Professional Licensure: The Core of the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge

For the past 100 years, the professional engineer’s (PE) license has been used by states to protect public safety and define the minimum knowledge needed to practice engineering, yet the debate continues about the importance of licensure, even within the engineering community. The debate has migrated into the political realm as local and state politicians question the importance and necessity of engineering licensure. One way to address this issue is to educate young engineers about licensure laws. The curriculums of fifty EAC-ABET accredited civil engineering programs in the United States were reviewed. Course requirements for a degree, capstone course descriptions, and professional topics courses that focus on licensure were examined. The survey revealed that fewer than half of the programs had a specific course focused on professional issues, most programs had a one-semester capstone course, and licensure was not a common topic in either the professional issues or capstone courses. As ASCE considers publishing a third edition of the Body of Knowledge (BOK), the profession should consider adding a new licensure outcome. A professional licensure outcome would influence both the cognitive and affective domains of an engineer’s pre-licensure education and clarify that civil engineers must be knowledgeable of professional licensure laws and regulations prior to becoming a licensed professional engineer.