Civil Engineering (PhD)

Admission Standards

The admission standards for the PhD program in Civil Engineering are as follows:

  1. All admission applications for the program shall include:
    1. A completed graduate application for the Graduate School,
    2. An application fee,
    3. Results from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE),
    4. Statement of Purpose (include intended area of study and/or research interests)
    5. Resume 
    6. At least two letters of recommendation, and
    7. Official transcript(s) for all previous post-secondary coursework. All transcripts not in English must be certified as authentic and translated verbatim into English.
  2. The minimum requirement for admission is the baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution.
  3. The successful applicant will typically have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.00 or above (on a 4.00 scale).
  4. The successful applicant will typically have a GRE combined Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning score of 295 or above.
  5. International students whose primary language is not English must show English language proficiency by either TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo score or demonstration of a degree awarded from an acceptable English language institution.  The successful applicant will typically have a TOEFL score of 79 or higher or overall IELTS score of 6.5 or higher or a Duolingo score of 105 or higher.

Program Requirements

Normally, it is expected that the student will complete a master's degree before being admitted to the PhD Program. However, qualified applicants may be admitted directly to the doctoral program after receiving a baccalaureate degree. These students will be required to complete an additional 30 credit hours of coursework at the 500 and 600 level under an individual plan developed in conjunction with the department's Director of Graduate Studies. Also, remedial work may be specified for those applicants who, in the opinion of the faculty, do not have a sufficient background.

The PhD program has four different focus areas available: Structural Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Transportation Engineering, and Water Resources. 

The minimum curricular requirements for the doctoral program are:

Courses - Post Bac
Approved Master’s Level Course Work30
CEE 698Civil Engineering PhD Seminar3
Core Courses (Select two courses from a focus area below)6
Technical Electives 19
CEE 699Civil Engineering PhD Research12
Minimum Total Hours60

Candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy degree must have a minimum final cumulative grade point average of 3.00 for all academic work attempted in Graduate Studies. 

1

Technical electives can be CEE or non-CEE courses. Technical Electives must be approved by the department.

Focus Areas

Structural Engineering

CEE 522Fundamentals of Prestressed Concrete3
CEE 523Timber Design3
CEE 620Advanced Mechanics of Solids3
CEE 621Finite Element Analysis for Structural Engineers3
CEE 626Masonry Design3

Geotechnical Engineering

CEE 553Advanced Foundation Design3
CEE 650Measurement of Soil Properties3
CEE 652Advanced Earth Pressure and Retaining Structures3
CEE 656Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering3

Transportation Engineering

CEE 560Traffic Engineering3
CEE 562Geometric Design of Highways3
CEE 660Transportation Planning and Urban Development3
CEE 664Fundamentals of Intelligent Transportation Systems3

Water Resources

CEE 573Groundwater Hydrology3
CEE 673Advanced Hydrology3
CEE 676Sediment Transport and River Mechanics3
CEE 681Green Engineering & Sustainable Design3