The following requirements are prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management and used to determine minimum qualifications.

Individual Occupational Requirements

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor’s
degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2)
include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year
physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or
physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c)
fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f)
nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties);
and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as
optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.
OR
B. Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or
technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and
mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both
theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their
applications to one of the branches of engineering.


Experience and education requirements for GS-7 and above

In addition to meeting the basic entry qualification requirements, applicants must have specialized experience and/or directly related education in the amounts shown in the table below.

GRADE EDUCATION SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE

GS-7

1 full year of graduate level education
or
superior academic achievement

1 year equivalent to at least GS-5

GS-9

master's or equivalent graduate degree
or
2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree
or
LL.B. or J.D., if related

1 year equivalent to at least GS-7

GS-11

Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree
or
3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree
or
LL.M., if related

1 year equivalent to at least GS-9

GS-12
and
above

 

1 year equivalent to at least next lower grade level

NOTE: Education and experience may be combined for all grade levels for which both education and experience are acceptable.

For more information on the requirements and qualifications for the professional engineer series, please click here: All Professional Engineering Positions

This page was last updated on March 08, 2022