Computing Now | Putting the Engineering into Software Engineering Education.
(I have an undergrad degree in computer science and one of my graduate degrees is in software engineering. They are related but not the same thing. Legally, however, it is generally against the law in many states for anyone to call themselves a software engineer unless they are a licensed Professional Engineer – or they work for a company and their state permits an industrial exemption for titles given to internal employees. The first PE exam for software engineering is to be offered in April of 2013; licensure in most states may require passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam covering topics such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, structures and what not.)
UPDATE: August 2025. The software engineer license exam, offered initially in Texas, is no longer offered. It was discontinued in 2019 due to small numbers of candidates taking the exam. Thus, it is no longer possible to pursue a Professional Engineer designation for software engineering. Texas was the only state that offered a PE license – may be 4 others recognized software engineering as PE category. If you want to be licensed as a PE, you need today to pursue an accredited degree in EE, ME, CE, etc, take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, possibly apprentice for 4 years under a licensee, and also take the domain specific exam. The software engineering PE has been replaced by industry Certified Software Development Professional, etc.)
Related articles
