CO-JE Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

Why No Verified Pass Rate Exists

If you searched for a Colorado journeyman electrician pass rate, you probably expected a tidy percentage. Here is the honest answer: no current first-attempt or overall candidate pass rate for this exam was publicly verified in the research behind this article. The Colorado State Electrical Board, which sits within the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Professions and Occupations, publishes the Candidate Information Bulletin through its testing vendor PSI Services LLC. That bulletin explains content, format, fees, and rules. It does not publish how many candidates pass.

That matters because pass-rate figures floating around the internet are often unsourced, borrowed from another state, or borrowed from an entirely different credential that happens to share a similar name. This site covers the Colorado Journeyman Electrician License Exam specifically, and we are not going to paste in a number we cannot trace to an issuer or testing-provider publication.

What we can do is lay out everything that is verifiable, explain what a pass rate would and would not tell you, and show where the exam's published structure suggests you should spend your preparation time. For a broader sense of difficulty, see our guide on how hard the CO-JE exam is.

The 70% Standard Is Not a Pass Rate

The most common mix-up is treating the passing score as if it were a pass rate. They are different things:

• Passing standard (cut score): the score an individual needs. Here it is 70%, which equals 63 correct answers out of 90 scored questions.
• Pass rate: the share of all test-takers who clear that bar. For this exam, no verified figure is available.

Knowing you need 63 correct is useful because it translates directly into how many questions you can miss: 27. That is your entire error budget across all 13 content areas. For a deeper look at scoring mechanics, read our page on the CO-JE passing score.

What the Published Data Actually Shows

Since outcome statistics are unavailable, the verified data describes the exam's structure. Here is what the bulletin establishes:

Notice what is absent: any count of candidates tested, any outcome breakdown, any first-time versus repeat distinction. Until the Board or PSI publishes those, any claim of a specific Colorado journeyman pass percentage is unverified. If a prep vendor quotes you a number, ask where it comes from and whether it applies to this exact exam rather than a different state's or a different credential's.

Where the Scored Points Concentrate

The bulletin publishes item allocations for each of 13 content headings, in order, totaling 90. Official percentage weights are not published, so we will stick to raw item counts rather than calculating percentages the issuer never stated.

Photovoltaics has only 2 items and Transformers only 4, but a single missed question counts the same as one in a heavily weighted area. Do not ignore the small areas entirely; just do not let them consume time that Grounding and Bonding, Services, Feeders, and Branch Circuits, or calculations deserve. For a full walkthrough of each heading, see our guide to all 13 content areas.

The NEC 2026 Transition and Your Odds

One factor that can quietly affect outcomes is which edition of the National Electrical Code you are studying. The retrieved bulletin text states that, effective August 1, 2026, exam questions are consistent with NEC 2026 and PSI supplies the 2026 NEC. It also says a 2023 book may be requested until December 1, 2026, after which that is no longer an option. Yet older introductory and rendered reference text in the same materials still specifies NEC 2023.

Practically, this means studying from a mismatched edition could cost you points on questions where article numbering, table values, or requirements changed. Verify first, then build your practice around the confirmed edition. Our exam dates and scheduling guide covers timing considerations around the transition.

Open Book Does Not Mean Easy

The exam is open book at PSI test centers, which sometimes leads candidates to underestimate it. The rules are specific:

• PSI supplies the NEC and a formula page.
• An on-screen calculator is available.
• Personal references are prohibited.
• Writing, highlighting, underlining, or indexing the supplied references is prohibited.

That last point is critical. You may have heard advice from other states about bringing a personally tabbed NEC. Do not apply that here; it conflicts with the Colorado bulletin's restrictions. Your speed must come from knowing where things live in the code, not from pre-marked pages. Remote-proctoring entitlement was not verified for this exam, so plan on testing in person at a PSI center.

Timing, Unscored Items, and Retakes

You get 240 minutes for the 90 scored questions. The exam may also include up to 10 unscored items that come with 30 additional minutes. These experimental items are not identified for you, so treat every question as if it counts. The 240-minute figure describes the scored component; your total appointment can run longer when unscored items are included.

Time per question is generous on paper, which is exactly why the main pressure is not the clock but the combination of code lookups and multi-step calculations. Budget extra minutes for calculation items and mark tough ones to revisit.

If you do not pass, the bulletin permits scheduling from the following day for the next available test date, with the $73 retest fee. It does not promise an immediately available seat, so availability in your area could affect your gap between attempts. Because no pass-rate data is published, the safest assumption is that a retake is a real possibility and worth budgeting for, not a sign you are unusual. Learn more about overall costs in our pricing breakdown, keeping in mind that exam fees are separate from any licensing and renewal charges, which were not independently verified here.

Passing Is Not the Same as Qualifying

Another reason raw pass statistics would be incomplete: passing the exam does not by itself make you licensed. The process is to take and pass the examination before submitting the license application, and the Board reviews your documented experience and education separately. Under enacted SB25-165 (signed June 3, 2025), the eligibility picture is:

• 8,000 qualifying hours over at least four years.
• Of those, 2,000 hours over at least two years in commercial, industrial, or substantially similar work.
• Documented 288 classroom-training hours during the last eight years of training, apprenticeship, or practical experience, tracked separately from on-the-job hours.
• The Board may credit older training upon evidence of at least four additional hours on the current or immediately previous NEC or other adopted standards. This is Board-reviewed, not automatic.

The enacted change supersedes older 4,000-hour commercial/industrial and four-year classroom-lookback descriptions you may still see online. Rule 1.7(D)(1)(b) also specifies 10 to 40 hours of OSHA-curriculum safety instruction within the 288-hour training requirement, corroborated in older Board rules, though you should confirm current wording because a rule version effective July 15, 2026 is identified in the official register. See CO-JE requirements for the full picture, and always verify details on the Board's applications page.

Once licensed, renewal runs on a three-year cycle requiring 24 continuing education hours, including at least four on NEC changes and no more than four credited safety hours. Initial licenses obtained by examination during October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2026 are exempt from CE until after their first renewal. The current cycle expires September 30, 2026, and an expired license is not permission to practice.

A Domain-Weighted Prep Sequence

Because the allocation is public even though the pass rate is not, build your plan around item counts. This is the one place for a schedule, and it is tied directly to the Colorado content areas.

Adjust the length to your experience, but keep the principle: allocate effort by item count, then use simulations to find your weak areas. Our study guide and cheat sheet support each stage, and you can run realistic timed questions on the main practice test site. When you want to pressure-test your readiness against the 63-correct standard, take a full-length attempt on our CO-JE practice exams.

Frequently Asked Questions