Program Overview
A total of thirty (30) credits, selected with the approval of the Graduate Advisor, are required. In general, the courses must be designated as CEN courses, although courses taken from other departments may be accepted with approval of the student’s advisor and their graduate committee.
The educational goals of the program include:
- To provide students in-depth understanding and expertise in specific areas of specialization in civil and environmental engineering.
- To train students to do scientific research and/or apply relevant civil engineering codes to design infrastructure.
- To train students how to communicate their research findings as technical papers, conference and seminar presentations.
- To provide students the opportunity to show mastery in a specific research project or research area of interest by writing and defending a thesis/project report or by passing a comprehensive exam.
- To graduate students who can be successful technical contributors to industry/municipalities or productive researchers in civil and environmental engineering departments.
Degree Requirements
There are three different tracks available to students seeking a master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering: (1) Thesis track, (2) Project track (3) Course work track.
UMassD CEN undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing a master’s degree can choose the accelerated 5-Year BS/MS option. BS/MS students must also select the Thesis, Project or Course work track. Students in the 5-year BS/MS program are allowed to count up to nine credits of eligible courses towards both the BS and MS degrees. Six of these credits may be non-core technical elective 400-level courses assuming they get a B or better.
All students must obtain a C or better grade in all graduate courses (500 series or higher), must have a GPA of 3.0 or greater to graduate and no more than two grades can be below a B-.
The thesis option requires the completion of a six-credit research thesis usually involving a theoretical or experimental investigation of a fundamental nature.
The project option requires the successful completion of a three-credit project, usually involving a theoretical or experimental investigation of an applied nature, often in conjunction with a company’s or government agency’s interests.
The course work option involves 30 credits of course work and a comprehensive exam from a subset of courses taken by the student.
No more than six credits of individual study, including independent study, directed study, and excluding graduate thesis or project, may apply as credit toward the master’s degree.
All full-time onsite MS students must pass the course CEN 500 Graduate Seminar for two semesters. CEN 504 is required of all students who have not already taken CEN 428.
Admission Requirements
Admission to the MS program is competitive. Students possessing a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a recognized institution and a strong academic background in civil or environmental engineering or a similar discipline are encouraged to apply for admission. Typically, MS applicants with an undergraduate cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 grading scale for all engineering, math, and physics courses will be considered. Current UMassD civil and environmental engineering BS students with a GPA of 3.0 or above are automatically qualified for the 5-Year accelerated BS-MS program. Those with a GPA of 2.5-3.0 may also be eligible but will need the positive endorsement of at least one UMassD CEN faculty member.
Applicants for the MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering must submit the required application materials to the Graduate Office.
In addition:
- Transcripts should show class rank if available.
- The two-three letters of recommendation should be from persons in the field of the applicant’s academic major at the institution most recently attended or be from supervisors familiar with the applicant’s recent job performance. UMassD civil and environmental engineering students with a GPA of 3.0 or above are automatically qualified for the 5-year accelerated BS-MS program and need not submit any letter of recommendation.
- The essay should be from 300 to 600 words in length. This essay should indicate the prospective student’s graduate study objectives, research interests and experience, and business or industry experience if applicable. If the applicant also applies for a teaching or research assistantship, the application must include any special skills or experience that would assist in assistantship decisions.
- International applicants to the MS program are required to demonstrate English language proficiency by submitting official results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Pearson Academic PTE or Duolingo. We require an overall/total minimum score of 72 on the TOEFL iBT or BAND 6.0 on the IELTS or a 52 on the Pearsons PTE Academic for entrance to any program and a minimum score of 79 on the TOEFL iBT or BAND 6.5 on the IELTS for consideration for a teaching assistantship. We also accept the Duolingo with a minimum score of 95.
Resources
The faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering Department are active in funded research activities and thus are in a strong position to support graduate students in conducting world class research in such areas as transportation materials, water and wastewater treatment, hazardous waste decontamination, fate and transport of contaminants, geotechnical engineering and offshore geotechnics, applied and computational mechanics and materials engineering, structural engineering, quantitative engineering sustainability hydrology, water resources engineering and ocean engineering. The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department maintains Geotechnical, Environmental, Fluid Mechanics, Mechanics of Materials and Coastal Engineering Laboratories, and a Highway Sustainability Research Center for research and educational purposes.
Graduate Financial Assistance
Financial assistance in the form of Teaching and Research Assistantships is available. Teaching assistantship is awarded by the graduate committee based on both merit and alignment of the applicant’s background to the needs of the department. For Research assistants, the applicant would need to consult the faculty member closest to his/her field of interest. For information about loans or other assistance, please consult the chapter on “Expenses and Financial Assistance.”
Many employers will assist employees in furthering their professional education; contact the personnel office at your place of work.