Engineering License from South Carolina to Texas: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Texas accept a South Carolina PE license?
A PE license transfers from South Carolina to Texas by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (TBPELS), verify your South Carolina license, and meet Texas's endorsement requirements. FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record and are not retaken; applicants already licensed as a PE in another U.S. state qualify for a waiver of the PE examination, but EVERY applicant must additionally pass the open-book Texas Ethics of Engineering examination (state-specific).
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Texas grants PE licensure by comity, so a Professional Engineer licensed in South Carolina does not start over — but does file a full Texas application. Your South Carolina license, ABET degree, qualifying experience, and FE and PE results reach the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (TBPELS) through your NCEES Record; the board's task is to confirm they meet Texas's practice act, not to re-test you. Two things govern your timeline: keeping your South Carolina license active and unencumbered while the Texas application is pending, and clearing any Texas-specific exam or statutes review before the license issues.
What's different between South Carolina and Texas
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Texas. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
South Carolina to Texas (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
Texas to South Carolina (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from South Carolina matter?
Coming from South Carolina does not change the answer: every origin (the other 49 states and DC) gets the same result for a move into Texas.
- Application fee
Texas lists $75 for an out-of-state applicant and South Carolina lists $60 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Processing time
Texas lists about 8 weeks; South Carolina has no verified processing-time figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.
- Exam rules on record
Texas and South Carolina carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Texas (this move): FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record and are not retaken; applicants already licensed as a PE in another U.S. state qualify for a waiver of the PE examination, but EVERY applicant must additionally pass the open-book Texas Ethics of Engineering examination (state-specific)
- South Carolina (the reverse move): FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record and are not retaken; a Model Law Engineer may be licensed directly on the Record without further written examination, and South Carolina requires no separate state jurisprudence or law exam
What changes, South Carolina → Texas
| South Carolina (current) | Texas (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | $60 (SC Board PE-by-comity application fee per the LLR fee schedule; transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid separately to NCEES. Biennial renewal is separate.) | $75 (TBPELS PE license application fee (covers the Texas Ethics of Engineering exam); a fingerprint-based criminal-history check is also required (fee paid to the state's fingerprint vendor). Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid separately to NCEES. Renewal is $100 for two years.) |
| Processing time | LLR publishes no comity processing time; comity applications are reviewed once the NCEES Record and references are received (NCEES Record completion itself averages 2-3 weeks) | ~8 weeks (TBPELS states an average application processing time of about two months (eight weeks) on its PE Application Process page, depending on the adequacy of the submittal; the ethics exam, NCEES Record, and fingerprint TX DPS/FBI criminal-history check must all clear before licensure (outgoing verification requests can separately take up to 30 business days).) |
| Licensing authority | South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors (SC Dept. of Labor, Licensing and Regulation) | Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (TBPELS) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Texas sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Texas's current requirements on the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (TBPELS) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (TBPELS) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold qualifications comparable to Texas (ABET-accredited degree plus 4 years of acceptable engineering experience).
- Submit an NCEES Council Record to verify education, exams, other-state licenses, and experience.
- Pass the open-book Texas Ethics of Engineering examination.
- Submit fingerprints to the Texas DPS/FBI for a criminal-history background check.
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep my South Carolina PE license after I'm licensed in Texas?
Yes — PE licenses stack. Keep the South Carolina license active (its renewal and continuing-education/PDH clock run separately) and you hold both. Engineers working near state lines or nationally routinely carry several PE licenses at once, all sourced from a single NCEES Record.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-07-21.
- TBPELS — Basic Licensure Requirements ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- TBPELS — Exam Waiver Requirements ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- TBPELS — PE Application Process ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- TBPELS — Agency Fees ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- S.C. Code Regs. 49-203 — Licensure by Comity (verbatim SC Code of Regulations via Cornell LII) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- SC LLR Board of Registration for PEs & Surveyors — PE Individual Licensure by Comity ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- NCEES — Records Program (comity licensure) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
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