• Graduate Programs
• Application Procedure
• Graduate School

Graduate Programs

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers a curriculum leading to the Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering (M.S.), and the Doctor of Philosophy in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Ph.D.) degrees. Graduate students specialize in one of the four available areas: Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Structural Engineering, and Transportation Engineering.

A dual degree M.S. program with the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, is also available. Graduate students enrolled in this program study one year at URI and one year at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Upon successful completion of all degree requirements, students receive a M.S. from the University of Rhode Island and the Diplom from the German University.

Master of Science (M.S.)

Admission requirements: bachelor's degree in civil or environmental engineering. Candidates in other engineering fields or in mathematics, biology, chemistry, or physics may be accepted with the possibility of additional undergraduate prerequisite courses being required.

The M.S. degree requires 32 credits including two credits of a seminar course. Part time students usually have the seminar credits waived. There are two options:

• A research oriented thesis option which requires the succesful defense of a thesis (6 to 9 credits)
• A non-thesis option which requires the completion of a project (3 credits) and a written examination

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Admission requirements: master's degree in civil or environmental engineering or a related field. Exceptional students with a bachelor’s degree will also be considered

Program requirements: a minimum of 42 credits plus CVE 601 and 602 except for part-time students beyond the M.S. degree. Students take between 18 and 24 dissertation credits, including the two-course minor outside of the candidate's area of specialization, where required by the candidate’s committee; a comprehensive examination; and a dissertation. Although there is no formal departmental language requirement, the committee may require proficiency with a research tool or in a foreign language.

Dual degree M.S. / Diplom

According to this program civil engineering students at URI may earn two degrees simultaneously

• The Master of Science at the University of Rhode Island, and
• The Diplom at the Technische Universität Braunschweig

Under this plan URI masters degree students in civil engineering complete the first full year, or approximately one half of the masters program, in Rhode Island, and then spend the second year of the program as a full-time student at the Technische Universität Braunschweig in central Germany. All work completed satisfactorily abroad is recognized by both the host and home universities, thus enabling students to complete degree requirements in Germany and Rhode Island.

Requirements for acceptance into the Dual Degree Program include:

• Completion of the Bachelor of Science degree.
• Acceptance to the graduate program at URI.
• Proficiency in German sufficient to carry out a course of study in Germany - or - submission of a plan to attain such proficiency by the time of departure for Germany.
• Approval by the faculty committee overseeing the URI/Braunschweig Exchange.