The Department of Civil Engineering offers the Ph.D. with specialization in the following areas:
Civil Engineering Materials
Construction Engineering and Management
Environmental Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering
Hydraulics Engineering
Structural Engineering
Transportation Engineering
Water Resources Engineering
These areas utilize courses from other departments and such inter-departmental programs are encouraged. Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Mining Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science, Geology, Biology, and Chemistry are some of the departments whose offerings contribute to the programs in Civil Engineering.
The Department of Civil Engineering has many well-equipped laboratories with active research programs in most areas. The research programs provide financial assistance for graduate students. In addition, financial assistance is available through teaching assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships. Information about the graduate program in Civil Engineering can be obtained by writing the Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Civil Engineering
Admission Requirements
In addition to satisfying general Graduate School and College of Engineering admissions requirements (a GPA of 2.8/4.0 on all undergraduate work is normally required), applicants for admission to the M.S.C.E., and Ph.D. degree programs in Civil Engineering must have been awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from an engineering program accredited by the Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). This requirement may be waived for applicants who have been awarded bachelor’s degrees other than in engineering or from unaccredited engineering programs (including those offered by foreign institutions) if the applicant has received an acceptable score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
Students with undergraduate majors not in engineering must also take a certain number of undergraduate remedial courses. Neither the M.S.C.E. degree nor the Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering will be conferred unless the candidates have successfully completed, during their undergraduate and/or graduate careers, at least one basic course in at least four of the following seven areas: civil engineering materials, construction engineering and management, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, hydraulics and water resources engineering, structural engineering, and transportation engineering.
Another admission requirement is a minimum combined verbal and quantitative scores of GRE as follows: 1000 (300: New GRE), and 1100 (330: New GRE) for Master’s and Ph.D. degree applicants, respectively. Scores on the analytical portion are not considered. Foreign applicants whose native language is other than English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and score at least 550 (Computer Based TOEFL: 213, iBT TOEFL: 80).
Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. degree has no formal course requirement, but students must pass the Qualifying Examination before entering candidacy. There is no language requirement for the Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering.