What is on the FE Electrical and Computer exam?

The FE Electrical and Computer exam has 110 questions and lasts 5 hours and 20 minutes. The specification in effect since July 2020 splits them across 17 knowledge areas. Mathematics and Circuit Analysis (DC and AC Steady State) are the largest areas, at 11 to 17 questions each. Power Systems and Digital Systems follow at 8 to 12 questions each. On every FE specification, the low ends of the ranges add to 100 of the 110 questions.

Question ranges for all 17 knowledge areas

Each knowledge area has a question range, and the form you receive stays inside those ranges while totaling 110 questions. The names below are the labels used in the FE Electrical and Computer specification.

Where most of the questions come from

Mathematics and Circuit Analysis (DC and AC Steady State) share the top range in this specification. Mathematics runs from algebra, trigonometry, and complex numbers through discrete math and analytic geometry, then into calculus: derivatives, integrals, functions of one or several variables, and ordinary differential equations. Linear algebra and vector analysis sit in the same area, so a thin math review also slows you down on later circuit and field problems.

Circuit analysis is the discipline area at that same range, covering current and voltage laws, series and parallel reduction, and Thevenin or Norton equivalents, along with node and loop methods for both DC and AC steady state. On waveforms, you move among root-mean-square value, average value, frequency, phase, and wavelength, then solve the sinusoidal case with phasors and impedance.

Power Systems and Digital Systems make up the next band. Power covers power factor, single-phase and three-phase power, and voltage regulation, while line and feeder questions use real and reactive losses, efficiency, voltage drop, and the difference between delta and wye connections. Transformers include single-phase and three-phase connections and impedance seen from the other winding, and motors and generators include synchronous, induction, and DC machines.

Digital Systems is the matching computer block, covering number base conversion, Boolean logic, and combinational gate circuits, with simplification through standard logic forms and map reduction. Sequential work includes flip-flops, counters, programmable logic, gate arrays, and state machines, along with timing diagrams, asynchronous inputs, and hazards such as race conditions.

Electronics is 7 to 11 questions. Device questions use models and bias for diodes, transistors, and thyristors, and amplifier questions include a single common-emitter stage, a differential stage, and both ideal and nonideal operational amplifiers. The same area can also ask about measurements, data acquisition, transducers, and power electronics such as rectifiers, inverters, and converters.

Control Systems is 6 to 9 questions, with block diagrams for feedforward and feedback, Bode plots, and comparisons of open-loop response, closed-loop response, and stability. Controller performance is framed with steady-state error, settling time, and overshoot.

The narrower areas are still on this specification, so leave time for a working start in each. Linear Systems joins frequency and transient response to resonance, Laplace transforms, and transfer functions. Signal Processing covers sampling and aliasing, including the Nyquist idea, plus analog filters and digital filters in difference-equation or Z-transform form. Communications uses basic amplitude, frequency, and pulse-code modulation, Fourier series and transforms, and multiplexing in time, frequency, or code. Electromagnetics covers static electric and magnetic fields, Maxwell’s equations and wave travel, and transmission lines at high frequency.

Properties of Electrical Materials is the materials slice of that shorter group: energy bands, doping, p-n junctions, drift and diffusion, plus conductivity, resistivity, permittivity, permeability, electrical noise, and thermal conduction and expansion. Computer Networks places routing and switching in layouts such as mesh, ring, and star, and in types such as a local network, a wide-area network, or the internet, using layered models such as OSI and TCP/IP. Security items stay at intrusion detection and prevention and the goals of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Computer Systems is microprocessors, memory technology, and interfacing. Software Engineering is sorting and searching, growth-rate comparisons, structures such as lists, trees, and arrays, and code patterns such as loops, branches, recursion, and testing.

Math, statistics, ethics, and economics

Four knowledge areas appear in every FE specification: Mathematics, Probability and Statistics, Ethics and Professional Practice, and Engineering Economics. Which topics are on every FE exam lists that shared set in one place. On this exam, Mathematics is the large shared block, Engineering Economics runs 5 to 8 questions, and Probability and Statistics and Ethics and Professional Practice are 4 to 6 each.

Probability and Statistics is a short, concrete set. You use a center such as the mean, a spread such as the standard deviation, and both discrete and continuous distributions, including the normal and the binomial. Conditional probability is included, and expected value is handled as a weighted average.

Ethics and Professional Practice draws on codes from professional and technical societies and on the NCEES Model Law and Model Rules. Intellectual property questions can involve copyright, trade secrets, patents, or trademarks. Safety questions can involve grounding, material safety data, personal protective equipment, or radiation protection. Ethics and Model Rules practice problems are a compact way to rehearse those distinctions.

Engineering Economics is mostly the time value of money: present value, future value, and annuities. The rest is cost estimation, risk identification, and analysis choices such as cost-benefit, trade-off, and break-even. Time value of money practice problems let you practice the setup before you rely on the handbook.

Handbook chapters for this exam

The specification describes the exam as closed book with an electronic reference: the FE Reference Handbook. The start pages below are from version 10.6.

Electrical and Computer Engineering, starting on page 361, is the chapter you will open most, and Instrumentation, Measurement, and Control, starting on page 225, lines up with measurement problems and with control performance. The index starts on page 467. Knowing how to use the FE Reference Handbook is part of taking the exam, because that electronic file is your reference for the whole exam.

Pass rate for first-time takers

NCEES last updated the FE pass-rate table in July 2026. For this exam the table shows 1,782 first-time takers and a pass rate of 70%. The FE exam pass rate page lines that result up with the other disciplines from the same release.

Treat these numbers as the published snapshot for that update, and use this specification to decide where to put your study time.

A study order based on the ranges

We suggest you rank areas by the low end of the published range. That floor is the smallest number of questions assigned to the area, so the order stays put from one exam form to another.

1. Mathematics and Circuit Analysis (DC and AC Steady State), each 11 to 17 questions.
2. Power Systems and Digital Systems, each 8 to 12 questions.
3. Electronics, 7 to 11 questions.
4. Control Systems, 6 to 9 questions.
5. Engineering Economics, Linear Systems, Signal Processing, Communications, and Computer Systems, each 5 to 8 questions.
6. Probability and Statistics, Ethics and Professional Practice, Properties of Electrical Materials, Electromagnetics, Computer Networks, and Software Engineering, each 4 to 6 questions.

One way to split the work is a first pass through the two 11 to 17 areas, then Power Systems, Digital Systems, and Electronics. Keep one shorter area in the rotation so you have already practiced the 4 to 6 question topics before the final review. You can place that order on a week-by-week FE study plan.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions are on the FE Electrical and Computer exam?

The FE Electrical and Computer exam has 110 questions, and you have 5 hours and 20 minutes for the appointment. Those questions come from 17 knowledge areas, each with its own range, and the low ends of the ranges add up to 100 of the 110 questions.

What is the hardest part of the FE Electrical and Computer exam?

NCEES does not publish a difficulty order for the knowledge areas. The areas that can contribute the most questions are Mathematics and Circuit Analysis (DC and AC Steady State), both 11 to 17, then Power Systems and Digital Systems, both 8 to 12. If your coursework was thin in one of those four, put that area first, since the clock is the same 5 hours and 20 minutes for all 110 questions and fluency in the large areas protects more of the exam.

What is the FE Electrical and Computer pass rate?

For first-time takers, the NCEES table last updated in July 2026 shows a 70% pass rate for FE Electrical and Computer, based on 1,782 examinees. In that same table, Other Disciplines is 61% and Mechanical is 73%. Treat 70% as the published first-time rate for this exam at that update.

Which handbook chapters matter for FE Electrical and Computer?

Use FE Reference Handbook 10.6 and learn Electrical and Computer Engineering, which starts on page 361. Mathematics starts on page 36, Engineering Probability and Statistics on page 64, and Engineering Economics on page 235. Ethics and Professional Practice starts on page 4, Safety on page 15, and Instrumentation, Measurement, and Control on page 225. The exam is closed book with an electronic reference, so these chapters are what you can open during the test.

Sources

1. NCEES FE Electrical and Computer CBT exam specifications (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
2. NCEES: FE exam. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
3. NCEES FE Reference Handbook 10.6 (free PDF in MyNCEES). Retrieved October 3, 2026.