Successful graduate students earn a Master's of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. The typical requirements include 24 to 30 credit hours of advanced study in the student's preferred concentration and a published thesis or project report. Students can choose to study full-time or part-time, to accommodate individual schedules and circumstances.
The website GradSchools.com lists 462 universities --- 439 campus schools and 23 online schools --- offering master's degrees in civil engineering. Each university specializes in only one or two of the engineering disciplines. Links to each university's website can be found at Gradschools.com (see Resources).
U.S. News & World Report conducts annual evaluations of all U.S. colleges and universities. The magazine's report, available online, sorts the results by location, tuition range and specialty. It ranks the University of California at Berkeley as the nation's best civil engineering master's degree program.
The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology evaluates engineering schools and awards credentials to those meeting its rigorous standards for quality education. Only students attending accredited schools are eligible for federal, and most private, financial aid. ABET's Engineering Accreditation Commission certified nearly 200 university engineering programs in 2010. Most of them offer master's degrees.
Since 1852, the ASCE has provided networking and professional development opportunities for its members-from undergraduate students through licensed Professional Engineers. ASCE was a founding member of ABET and endorses the industry trend of raising licensing standards to require P.E. candidates to possess a master's degree in civil engineering.