[US] Do you need the PE license to practice electronics engineering in the US?

[ivan747]

As the title says, do you need a PE license to practice electronics engineering in the US? What about ABET accredited college degrees? If someone has neither, what should they try to pursue those?

[engrguy42]

As the title says, do you need a PE license to practice electronics engineering in the US? What about ABET accredited college degrees? If someone has neither, what should they try to pursue those?

I think it depends on the company you'll work for, the position you'll hold, and the state you're in. I think if you're going to be considered legally responsible for something they'll want you to have a PE license. But there are tons of engineers out there of all types without PE licenses. Though it seems like companies are stressing PE's more now than they did in years past.

Probably the best way to check is to go online to some possible employers and look at their job listings and see what their requirements are.

[retrolefty]

This topic has been covered before. Also keep in mind that there are 50 States in the USA and it's State law that covers this subject, so there is not going to be a simple answer.

 I do know that the refinery I worked at had several hundred titled Engineers that were not State certified as 'Professional Engineer' and was not required because the company assumed all liability for their work products.
That said  many of those engineers did get their Professional Engineering credentials as it looks good on their annual performance review and more promote able.

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[Ground_Loop]

Electrical PE certification is generally only 'required' for building electrical systems and power distribution.  Electronics, i don't believe there is any legal requirement in any state.

[Bassman59]

As the title says, do you need a PE license to practice electronics engineering in the US? What about ABET accredited college degrees? If someone has neither, what should they try to pursue those?

I assume that by "electronics engineering" you mean "design low-voltage, low-power" products, not utility-level power distribution or the like. Basically, the sort of stuff discussed in this forum!

You need neither a PE license nor a college degree to design electronics as described as a profession here in the US.

Employers may require an engineering degree as a condition of employment, but that is not mandatory and I can name a few very talented (and employed!) electronics engineers without an undergraduate degree.

I don't think the PE license coursework even covers, say, microcontrollers or FPGAs, which are my area of expertise. I've never been asked if I had a PE license, nor does has my work ever involved "signing" any design documentation certifying anything.

[EEVblog]

Electrical PE certification is generally only 'required' for building electrical systems and power distribution.  Electronics, i don't believe there is any legal requirement in any state.

That's my understanding as well. I have never heard of any electronics engineer not able to practice in any state because of a lack of either a degree or PE certification.
As others have said, it's more related to the "electrical" type power industries, distribution and building etc.
Certain companies may very ell demand that of employees and/or contractors, e.g. in the regulated industries like medical for example.

[Weston]

I went to a top 5 EE school in the USA for undergrad, and now for a PhD. I have not once heard anyone talk of a PE license, its a completely foreign topic to me. It seems like more of a civil engineering / civil engineering adjacent thing. I don't think think the EE program at my current school is ABET accredited.

To be fair though, neither school had an active IEEE chapter or anything like that. When if comes to hiring, top tech companies just care if you can do the work.

[Stray Electron]

As the title says, do you need a PE license to practice electronics engineering in the US? What about ABET accredited college degrees? If someone has neither, what should they try to pursue those?

  Straight answer; NO!  I once worked for an engineering company (military and aerospace) with 14,000 engineers and I never heard of anyone at that company having a PE license.   PE license in the US is mostly required for (occupied) structural designers.  PE's aren't any better educated but they are licensed (which just means pay your money to the state) and they carry a huge amount of liability insurance in case their product (a building) fails.

  It's up to each company in the US to decide what educational degree and/or a preferred school they "require" (desire would be more accurate)  for each potential employee.  In our case, the US government wanted us to have a minimum of a certain number of AS degrees, BS, MS and PhDs.  One of the men that I worked with had a PhD but in English and not in engineering. He fulfilled the USG's requirement but was otherwise pretty clueless.

[Sal Ammoniac]

I've worked with dozens of EEs during my career and none of them had a PE. Many of them didn't have degrees of any kind either. I'm in California, where the criteria for hiring someone for an EE position is simply "can he/she do the job?" Granted, many people without a degree are not going to make it past the HR filters, but that's a different story.