Model for Education, Professional Preparation, and Licensure of Civil Engineers

In October 1998, ASCE’s Board of Direction adopted Policy Statement 465: First Professional Degree, which supports the concept that the master’s degree or an equivalent would be required for a graduate engineer to practice civil engineering at the professional level. In the writer’s opinion, this requirement alone may not be enough to narrow the gap between the education, professional preparation, licensure, and continuing education requirements of engineering and those of other traditional professions such as medicine, law, architecture, and accounting. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicate that engineering does not compare well with those four professions in those areas. Other data suggest that undergraduate civil engineering education has not changed significantly over the past 40 years to keep pace with major advances in civil engineering practice, even though the bachelor’s degree has been the entry-level degree for engineering practice during that period of time. A model is presented for the development of a process that will lead to the entry-level degree of professional civil engineer. This degree will carry with it not only recognition by the granting university of completion of all the academic requirements, but also satisfaction of all the licensing requirements of the state board of technical registration. It will allow the graduate to practice civil engineering lawfully in the state of issuance and to use the title of professional civil engineer in all his or her professional dealings. The development of this process will take time and require input from academia, practice, and licensing agencies under the sponsorship of one or more professional societies.