which is fourth of seven and tells you almost nothing. The fact worth knowing is structural: this is the only FE exam that asks one paper of two different professions, and most candidates walk in fluent in half of it.

Updated August 30, 2026 · by the FE to PE Prep team

64%

First-time pass

~2.9 min

Per question

Knowledge areas

FE Handbook

Only reference

Where it sits among the FE exams

NCEES publishes pass rates by discipline each year. These are first-time takers in fiscal year 2024-25, with repeat rates and first-time volumes alongside.

FE exam pass rates and first-time examinee volumes by discipline, NCEES fiscal year 2024-25
Discipline	First time	Repeat	Volume
FE Mechanical	69%	37%	11,552
FE Chemical	68%	35%	1,873
FE Environmental	67%	37%	2,543
FE Electrical and Computer	64%	33%	5,882
FE Industrial and Systems	62%	25%	547
FE Civil	61%	32%	16,639
FE Other Disciplines	61%	29%	2,386

Fourth of seven, three points above FE Civil and five below FE Mechanical. There is no story in that number. Pass rates across the FE disciplines sit inside an eight-point band, which is a narrower spread than most candidates expect and a poor basis for choosing an exam.

The third column is the one that should change your behaviour. Repeat takers pass at 33% — barely half the first-time rate. Whatever makes the first attempt hard makes the second one harder, and a first sitting is not a free look at the exam.

One paper, two professions

The specification lists 17 knowledge areas — three more than FE Civil, FE Mechanical or FE Other Disciplines, and level with FE Chemical. But the count is not the interesting part. The split is.

Digital systems, computer systems, computer networks and software engineering together account for between 21 and 32 of the 110 questions. Power systems, electromagnetics and the properties of electrical materials account for another 16 to 24. Those two groups have almost nothing to do with each other. A substation engineer and an embedded-software engineer sit the same paper, and each of them faces roughly a quarter of it written for the other one.

This is the thing to plan around. Nobody fails this exam because circuit analysis is hard. They fail it because they spent eight weeks getting sharper at the half they already knew, and met twenty-odd questions on the half they had not opened since sophomore year.

What the exam actually asks of you

110 questions in 5 hours 20 minutes of testing, inside a 6-hour appointment that also holds the nondisclosure agreement, an 8-minute tutorial and a 25-minute scheduled break. About 2.9 minutes per question. Your only reference is the NCEES FE Reference Handbook, on screen as a searchable PDF — no personal copies, and unlike the PE exams, no codes or standards at all.

NCEES writes each area as a range rather than a fixed count, and the ranges add up to between 100 and 154 against a paper of 110. So no area's exact weight is knowable in advance — but the relative sizes are, and they are all you need.

FE Electrical and Computer knowledge areas and question counts, per the NCEES specification effective July 2020
Knowledge area	Questions
Circuit Analysis (DC and AC Steady State)KCL and KVL, Thevenin and Norton, node and loop analysis, phasors, impedance.	11–17
Mathematicsshared coreThrough multivariable calculus, ODEs, linear algebra and vector analysis.	11–17
Power Systemsphysical sideThree-phase, power factor, transformers, transmission.	8–12
Digital Systemscomputer sideNumber systems, logic, state machines, timing. Eight subtopics — the deepest block on the paper.	8–12
ElectronicsDiodes, transistors, op-amps, amplifiers, instrumentation.	7–11
Control SystemsBlock diagrams, stability, controller performance.	6–9
Linear SystemsFrequency and transient response, resonance, Laplace, transfer functions.	5–8
Signal ProcessingSampling, transforms, filters, aliasing.	5–8
CommunicationsModulation, bandwidth, multiplexing, noise.	5–8
Computer Systemscomputer sideArchitecture, memory, interfacing.	5–8
Engineering Economicsshared coreTime value of money, cost estimation, break-even.	5–8
Probability and Statisticsshared coreCentral tendency and dispersion, distributions, expected value.	4–6
Ethics and Professional Practiceshared coreCodes of ethics, intellectual property, safety. Mostly qualitative.	4–6
Properties of Electrical Materialsphysical sideSemiconductor physics, conductivity and permittivity, thermal behaviour.	4–6
Electromagneticsphysical sideFields, transmission lines, wave propagation.	4–6
Computer Networkscomputer sideTopologies, layered models, routing, security.	4–6
Software Engineeringcomputer sideAlgorithms, data structures, software development lifecycle.	4–6

Circuit analysis and mathematics are the joint-largest at up to 17 each, and between them they can be nearly a third of the paper. Both are also the most transferable material on it: circuit analysis underpins electronics, linear systems and power, and the mathematics block is the same general core every FE discipline sits. If you are short of time, that is where the hours pay twice.

Three problems from three different worlds

Difficulty is easier to judge from a question than from a percentage. These come from our free FE Electrical and Computer set, and they are deliberately chosen from three areas that share nothing. Try each before opening the solution.

1. A voltage divider, once you hang a load on it

Circuit analysis is the joint-largest block at up to 17 questions. This is first-year material, and it is a trap precisely because it is.

1
medium
A. DC circuit analysis: KCL/KVL, equivalents, Thevenin & Norton
A voltage divider across a 24 V DC source uses $R_1=200\,\Omega$ (series) and $R_2=300\,\Omega$ (shunt). A load $R_L=600\,\Omega$ is then connected across the output terminals (across $R_2$ ). The output voltage across the load is most nearly:
1. 19.6 V
2. 12 V
3. 9.6 V
4. 14.4 V
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: B.12 V
Loaded bottom leg: $R_2\|R_L=\dfrac{300\cdot600}{900}=200\,\Omega$ . $V_{out}=V\dfrac{R_2\|R_L}{R_1+R_2\|R_L}=24\cdot\dfrac{200}{400}=12$ V. Distractors: the unloaded divider value (loading ignored), the inverted divider ratio $R_1/(R_1+R_2)$ , and the load wrongly placed in series with $R_2$ instead of in parallel.

What the distractors teach: 19.6 V is the divider with the load ignored — the answer to the circuit you have drawn a thousand times, not the one on the screen. 14.4 V inverts the ratio to R₁/(R₁+R₂). 9.6 V puts the load in series with R₂ rather than across it. Every wrong option is a competent piece of work on a slightly different circuit, and the only thing separating them from the right one is noticing that a load changes the divider.

2. Sizing a capacitor bank for power-factor correction

Power systems is up to 12 questions and is the heart of the physical half of the exam. This is the calculation a working power engineer does most often.

2
medium
A. Power theory, transmission, transformers, motors & generators
An industrial plant draws 400 kW at 0.72 lagging power factor from its 480 V three-phase service. The rating of the shunt capacitor bank required to raise the power factor to 0.92 lagging is most nearly:
1. 215 kvar
2. 121 kvar
3. 170 kvar
4. 386 kvar
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: A.215 kvar
$\theta_1=\cos^{-1}0.72=43.9^\circ$ , $\theta_2=\cos^{-1}0.92=23.1^\circ$ . $Q_C=P(\tan\theta_1-\tan\theta_2)=400(0.9639-0.426)=215$ kvar. Distractors cancel ALL of the reactive power ( $P\tan\theta_1$ , correcting to unity), use $\sin\theta$ instead of $\tan\theta$ , and report the remaining $Q_2=P\tan\theta_2$ instead of the difference.

What the distractors teach: 386 kvar cancels all the reactive power, correcting to unity — right method, wrong target. 170 kvar is the remaining Q₂ rather than the difference you must supply. 121 kvar uses sinθ where tanθ belongs. The question is not whether you know the formula; it is whether you noticed that you were asked for a change in reactive power, not a level of it.

3. Identify the network topology and its weak point

And then, on the same paper, this. Computer networks is up to 6 questions — no calculation, no handbook lookup, just whether you know what a star topology is and where it breaks.

3
medium
A. Topologies, models, routing/switching, and network security
The figure shows a network in which every node connects by its own link to a single central device. This topology and its key vulnerability are best described as:
1. Star — a central-hub failure disconnects every node
2. Bus — a fault on the shared backbone halts all traffic
3. Ring — a single cable break can split the loop
4. Full mesh — every node links directly to every other node
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: A.Star — a central-hub failure disconnects every node
Every node homing to one central device is a star, whose center is its single point of failure. Distractors name other shapes' failure modes — a ring break, a bus-backbone fault, or a mesh's all-to-all links — none of which matches a hub-and-spoke drawing.

What the distractors teach: There is nothing to compute and nothing to look up. You either recognise a hub-and-spoke drawing and its single point of failure, or you guess between four topology names. That is the whole difficulty of this question, and it is why a power engineer who prepared exclusively with a calculator can still drop marks here.

The pattern: the first two punish a small misreading of a familiar calculation — a load you forgot changes the divider, a difference in reactive power you reported as a level. The third punishes nothing at all except not knowing the material. That is the exam in miniature. Two thirds of it rewards careful work with the handbook open; the remaining third simply asks whether you have been in the room before.

How to prepare for it

Audit both halves before you plan anything. List the four computer-side areas and the three physical-side areas and mark the ones you have not touched since university. That list, not the syllabus order, is your revision plan.
Spend your first hours on circuit analysis and mathematics. Up to 17 questions each, and both feed other areas — circuit analysis carries electronics, linear systems and power along with it.
Do not skip the qualitative areas. Ethics, software engineering and computer networks include questions with nothing to calculate. They are the cheapest marks on the paper and the easiest to leave on the table.
Practise with the handbook open from day one. Every formula is supplied, so the scoreable skill is selection and lookup speed, not recall.
Work under time. 2.9 minutes covers reading, deciding, looking up and computing — and a topology question you know takes fifteen seconds, which buys time for one you do not.
Take the first attempt seriously. Repeat takers pass at 33%, roughly half the first-time rate.

For every FE discipline's rates side by side, see how hard is the FE exam?; for a study plan with weeks in it, how long to study for the FE; and if you have already sat it once, what actually works the second time.

Common questions

What is the FE Electrical and Computer exam pass rate?: In NCEES's most recent published data (fiscal year 2024-25), 64% of first-time takers passed, from 5,882 first-time examinees. Repeat takers passed at 33%. That places it fourth of the seven FE disciplines - five points below FE Mechanical's 69% and three above FE Civil's 61%.
Is the FE Electrical and Computer exam hard?: By pass rate it is squarely mid-table, so the honest answer is: about as hard as the other FE exams. What is unusual is its shape rather than its difficulty. It has 17 knowledge areas - three more than FE Civil, FE Mechanical or FE Other Disciplines, and level with FE Chemical - and they span two professions. Between 21 and 32 of the 110 questions are computer-side material (digital systems, computer systems, networks, software engineering), and 16 to 24 are physical electrical material (power systems, electromagnetics, materials). Most candidates are strong in one of those halves and rusty in the other.
How long is the FE Electrical and Computer exam?: 110 questions in 5 hours 20 minutes of actual testing time, inside a 6-hour appointment that also covers the nondisclosure agreement, an 8-minute tutorial and a 25-minute scheduled break. That is roughly 2.9 minutes per question - covering reading the problem, finding the relationship in the handbook, and computing it.
What reference do you get in the FE Electrical and Computer exam?: The NCEES FE Reference Handbook, supplied on screen as a searchable PDF. It is the only reference permitted - no personal copies, and unlike the PE exams, no design codes or standards are supplied at all. Every formula you need is in it, which moves the difficulty from recall to selection: knowing which relationship applies, and finding it quickly.
Should a computer engineer take FE Electrical and Computer or FE Other Disciplines?: NCEES does not advise on this, so it is a judgement call. What the specifications show is that FE Electrical and Computer gives computer-side material real weight - up to 32 of 110 questions across digital systems, computer systems, networks and software engineering - while also requiring power systems, electromagnetics and semiconductor materials that a computer engineering degree may only touch briefly. FE Other Disciplines has a lower first-time pass rate (61%) and spreads across general engineering instead. Compare both specifications against your own coursework rather than against the pass rates.
Is the FE Electrical exam harder than the PE Power exam?: They are hard in different ways, and the gap is wider than for most FE/PE pairs. The FE is a breadth exam - 110 questions across 17 knowledge areas at under three minutes each. PE Power is a depth exam in one field, with codes and standards supplied, and it has the lowest first-time pass rate of the major PE depths at 58%. Breadth is harder to revise for; depth is harder to solve.

Build your study plan

Tell us how long you have. We'll budget your hours across every knowledge area using the official NCEES question weights — the heaviest areas get the most time, which is the opposite of how most people study.

Work through seven more

Ten free FE Electrical and Computer problems in total — op-amps, aliasing, transmission-line reflection, control cascades, engineering economics — each with the full worked solution, including what each wrong answer is the right answer to. No signup.

Try the free FE Electrical set Explore FE Electrical and Computer

Pass rates are from the NCEES Squared 2025 annual report (fiscal year 2024-25); format and knowledge areas from the NCEES FE Electrical and Computer CBT specification effective July 2020. Specifications, fees and rates change over time — confirm current specifics at ncees.org. Independent study resource; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NCEES.