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Explore FE Other Disciplines Exam Prep Course Options
Planning to earn your engineering license, but still haven’t decided on a track? The FE Other Disciplines exam will allow you to keep advancing. Join the thousands of students who trust PPI with their FE exam prep each year, and we’ll make sure you have all the support you need to pass.
Class Options for the Live Online Course Bundle
Expand the list below to show all available Live Online class dates and information.
FE Other Disciplines Live Online Course (May 2025 - August 2025)
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May 22 - August 19, 2025
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FE Other Disciplines Live Online Course (September 2025 - December 2025)
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September 16 - December 11, 2025
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FE Other Disciplines Live Online Course (January 2026 - April 2026) (Access Your Course Starting 10/1/25)
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January 20 - April 21, 2026
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Exam Details for the FE Other Disciplines Exam
- The FE Other Disciplines exam is typically one of the first steps on the path to becoming a licensed engineer. It’s a closed-book, computer-based exam and includes 110 questions. The exam appointment time is 6 hours long and includes:
- Nondisclosure agreement (2 minutes)
- Tutorial (8 minutes)
- Exam (5 hours and 20 minutes)
- Optional scheduled break (25 minutes)
- The only resource you will have on exam day is a digital version of the NCEES FE Reference Handbook
- The exam is administered year-round at NCEES-approved Pearson VUE test centers
- The exam fee is $225
- The average pass rate of a first-time taker of the FE Other Disciplines exam is 63% as of July 2024.
Prerequisites and requirements before taking the exam vary by state, so please visit the NCEES website for more information.
- Analytic geometry and trigonometry
- Differential equations
- Numerical methods (e.g., algebraic equations, roots of equations, approximations, precision limits, convergence)
- Linear algebra (e.g., matrix operations)
- Single-variable calculus
- Estimation (e.g., point, confidence intervals)
- Expected value and expected error in decision making
- Sample distributions and sizes (e.g., significance, hypothesis testing, non-normal distributions)
- Goodness of fit (e.g., correlation coefficient, standard errors, R2)
- Oxidation and reduction (e.g., reactions, corrosion control)
- Acids and bases (e.g., pH, buffers)
- Chemical reactions (e.g., stoichiometry, equilibrium, bioconversion)
- Sensors (e.g., temperature, pressure, motion, pH, chemical constituents)
- Data acquisition (e.g., logging, sampling rate, sampling range, filtering, amplification, signal interface, signal processing, analog/digital [A/D], digital/analog [D/A], digital)
- Logic diagrams
- Codes of ethics (e.g., identifying and solving ethical dilemmas)
- Public protection issues (e.g., licensing boards)
- Societal impacts (e.g., economic, sustainability, life-cycle analysis, environmental, public safety)
- Industrial hygiene (e.g., carcinogens, toxicology, exposure limits, radiation exposure, biohazards, half-life)
- Basic safety equipment (e.g., pressure-relief valves, emergency shutoffs, fire prevention and control, personal protective equipment)
- Gas detection and monitoring (e.g., O2, CO, CO2, CH4, H2S, radon)
- Electrical safety
- Confined space entry and ventilation rates
- Hazard communications (e.g., SDS, proper labeling, concentrations, fire ratings, safety equipment)
- Time value of money (e.g., present worth, annual worth, future worth, rate of return)
- Cost analysis (e.g., incremental, average, sunk, estimating)
- Economic analyses (e.g., break-even, benefit-cost, optimal economic life)
- Uncertainty (e.g., expected value and risk)
- Project selection (e.g., comparison of projects with unequal lives, lease/buy/make, depreciation, discounted cash flow, decision trees)
- Vector analysis
- Force systems (e.g., resultants, concurrent, distributed)
- Force couple systems
- Equilibrium of rigid bodies (e.g., support reactions)
- Internal forces in rigid bodies (e.g., trusses, frames, machines)
- Area properties (e.g., centroids, moments of inertia, radius of gyration, parallel axis theorem)
- Static friction
- Free-body diagrams
- Weight and mass computations (e.g., slug, lbm, lbf, kg, N, ton, dyne, g, gc)
- Particle and rigid-body kinematics
- Linear motion (e.g., force, mass, acceleration)
- Angular motion (e.g., torque, inertia, acceleration)
- Mass moment of inertia
- mpulse and momentum (e.g., linear, angular)
- Work, energy, and power
- Dynamic friction
- Vibrations (e.g., natural frequency)
- Stress types (e.g., normal, shear)
- Combined loading–principle of superposition
- Stress and strain caused by axial loads, bending loads, torsion, or transverse shear forces
- Shear and moment diagrams
- Analysis of beams, trusses, frames, and columns
- Loads and deformations (e.g., axial-extension, torque-angle of twist, moment-rotation)
- Stress transformation and principal stresses, including stress-based yielding and fracture criteria (e.g., Mohr's circle, maximum normal stress, Tresca, von Mises)
- Material failure (e.g., Euler buckling, creep, fatigue, brittle fracture, stress concentration factors, factor of safety, and allowable stress)
- Physical (phase diagrams) properties of materials (e.g., alloy phase diagrams, phase equilibrium, and phase change)
- Mechanical properties of materials
- Chemical properties of materials
- Thermal properties of materials
- Electrical properties of materials
- Material selection
- Fluid properties (e.g., Newtonian, non-Newtonian, liquids and gases)
- Dimensionless numbers (e.g., Reynolds number, Froude number, Mach number)
- Laminar and turbulent flow
- Fluid statics (e.g., hydrostatic head)
- Energy, impulse, and momentum equations (e.g., Bernoulli equation)
- Pipe and duct flow and friction losses (e.g., pipes, valves, fittings, laminar, transitional and turbulent flow)
- Open-channel flow (e.g., Manning’s equation, drag)
- Fluid transport systems (e.g., series and parallel operations)
- Flow measurement (e.g., pitot tube, venturi meter, weir)
- Turbomachinery (e.g., pumps, turbines, fans, compressors)
- Ideal gas law (e.g., mixtures of nonreactive gases)
- Real gas law (e.g., z factor)
- Electrical fundamentals (e.g., charge, current, voltage, resistance, power, energy)
- Current and voltage laws (e.g., Kirchhoff, Ohm)
- AC and DC circuits (e.g., real and imaginary components, complex numbers, power factor, reactance and impedance, series, parallel, capacitance and inductance, RLC circuits)
- Measuring devices (e.g., voltmeter, ammeter, wattmeter)
- Three-phase power (e.g., motor efficiency, balanced loads, power equation)
- Thermodynamic laws (e.g., first law, second law)
- Thermodynamic equilibrium
- Thermodynamic properties (e.g., entropy, enthalpy, heat capacity)
- Thermodynamic processes (e.g., isothermal, adiabatic, reversible, irreversible)
- Heat transfer (e.g., conduction, convection, radiation)
- Mass and energy balances
- Property and phase diagrams (e.g., T-s, P-h, P-v)
- Combustion and combustion products (e.g., CO, CO2, NOX, ash, particulates)
- Psychrometrics (e.g., relative humidity, wet bulb)
Meet Our Instructors
Upon graduation with a BSEE from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Dr. Kim accepted a position as a contract Electrical Engineer at the Naval Ocean Systems Center at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station in Hawaii.
After completing his MSEE studies, Dr. Kim took a position as an Electrical Engineer at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado responsible for precise measurement of optical fiber geometries and established the national optical fiber far-field and near-field measurement standard procedures and tests. He was awarded the certificate of achievement from the Department of Commerce for his work on establishing a fiber optic national standard.
Upon completion of his PhD studies, he joined Burroughs Corporation in San Diego as a Project Engineer developing fiber optic transmitters and receivers for an advanced local area network.
Dr. Kim left Burroughs Corporation to work at Ipitek Corporation in Carlsbad, California as the Manager of Electro-Optic Systems where he developed fiber optic Cable TV transmission systems.
Dr. Kim left Ipitek to teach at the University of San Diego and remains an active design engineer, including a sabbatical leave at Ascom Tech in Bern, Switzerland as a Senior Systems Engineer and Principal Radio Frequency Engineer at Lightwave Solutions, LLC developing advanced fiber optic Cable TV equipment for U.S and international markets.
Dr. Kunal Patel, PhD, PE is an Environmental Engineer working for NJ State. He has 15 years of work experience in programs for water quality, stormwater, floodplain analysis, & teaching. Currently he is working as a project manager for engineering studies in co-ordination with FEMA and multiple engineering firms.
He has taught courses such as Environmental Engineering, Solid Waste Management, Fluid Mechanics, and Sustainable Engineering at several colleges as an Adjunct Professor. He received his doctoral degree from the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Rutgers University. He is a Professional Engineer licensed in New Jersey and a Certified Floodplain Manager. Kunal is excited to join PPI in its mission to help you pass your PE exam.
David Connolly, PE, is a licensed Mechanical Engineer in the state of Idaho. He earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Boise State University (BSU). During his undergraduate studies he had the opportunity to test experiments in NASA’s Weightless Wonder. He has 7 years of experience in the semiconductor industry at Micron Technology and has successfully delivered projects in international environments, including Japan and Taiwan.
His hobbies are centered around spending time outdoors fishing, backpacking, and camping. He also dedicates time to restoring classic automobiles on his small farm.
FE Other Disciplines Exam FAQs
The FE exams are 6 hours long. They include a nondisclosure agreement, a tutorial of 8 minutes, the exam for 5 hours and 20 minutes, a scheduled break of 25 minutes, and a brief survey.
Unfortunately, no. This exam is computer-based and considered a “limited reference exam,” which means that during the exam, the only reference material you can use is the NCEES FE Reference Handbook which is provided on screen. You can't bring any reference books to the exam. The FE Other Disciplines Review Manual and FE Other Disciplines Practice Problems books will prepare you for exam day by familiarizing you with the handbook.
The passing score varies, but we recommend aiming for at least 70% on exam day.
The FE Other Disciplines exam covers the following topics:
- Mathematics
- Probability and Statistics
- Chemistry
- Instrumentation and Controls
- Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts
- Safety, Health, and Environment
- Engineering Economics
- Statics
- Dynamics
- Strength of Materials
- Materials
- Fluid Mechanics
- Basic Electrical Engineering
- Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer
For more information on specifications for the exams effective July 1, 2020, please view this PDF.