TL;DR: BS Mechanical Engineering is governed by CHED Memorandum Order No. 97, series of 2017, and carries 172 credit units across a four-year sample programme. The capstone is a plant design project — the school chooses either Power Plant Design or Industrial Plant Design — and thesis work is optional under the order rather than required. Unlike the civil and electrical orders, CMO 97 lets a school offer either plant visits or OJT, so immersion is not guaranteed. Yes, there is a board exam, under Republic Act No. 8495, the Philippine Mechanical Engineering Act of 1998, covering three subjects and passing at a 70 percent average with no rating below 50 percent. RA 8495 creates three tiers: Certified Plant Mechanic, Mechanical Engineer, and Professional Mechanical Engineer.
Mechanical engineering has the widest scope of any of the licensed engineering degrees in the Philippines, and its CHED order reflects that: the curriculum has to cover machines, thermodynamics, power plants, manufacturing, and control without going shallow on any of them. This guide covers what CMO 97 requires and what RA 8495 requires afterwards.
The CHED Order Behind BSME
CHED Memorandum Order No. 97, series of 2017, "Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) Program Effective Academic Year 2018-2019," is the governing document. It was issued as an addendum to CMO 37, s. 2012, the order that established outcomes-based education across engineering programmes.
CMO 97 describes the field expansively. Mechanical engineering "concerns itself with mechanical design, energy conversion, fuel and combustion technologies, heat transfer, materials, noise control and acoustics, manufacturing processes, rail transportation, automatic control, product safety and reliability, solar energy, and technological impacts to society." The order goes on to note that "anything that is mechanical or must interact with another machine or human being is within the broad scope of mechanical engineering."
That breadth is the honest answer to "what do mechanical engineers do." It is also why the degree is unusually portable across industries.
172 Units and What They Cover
CMO 97 states: "The BS Mechanical Engineering curriculum has a total of 172 credit units," and repeats later that the programme total "shall not be less than 172 units, including P.E., and NSTP."
The order describes the composition as follows:
- Technical courses: 12 units of Mathematics, 8 units of Physical/Natural Sciences, 19 units of Basic Engineering Sciences, 9 units of allied courses, 50 units of fundamental courses, 20 units of professional courses, and 6 units of technical elective courses
- Non-technical courses: 36 units of general education and elective courses under CMO 20, s. 2013, and 14 units of PE and NSTP
A note for anyone checking the arithmetic: the component list published in Section 10 of CMO 97 does not sum exactly to the 172-unit figure stated in the same section. The 172-unit total is the binding requirement — it is the number the order repeats when setting the floor for HEIs — so treat the component figures as an indication of proportion rather than a precise budget. Your school's own programme of study is the document that governs your actual load.
The CHED sample programme of study runs four years across eight semesters.
The Capstone: Power Plant or Industrial Plant Design
CMO 97 is specific about the culminating design experience: "the school may choose either Power Plant Design or Industrial Plant Design."
This is a real fork, and it is one of the few places where a school's choice visibly shapes what its graduates can show an employer. Power plant design points toward generation, energy, and utilities work. Industrial plant design points toward manufacturing, process industries, and facilities. Ask which one a programme runs before you enrol — it is a fair question and departments answer it readily.
Thesis is optional under CMO 97. The order says thesis projects are optional, and that the courses ME Project Study 1 and ME Project Study 2 may be used for a thesis course where a school wants one. If research experience matters to you, check whether your target school treats those courses as a thesis track or as project work.
The OJT Question, and Why BSME Differs
Here is a difference worth knowing before you compare engineering programmes.
CMO 97 states: "The HEIs have the option to offer either Plant Visits or On-the-Job Training. On-the-job training shall have a minimum of 240 hours."
That is a genuine option, not a formality. The civil engineering order prescribes OJT as a required 3-unit course with a 240-hour minimum, and the electrical engineering order requires a minimum of 240 hours of immersion outside the institution as a final requirement of the curriculum. CMO 97 lets a mechanical engineering programme satisfy the same policy objective with plant visits instead.
Both routes can be done well. A structured plant visit programme across a range of facilities can be more instructive than 240 hours of poorly supervised OJT. But the difference in employability signal is real, and it is entirely within a school's discretion. Confirm which one your target programme runs, and how many facilities the plant visits actually reach.
The Board Exam and the Three Tiers
Republic Act No. 8495, the Philippine Mechanical Engineering Act of 1998, regulates the profession. Section 13 establishes three categories of certificate of registration, in order of rank:
- Professional Mechanical Engineer (PME)
- Mechanical Engineer (ME)
- Certified Plant Mechanic (CPM)
Mechanical Engineer — the main entry point
Section 15 sets the qualifications: Filipino citizen, not convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, and holder of a BSME degree from a duly constituted and government-recognised university, school, college, academy or institute.
Section 17 sets the examination. The applicant "shall pass a written examination on different subjects or group of subjects prescribed by the Board, and within the syllabi prepared by the Board with emphasis on power plant and industrial plant engineering, mathematics, engineering economics, economic analysis, laws and ethics and machine design." The three subjects named in the law are:
- Machine Design, Materials and Shop Practice
- Industrial and Power Plant Engineering
- Mathematics, Engineering Economics and basic engineering sciences
The Board may amend or revise the subjects, their syllabi, the passing average, and the weights and procedures, subject to PRC approval, so check the current Board issuances before building a review plan on the statutory list alone.
Section 18 sets the passing standard: an average of 70 percent on all subjects, with no rating below 50 percent in any subject. That standard applies across all three categories.
Section 20 sets a cooling-off rule that is easy to miss: an applicant who fails the examination for the third time may take another examination "only after the lapse of one year." Three consecutive failed attempts and you sit out a year before the next one.
For the current cycle, filing deadlines, and requirements, see our mechanical engineering board exam guide. PRC publishes exam dates and application windows in its annual Schedule of Licensure Examinations, and that resolution is the only reliable calendar — dates and even the number of offerings per year change.
Professional Mechanical Engineer — no written exam
Section 14 requires a valid certificate of registration and licence as a mechanical engineer, graduation from a recognised engineering school after an approved mechanical engineering course, a specific record of four years or more of active mechanical engineering practice reckoned from registration, and attestation of competence by at least two professional mechanical engineers.
Section 17 makes the PME route testimonial rather than examinable: it involves "the submission of an enumeration of the applicant's experience including the presentation of an engineering report/technical paper pertinent to his line of experience attested to by two (2) or more professional mechanical engineers in an affidavit for this purpose."
Certified Plant Mechanic — the technician tier
Section 16 turns on demonstrated competence to undertake the operation, tending and maintenance of mechanical works, projects or plant "of not less than one hundred (100) kilowatts." The examination under Section 17 may be written or oral, based on a submitted statement of experience, covering Elements of Power Plant Machinery and Elements of Industrial Plant Machinery.
What Mechanical Engineers Are Licensed To Do
RA 8495 defines practice of mechanical engineering as including consultation, valuation, investigation and management services requiring mechanical engineering knowledge; engineering design and preparation of plans, specifications, project studies or estimates for mechanical equipment, machinery or processes; management or supervision of erection, installation, alteration, testing and commissioning; management, supervision, operation, tending or maintenance of mechanical equipment and processes; management or supervision of manufacture, sale, supply or distribution of mechanical equipment and parts; teaching mechanical engineering professional subjects in recognised engineering schools; and government employment where the work requires professional mechanical engineering knowledge.
The law's own definition of "mechanical equipment or machinery" is a useful map of where the jobs are: prime movers such as steam engines and turbines, internal combustion and gas engines; steam generators and boilers; furnaces; heat exchangers including cooling towers, kilns, dryers, coolers and heaters; materials handling equipment such as pumps, cranes, conveyors, hoists, elevators and escalators; heating, air-conditioning, ventilating and refrigeration equipment; mechanical pollution abatement and environmental control systems; piping systems; pressure vessels; printing machines; and metalworking machines, whether installed on land, underground, or aboard watercraft.
In employment terms that means power generation, manufacturing and process plants, HVAC and building services, oil and gas, shipping and marine, construction, facilities and maintenance management, and equipment sales and technical support. Mechanical engineering also has one of the largest overseas markets among Philippine engineering degrees, particularly in Gulf-region plant and facilities work.
CMO 97 lists the allied programmes as electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering, aeronautical and aerospace engineering, environmental engineering, energy engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science and engineering, industrial engineering, mechatronics and robotics engineering, and agricultural engineering.
Is BSME the Right Course?
The case for it is breadth. Mechanical engineering does not tie you to a single industry the way some engineering degrees do, and the licence is portable across plant, building services, and manufacturing work.
The case against it is the same thing: breadth means the curriculum is heavy across mathematics, thermodynamics, machine design, and plant systems, with 172 units to carry over a four-year sample plan. Students coming out of the STEM strand with strong calculus and physics have a noticeably easier start.
Two questions to put to any school on your shortlist: which plant design capstone do they run, and do they offer OJT or plant visits. Both answers are set by CMO 97's own options, both vary by school, and both change what your fourth year looks like. Our roundup of the best engineering schools in the Philippines is a starting point for building that shortlist.
Sources
- Commission on Higher Education — CHED Memorandum Order No. 97, s. 2017, Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Program (PDF)
- LawPhil / Republic Act No. 8495 — Philippine Mechanical Engineering Act of 1998
- Professional Regulation Commission — Schedule of Licensure Examinations for the Year 2026 (Resolution No. 2113, s. 2025, PDF)
