Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you have an engineering degree from an accredited program, you're an engineer. If you don't you're not. The US is very lax with usage of the word but in other countries it's classed in the same way "Doctor" is.
The funny thing being, most of the best "software engineers" are people without software engineering degrees. Because the practice has existed longer than the degree has.
The reason is because they learned out of innate curiosity and true passion. You always go farther with those.
However, you go even farther with curiosity, passion and a degree.