Professional Licensure Exam Now Offered for Software Engineers in the United States

After several years of development, the licensure exam for software engineers is complete, and being administered in April 2013 in nearly 40 states and several international sites including Canada (Calgary), Korea, Japan, UAE (Sharjah), Egypt (Cairo), and Saudi Arabia. This exam, called the Principles and Practices of Software Engineering Exam, is the final, and heretofore, missing component to providing a path to licensure for software engineers in the United States. The path includes an appropriate degree in software engineering or closely related field, at least four years of relevant experience, and having passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination -- a breadth test of areas related to the practice of engineering.

Licensure of software engineers is not without controversy -- some observers and practitioners oppose the requirement. But the rationale for the licensure is that software engineers develop certain software that is either embedded in physical systems that can affect the health, safety and welfare of the public (such as elevators, traffic controllers, power plants, automobiles) or that exists in systems that have the potential to expose or alter critical personal or financial information (such as medical records, pension accounts, credit card accounts). Therefore, the public needs to be assured that practitioners working on these systems are at least minimally competent to practice.

Licensure does not guarantee that systems will not fail, nor does it guarantee a certain level of expected safety or reliability. But licensure does guarantee accountability, which tends to lead to improved level of professionalism. The IEEE USA has taken the following position on the licensure of engineers in the US: "IEEE-USA believes that engineering licensure contributes to the profession's efforts to protect the health, welfare and safety of the public by ensuring that practitioners meet minimum recognized levels of competence as demonstrated by successful completion of education, experience and examination requirements. Further, professional licensing and the associated self-regulation serve the interests of the IEEE and the public by giving engineers an efficient and effective means to obtain a widely recognized credential."

For more information and eligibility criteria visit ncees.org/exams. The exam specifications -- the test blueprint of knowledge areas to be tested and their relative weights of emphasis -- are also available online there.

A study guide that includes 40 sample questions and solutions, a list of suggested references is available from IEEE-USA on line at:http://ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks/info.asp?Keyword=career&Product=Software+PE+Exam+%96+Sample+Questions+and+Solutions#=This study guide is $39.99 for IEEE members and $49.99 for nonmembers.

Additional volunteers are needed to continue development and scoring of the exam. If you are a licensed professional engineer working on software systems and would like to get involved in the exam development process, or if you have questions about the exam please contact Dr. Phil Laplante at plaplante@psu.edu.