The Mississippi State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors offers two routes to becoming a land surveyor.
A program at MSU may give future surveyors an advantage.
One way to gain registration is by experience. It requires four years of experience before taking the first exam, and if that exam is passed three more years of experience and a final registration exam are also required.
The academic route, such as the program offered by MSU, consists of a four-year degree as well as three years of experience and the two registration exams.
The land-surveying program, which began at Mississippi State in 1997, is a typical four-year degree offered through the department of agricultural and biological engineering.
Students are required to take surveying, math, physics and computer classes in addition to the university core requirements.
David Smith, a professor in the department, said the academic route has its advantages.
“Everyone who wants to become a surveyor has to take the same exams, but the pass rate is much higher for students who have taken the academic route,” he said.
Smith said since 2000 the overall pass rate for each test has been between 26 and 48 percent. The pass rate for students going through a program like the one at MSU is approximately 80 percent.
The program began after Smith’s son became interested in surveying. Since its beginning, 19 students have graduated from the first program in Mississippi. In May, six more students will graduate.
Smith said that out of the 700 registered surveyors living in Mississippi, 244 are 60 years or older, causing a need for younger people to come into the field.
“With so many surveyors over 60 who will probably retire in the next 10 years, there is a lot of opportunity for growth,” Smith said. “We would have to have 130 students every year before the market becomes saturated.”
Smith hopes that the program will grow over the next several years to offer scholarships, incentives and other opportunities for students. Students in Florida are offered a $5,000 to $7,000 bonus for agreeing to stay in the state and practice, he said.
“Students should be aware of that and should look into it if they are interested,” Smith said. “I hope that in the future, we can begin to offer something like that.”
Ray Duncan, a graduating senior, enjoys the surveying program and says that it has helped him in becoming a surveyor.
“It is a good program. What I have learned in school, I have used in what experience I have gotten,” he said.
Students also say that surveying is not for everyone, and those who do not like it will know they do not like it quickly.
“It is a field where you have to be able to work. It requires a lot of planning,” Powers said.
“If someone is interested, go talk to a surveyor or work for one,” Ben Black, a sophomore in the program, said. “You will find out right away if this is what you want to do.”