Doctoral degrees in engineering that focus on civil engineering and environmental engineering are required for college-level teaching and employment in research institutions. Many leading industries and agencies also seek well-trained doctoral graduates. The specialty areas include coastal, geotechnical, structural, transportation, and water resources engineering in civil engineering and a variety of sub-fields in environmental engineering including water quality, water and wastewater treatment, hydrologic processes, water resources, environmental engineering microbiology, air quality, hazardous and solid waste, biofuels, nutrient cycling, and pollution prevention.
Admission Requirements
A master’s degree or equivalent in engineering or a related field is required for admission to the Ph.D. program; however, exceptionally well qualified students can be admitted to Ph.D. program directly without a master’s degree. Each applicant must submit an essay of 500 words or less describing personal and academic goals, professional objectives, preparation for graduate study, and how the chosen program will help the applicant achieve these goals and objectives. Two letters of recommendation are required. At least one of these must be submitted from former or current professors, and one could be from employment supervisor. Regular admission to a Ph.D. program generally requires a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale in their master program. Applicants with a lower GPA may be considered for regular or provisional admission on the basis of successful engineering work experience or other credentials demonstrating potential for success in the Ph.D. program. Submission of GRE scores is required except for applicants who hold an ABET accredited engineering degree from an institution in the USA or a graduate engineering degree from an institution of which the undergraduate degree is ABET accredited in the USA. TOEFL (or IELTS) are required for all applicants whose native language is not English unless their master (or BS) degrees are from USA institutions.
Curriculum Requirements
Degree Requirements
Ph.D. program requires minimum 24 credits of coursework and 24 credit hours of dissertation research work. Three fifths (3/5) of these courses (15 credit hours) shall be from 800-level courses as required by the University.
