[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-300558-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-300558-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","pacific-northwest-civil-engineering-programs-structural-design-courses-elective-or-required","Pacific Northwest Civil Engineering Programs’ Structural Design Courses - Elective or Required?","","The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam in civil engineering (CE) spans water/environmental, structural, geotechnical, transportation, and construction, with structural engineering forming a substantial share. Structural engineering courses strengthen statics and mechanics of materials, and steel or reinforced concrete (RC) design courses provide direct exposure and re-exposure to related FE question types. This work-in-progress evaluates ABET-accredited CE programs in the U.S. within the ASEE Pacific Northwest Section to determine whether steel and/or RC design courses are required.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/pacific-northwest-civil-engineering-programs-structural-design-courses-elective-or-required/300558/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/pacific-northwest-civil-engineering-programs-structural-design-courses-elective-or-required/300558.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Riley West","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-23","2026-09-18",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",14,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What subjects does the civil FE exam cover, and why is structural engineering important?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The civil FE exam covers water/environmental, structural, geotechnical, transportation, construction, and surveying. Structural engineering contributes a large portion of the exam and includes steel and RC design question types.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Are steel and reinforced concrete design courses required for all CE students?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"No. ABET-accredited CE programs may require neither, one, or both of steel and reinforced concrete design courses for graduation, even though these topics can appear on the FE exam.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How many ASEE Pacific Northwest Section programs were examined, and what were the results?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"All 24 programs were examined. Eight required steel design, eleven required reinforced concrete design, and ten required neither.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},300558,1789775020,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,127],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":130},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":132},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":133,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":124,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},1099523885074,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Pacific Northwest Civil Engineering Programs’ Structural Design Courses: Elective or Required?  \nMatthew S. Barner, Ph.D., P.E.  \nAssistant Professor of Civil Engineering at University of Portland  \nAbstract  \nThe Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam in civil engineering (CE) covers all the major sub-disciplines: water/environmental, structural, geotechnical, transportation, and construction. However, structural engineering is a significant portion of the exam when considering that structural engineering courses further reinforce statics and mechanics of materials, which have their own sets of questions on the exam. All CE students take an introductory structural engineering course, but not all CE students are required to take a steel or reinforced concrete design course; even though those topics appear on the FE exam. Therefore, CE students who take steel and/or reinforced concrete design courses have an advantage on the FE exam because of their exposure to those topics and their re-exposure to structural analysis, mechanics of materials, and statics in those design courses. This paper is a work-in-progress examining ABET-accredited CE programs in the U.S. on whether they require steel and/or reinforced concrete design. To begin this process, all 24 programs in ASEE Pacific Northwest Section were examined. Eight programs require steel design and eleven require reinforced concrete design. Ten programs require neither. While not all CE students will pursue structural engineering, lack of exposure to structural design courses disadvantages them on the FE. Interestingly, two programs introduce steel and reinforced concrete design topics in a single required structural design course. This could be an option for other programs wanting to prepare their non-structural CE students for the structural questions on the FE civil exam.  \nIntroduction  \nPassing the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exams is one of the first steps towards professional engineering licensure. Civil engineering majors are the most likely to take the FE exam due to many civil engineering careers requiring or expecting the ability to become professionally licensed [1] . The current version of the FE civil exam covers the five major subdisciplines of civil engineering (water/environmental, structural, geotechnical, transportation, and construction) as well as surveying.  \nStructural engineering has a large share of questions on the FE civil exam [1, 2] relative to the other sub-disciplines. Structural engineering questions on the FE civil exam can include steel and reinforced concrete (RC) design questions [2], but not all ABET accredited civil engineering programs require steel and/or reinforced concrete design courses for their civil engineering majors to graduate [3] . These structural design courses also reinforce concepts covered in statics and mechanics of materials more than any other upper division civil  \nengineering course. Statics and mechanics of materials also typically have the largest share of questions on the general engineering portion of the FE civil exam [1, 2] . Therefore, one could argue that civil engineering students who take steel and reinforced concrete design are more prepared for a larger amount of questions on the FE civil exam. The goal of this work-inprogress paper is to explore whether or not ABET accredited civil engineering programs in the ASEE Pacific Northwest Section require steel and/or reinforced concrete design courses.  \nMotivation  \nThe motivation for this study began back when I was preparing for my FE civil exam asan undergraduate student at one of the ABET accredited civil engineering programs in the Pacific Northwest. I remember during one of my meetings with my senior capstone group that two of my groupmates learned they did not pass their FE civil exam. I considered both of these students much smarter and more studious than myself. Their results made me more nervous about my FE exam. I recall their frustration about t","cbCaiqiGJMwtbH4U","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqiGJMwtbH4U","pdf",480445,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Motivation\n# Background","[{\"question\":\"What subjects does the civil FE exam cover, and why is structural engineering important?\",\"answer\":\"The civil FE exam covers water/environmental, structural, geotechnical, transportation, construction, and surveying. Structural engineering contributes a large portion of the exam and includes steel and RC design question types.\"},{\"question\":\"Are steel and reinforced concrete design courses required for all CE students?\",\"answer\":\"No. ABET-accredited CE programs may require neither, one, or both of steel and reinforced concrete design courses for graduation, even though these topics can appear on the FE exam.\"},{\"question\":\"How many ASEE Pacific Northwest Section programs were examined, and what were the results?\",\"answer\":\"All 24 programs were examined. Eight required steel design, eleven required reinforced concrete design, and ten required neither.\"}]","Pacific Northwest Civil Engineering Programs’ Structural Design Courses - Elective or Required? | PDF",25]