NE-JE Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

What the Pass-Rate Data Actually Shows (and Doesn't)

If you searched for the Nebraska electrician exam pass rate hoping for a clean percentage, here is the honest answer: no current aggregate or first-attempt pass rate for the Nebraska Journeyman Electrician License Exam has been publicly verified. The Nebraska State Electrical Division (NSED), which administers the licensing program for the Nebraska State Electrical Board, does not publish a pass-rate table on the pages candidates normally use, and the testing provider's current candidate bulletin was not publicly retrievable during research.

That matters because a lot of exam-prep content fills the gap with confident-sounding numbers. Those numbers are often borrowed from other states, other credentials, or older testing arrangements. On this site, we would rather tell you what is known and what is not than give you a figure you cannot trace to a source.

What we can do is lay out the verifiable facts that shape your odds: who runs the exam, how attempts work, what the content covers, what a failed attempt costs you in time and process, and where the official documentation still has gaps. That is a better foundation for planning than a number with no source behind it. For a wider look at difficulty, see our complete difficulty guide for the NE-JE exam.

Why a Trustworthy Nebraska Number Is Hard to Find

Several structural reasons explain why a reliable pass rate is elusive for this particular exam:

• No published aggregate from the issuer. NSED's public exam pages cover scheduling, eligibility and application mechanics. They do not present a pass-rate statistic for the journeyman exam.
• A recent provider change. Because PSI took over from ICC effective October 1, 2023, there is limited history under the current format, and what exists is not clearly published.
• Multiple license classes share the examination framework. The issuer's four topic headings apply to all tested license classes, including Journeyman Electrician, so a blended figure from a source that does not separate classes would not isolate the journeyman exam.
• Commercial success claims are not pass rates. Test-prep vendors sometimes advertise customer success percentages. Those are marketing claims about their own customers, not statewide candidate outcomes, and none are treated as evidence here.
• NSED does not review failed examinations. The current application states this, which means you should not count on a post-failure review to tell you where you went wrong.

The practical takeaway: treat any specific Nebraska journeyman pass percentage you encounter skeptically unless it names its source, its time period, and whether it covers first attempts or all attempts. If it cannot, it is not data you can plan around.

The PSI Transition and Why Old Statistics Mislead

NSED's official PSI Exams notice (updated May 15, 2024) states that PSI replaced ICC effective October 1, 2023, and that question counts and timing changed with the move. The notice directs approved applicants to the candidate bulletin that PSI emails to them, and says the bulletin may be requested from NSED staff.

This has a direct consequence for anyone researching pass rates. Forum posts, older blog articles and legacy statistics may describe the ICC-administered exam. Those experiences may not map onto today's PSI exam, because the format changed. A candidate who passed or failed under the old arrangement faced different question counts and timing than you will.

The same caution applies to the Nebraska exam's NASCLA-linked route. NASCLA's Nebraska participating-agency page recognizes an accepted route and says testing must be through Nebraska with an examination date after August 1, 2025. That recognition does not mean you should substitute a generic NASCLA syllabus or its logistics for Nebraska's. Verify the precise authorized examination with NSED and PSI before you commit to a study plan.

Conflicting Exam Specifications You Will See Online

One reason pass-rate conversations get muddy is that candidates cannot even agree on what the exam looks like. The verified picture has a deliberate gap: the current PSI candidate bulletin for the selected route was not publicly retrievable, so the exact question count, scored/unscored split, time limit, provider examination fee, current passing standard, question format and calculator or annotation restrictions remain unverified.

The 50-question, three-hour and 75% figures come from an older posted rules document that also carries an editorial annotation and legacy examination logistics. They conflict with the PSI notice's statement that counts and timing changed, so they should not be treated as the current exam specification. Equally, commercial packages advertising 80-question, four-hour or 100-question exams are describing other products or other states, not a verified Nebraska specification.

For a deeper treatment of the scoring question, see our guide to the NE-JE passing score, which walks through what is and is not confirmed.

What the Exam Covers: Five Headings, One Caveat

Pass rates tell you nothing about why candidates miss questions. The topic structure does. NSED's exam information page publishes four broad examination subjects that apply to all tested license classes, including Journeyman Electrician, and the list is explicitly non-exhaustive, with qualitative emphasis on NEC knowledge. A fifth heading, Blueprint Reading, comes from older Board Rules (Rule 9) and is retained with a caveat: current PSI coverage of it is unconfirmed.

One important honesty point: no official percentages, item allocations or largest-weighted domain were verified. You will see sites assign weights to these domains. Those weights are not backed by any retrieved NSED or PSI blueprint, so do not allocate your study hours based on them. Our NE-JE exam domains guide explains how to treat the five headings without inventing weights.

NEC 2023 and the Reference-Book Question

Code edition is one of the most concrete, verifiable factors affecting how candidates perform. NSED's State Act Update and 2023 Code Adoption notice (August 1, 2024) states that exam questions moved to NEC 2023 on August 1, 2024, and mentions both PSI/NASCLA and PSI/NE bulletins. Under that notice, NEC 2020 or 2023 codebooks and handbooks are permitted.

Read that carefully. It supports reference-book use under that notice, but it is not a complete current open-book policy. The authorization-specific bulletin governs what you may actually bring on test day, including any calculator or annotation restrictions, which also remain unverified.

Even though a 2020 book may be permitted for reference, the questions are written to the 2023 edition. Studying from 2023 materials removes a source of avoidable error. For a one-page reference of the key points, see our NE-JE cheat sheet.

How the Retake Policy Shapes Your Real Odds

Without a published pass rate, the retake policy is the most useful concrete framework for thinking about outcomes. Policy 37 (July 11, 2025) lays out approval-based conditions:

• A 90-day (three-month) authorization window applies to an approved examination.
• You get three tests in the year measured from initial approval, not a calendar-year count.
• After a third unsuccessful attempt, you wait 90 days.

Do not read this as unlimited immediate retakes. Each attempt requires a new application and approval from NSED, then arranging and paying for PSI testing. Because the year runs from your initial approval date, a failed attempt early in the window uses up one of your three tests in a way that a calendar-year assumption would hide.

For details on timing and windows, see our guide to NE-JE exam dates and scheduling.

The Hidden Cost of a Failed Attempt

Since the pass rate is unknown, plan as though failure is a real possibility and know what it costs. The verified fee facts are limited but useful:

• State application charge: $90, which is separate from the PSI testing fee.
• PSI testing fee: not verified. Do not assume a figure.
• Journeyman license issuance: $37.50 in an even-numbered year such as 2026, or $75 in an odd-numbered year.

Because each attempt needs a fresh application and approval, you should expect the application step to recur with each try, along with the separately arranged PSI testing. The exact total for repeated attempts depends on the unverified PSI fee, so confirm it with PSI before budgeting. Our NE-JE certification cost breakdown separates application, testing and issuance charges so you can see where each applies.

Passing the Exam vs. Holding an Unrestricted License

A pass rate measures exam outcomes, but passing is not the same as holding the license you want. Eligibility to test requires four years or 8,000 qualifying, verifiable electrical-trade hours. A qualifying two-year post-high-school associate degree in electrical technology can earn one year of experience credit, and eligible military training and experience can also be considered.

The current issuer page adds a critical warning: fewer than 4,000 verified Nebraska experience hours result in a restricted, non-reciprocal license. Do not confuse eligibility to test with eligibility for an unrestricted, reciprocal license. Older Policy 36 wording on out-of-state hours is broader, and it should be read alongside the current page's specific 4,000-Nebraska-hour warning rather than letting either one erase the other's qualification.

If you plan to work across state lines, this distinction affects your career more than any pass percentage. See NE-JE requirements and eligibility for the documentation you need, including employer work-experience verification, complete employer addresses, degree evidence for education credit, and identity and lawful-presence documents.

Using Pass-Rate Uncertainty to Plan Your Prep

Because there are no verified domain weights, a sensible plan covers all five headings and puts extra time where your own experience is thinnest. One short, NE-JE-specific sequence:

Because NSED does not review failed examinations, your own practice results are your best diagnostic. Our NE-JE study guide expands on how to structure that review, and you can test yourself with the practice questions on our main practice test site.

What to Verify Before You Test

The honest summary of the data situation is a short list of items to confirm yourself, directly with the source, before test day:

1. The PSI candidate bulletin for your authorization route, which governs question count, time limit, fee, passing standard, question format and calculator or annotation rules.
2. Whether Blueprint Reading is currently tested under your route.
3. Which codebook editions you may bring and any restrictions on tabs or annotations.
4. Your route, since the Nebraska PSI and NASCLA-linked paths are mentioned in separate bulletins.
5. Current renewal rules for after you pass. Licenses run a two-year cycle expiring December 31 of even-numbered years, with 12 approved CE hours (at least six on the NEC) for a full cycle, and six hours for a license held only one year in 2026. The issuer also awards six CE hours for successfully passing the exam. Regular renewal runs October 1 through November 30, and late renewal runs December 1 through 31 with a 10% late fee; there is no grace period after December 31. An LB 889 notice describes revisions adopted April 18, 2026 and effective July 18, 2026, so confirm the current window.

To understand what the credential is and who it serves, our overview pages on what NE-JE is and NE-JE earnings give context for the investment you are making, and whether the certification is worth it weighs the decision.

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