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 31%. 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 it 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 31 of the 110 questions are computer-side material (digital systems, computer systems, networks, software engineering; their maxima add to 32, but the other 13 areas' minimums take 79), 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 Power exam, no design codes or standards are supplied at all. Most of the formulas you need are in it, but not all: NCEES says it leaves out the basic theories, conversions, formulas and definitions examinees are expected to know. So the difficulty is mostly selection, knowing which relationship applies and finding it quickly, on top of a core of basics you carry in your head.

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

NCEES does not advise on this, so it is a judgment call. What the specifications show is that FE Electrical and Computer gives computer-side material real weight (up to 31 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 study 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 tests two different professions at once, and most candidates walk in fluent in half of it.

Updated October 6, 2026 · by the FE → 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 from NCEES Squared 2025 (FY2024-25), first-time takers, 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%	31%	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 behavior. Repeat takers pass at 31%, just under half the first-time rate. Part of that is selection, since every repeat taker fell short once, but it still means a first attempt is not a free look at the exam.

One exam, two professions

The specification lists 17 knowledge areas, three more than FE Civil, FE Mechanical or FE Other Disciplines, and level with FE Chemical. The split between them matters more than the count.

Digital systems, computer systems, computer networks and software engineering together account for between 21 and 31 of the 110 questions (their maxima add to 32, but the other 13 areas' minimums take 79). 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 take the same exam, and each of them faces somewhere between a fifth and 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 Power exam, 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 an exam 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, motors and generators.	8–12
Digital Systemscomputer sideNumber systems, logic, state machines, timing. Eight subtopics, tied with mathematics for the most on the exam.	8–12
ElectronicsDiodes, transistors, op-amps, amplifiers, instrumentation, power electronics.	7–11
Control SystemsBlock diagrams, Bode plots, stability, controller performance.	6–9
Linear SystemsFrequency and transient response, resonance, Laplace, transfer functions.	5–8
Signal ProcessingSampling and aliasing, analog filters, digital filters and Z-transforms.	5–8
CommunicationsModulation, Fourier analysis, multiplexing, digital communications.	5–8
Computer Systemscomputer sideMicroprocessors, 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 properties.	4–6
Electromagneticsphysical sideFields, transmission lines, wave propagation.	4–6
Computer Networkscomputer sideTopologies, layered models, routing, intrusion detection, security.	4–6
Software Engineeringcomputer sideAlgorithms and big-O, data structures, software implementation and testing.	4–6

Circuit analysis and mathematics are tied for the largest at up to 17 each, and between them they can be more than a quarter of the exam. Both are also the most transferable material on it: circuit analysis underpins electronics, linear systems and power, and mathematics is general-core material that every FE discipline tests in some form. 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 tied for the 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 made of $R_1=120\,\Omega$ and $R_2=300\,\Omega$ is supplied from a 24 V DC source, with its output taken across $R_2$ . A load $R_L=600\,\Omega$ is then connected across the output terminals, as shown. The voltage across the load is most nearly:
Figure — drag or pinch to move around
1. 15 V
2. 17.1 V
3. 20 V
4. 21.2 V
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: A.15 V
The load is in parallel with $R_2$ , so the lower leg is $R_2\|R_L=\dfrac{300\cdot600}{300+600}=200\,\Omega$ , in series with $R_1$ (Resistors in Series and Parallel, FE Reference Handbook 10.6 p. 363). The source current is $I=\dfrac{24}{120+200}=0.075$ A, and Ohm's law across the lower leg gives $V_{out}=I\,(R_2\|R_L)=0.075\cdot200=15$ V. Distractors: the unloaded divider value, loading ignored ( $24\cdot300/420=17.1$ V); the load placed in series with $R_2$ instead of in parallel ( $24\cdot900/1020=21.2$ V); and the load taken as replacing $R_2$ rather than paralleling it ( $24\cdot600/720=20$ V).

What the distractors teach

17.1 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. 21.2 V puts the load in series with R₂ rather than across it. 20 V lets the load replace R₂ instead of sitting in parallel with it. The right answer, 15 V, needs one parallel combination first, 300 Ω ∥ 600 Ω = 200 Ω. 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:
Figure — drag or pinch to move around
1. 121 kvar
2. 170 kvar
3. 215 kvar
4. 386 kvar
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: C.215 kvar
The real power stays at 400 kW; only the reactive power changes. From the power triangle (handbook AC Power, Complex Power, p. 368), $Q=P\tan\theta$ with $\theta=\cos^{-1}\text{pf}$ : $\theta_1=\cos^{-1}0.72=43.9^\circ$ and $\theta_2=\cos^{-1}0.92=23.1^\circ$ , so $Q_C=P(\tan\theta_1-\tan\theta_2)=400\ \text{kW}\times(0.9639-0.426)=215$ kvar. The 480 V service voltage does not enter. Distractors: all of the reactive power cancelled, $P\tan\theta_1$ (386 kvar) — that corrects to unity, not to 0.92; $\sin\theta$ used where $\tan\theta$ belongs, $P(\sin\theta_1-\sin\theta_2)$ (121 kvar); and the reactive power left after correction, $Q_2=P\tan\theta_2$ (170 kvar), reported instead of the change the bank supplies.

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 exam, this. Computer networks is up to 6 questions. No calculation, and the handbook only draws and names the topologies; where each one breaks is something you have to know.

3
medium
A. Topologies, models, routing/switching, and network security
The figure shows the wiring of a five-station local-area network. The topology shown, and the single failure that would cut off every station, are best described as:
Figure — drag or pinch to move around
1. Star — failure of the central device
2. Ring — a break in any one link of the loop
3. Star — a break in any one station's cable
4. Bus — a break in the shared backbone cable
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: A.Star — failure of the central device
Each station has its own cable to one central device (a hub or switch): that is a star. All traffic between stations passes through the center, so the central device is the single point of failure — lose it and every station is cut off. Distractors: a break in one station's cable is a star fault too, but it cuts off only that one station; the ring and bus options misread the drawing — there is no closed loop of neighbor-to-neighbor links and no single backbone cable that every station taps.

What the distractors teach

There is nothing to compute, and the handbook's topology drawings name the shapes but say nothing about where each one breaks. Recognizing the hub-and-spoke drawing gets you only halfway, because two of the four options say star. A broken spoke cuts off one station; the central device is the one failure that cuts off all five. That is the whole difficulty of this question, and it is why a power engineer who prepared exclusively with a calculator can still lose points 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 except not knowing the material. That is the exam in miniature. Most of it rewards careful work with the handbook open; a smaller part simply asks whether you have seen the material 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 college. That list, not the syllabus order, is your study 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 points on the exam and the easiest to leave on the table.
Practice with the handbook open from day one. Most formulas are in it, so selection and lookup speed are scoreable skills, but drill the basics it leaves out (unit conversions, definitions, elementary formulas) until you know them cold.
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 31%, 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 taken 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 31%. 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 it 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 31 of the 110 questions are computer-side material (digital systems, computer systems, networks, software engineering; their maxima add to 32, but the other 13 areas' minimums take 79), 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 Power exam, no design codes or standards are supplied at all. Most of the formulas you need are in it, but not all: NCEES says it leaves out the basic theories, conversions, formulas and definitions examinees are expected to know. So the difficulty is mostly selection, knowing which relationship applies and finding it quickly, on top of a core of basics you carry in your head.
Should a computer engineer take FE Electrical and Computer or FE Other Disciplines?: NCEES does not advise on this, so it is a judgment call. What the specifications show is that FE Electrical and Computer gives computer-side material real weight (up to 31 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 study 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.