Civil Engineering, M.E.

Admissions

Students with Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees in civil or environmental engineering are eligible to enter the M.E. degree program. The M.E. degree is only available to students with B.S. degrees in engineering. Students with engineering degrees in areas other than civil engineering may be required to complete deficiency/prerequisite undergraduate courses. As a minimum, the following deficiency/prerequisite courses or equivalent will be required: MATH 141, MATH 142 and MATH 242; CHEM 111; PHYS 211 and PHYS 212; ECIV 200; ECIV 201;  STAT 509. Students will also be required to take all undergraduate courses that are listed as prerequisites for courses taken for graduate credit. In general, deficiency/prerequisite courses must be completed with a B average. Specific Program Areas (Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Structural Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Water Resources Engineering) may require additional course work.

An undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 2.8 on a 4.0 scale, and 3.0 on a 4.0 scale on any graduate course work is required for students wishing to enter the M.E. degree programs with B.S. degrees in engineering. Exceptions to the minimum undergraduate GPA requirements for admission to the M.E. degree program may be made for students with special qualifications.

The general Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required for students entering the M.E. degree program providing the student has a GPA > 2.8 and a B.S. degree in civil or environmental engineering from an ABET-accredited program. The GRE is required for applicants not meeting these requirements. Typically, successful applicants have combined scores of at least 301 (1100 in the old scale) on the Verbal and Quantitative (V + Q) sections, and 3.5 on the Analytical Writing (A) section.

Degree Requirements (30 Hours)

For the M.E. degree, a minimum of 30 credit hours is required. Students may take either 30 credit hours of course work or 24 hours of course work and 6 hours of ECIV 797 (as a master of engineering project). At least 15 hours of course work must be 700-level or higher. Up to 12 credit hours of course work may be taken outside of the department for degree credit with the approval of the student’s advisor and the graduate director. At least 12 hours of core course work are required for each area of specialization (see “Core Courses” below).

Prior to graduation, each M.E. candidate must pass a comprehensive assessment based on program learning objectives by demonstrating the ability to integrate graduate level coursework into engineering practice in one of two ways:

  1. a written career planning document; or
  2. a written summary of the engineering project performed as part of ECIV 797.

Students should consult the graduate director for additional information.

Core Courses

Each area of specialization has specific graduate core course requirements that are presented in the tables below. These requirements are designed to provide opportunities for cross-disciplinary programs of study that require breadth and flexibility beyond classical courses offered for a given area of specialization, and that may better reflect the student’s personal interests. This can be achieved by allowing to substitute one additional core course with any USC graduate (500-level or higher) course, subject to the approval of the student’s advisor and ECIV graduate director through the program of study (MPOS) form.

Environmental Engineering (12 hours)

Course Title Credits
ECIV 750Principles of Environmental Engineering Process3
Select three of the following:9
ECIV 502
Life Cycle Assessment of Engineered Systems
ECIV 555
Principles of Municipal Solid Waste Engineering
ECIV 556
Air Pollution Control Engineering
ECIV 558
Environmental Engineering Process Modeling
ECIV 590
Intermediate Special Topics *
ECIV 751
Water and Wastewater Treatment Theory I
ECIV 752
Water and Wastewater Treatment Theory II
ECIV 753
Unit Operations Laboratory for Water and Wastewater Treatment
ECIV 755
Industrial Wastewater Treatment
ECIV 790
Selected Topics in Civil Engineering *
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course *
Total Credit Hours12
*

To be approved by student's advisor and ECIV graduate director through program of study (MPOS) form.

Geotechnical Engineering (12 hours)

Course Title Credits
ECIV 730Advanced Soil Mechanics3
Select three of the following:9
ECIV 590
Intermediate Special Topics *
ECIV 731
Slope Stabilty, Retaining Systems and Lateral Earth Pressure
ECIV 732
Theoretical and Numerical Methods in Geomechanics
ECIV 733
Physico-chemical Properties of Soils
ECIV 734
Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
ECIV 736
Ground Improvement Techniques
ECIV 737
Advanced Foundation Design
ECIV 790
Selected Topics in Civil Engineering *
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course *
Total Credit Hours12
*

To be approved by student's advisor and ECIV graduate director through program of study (MPOS) form.

Railway Engineering (12 hours)

Course Title Credits
Select two of the following "Fundamental" core courses:6
ECIV 580
Railway Engineering I
ECIV 582
Operation and Logistics of Railway Systems
ECIV 588
Design of Railway Bridges and Structures
ECIV 590
Intermediate Special Topics *
Select one "Advanced" core course **
Select one "Advanced" or "Cross-Disciplinary" core course **
Select one of the following "Advanced" core courses:3
ECIV 707
Management of Engineering Projects
ECIV 724
Dynamics of Structures
ECIV 734
Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
ECIV 784
Dynamic Analysis of Railway Systems
ECIV 789
Design Project in Railway Engineering
ECIV 790
Selected Topics in Civil Engineering *
Select one of the following "Cross-Disciplinary" core courses:3
Select one Environmental Engineering core course
Select one Geotechnical Engineering core course
Select one Structural Engineering core course
Select one Transportation Engineering core course
Select one Water Resources Engineering core course
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course *
Total Credit Hours12
*

To be approved by student's advisor and ECIV graduate director through program of study (MPOS) form.

**

Applies to PhD student with MS/ME degree only.  May be taken for either "Fundamental" core course credit, or "Advanced" or "Cross-Disciplinary" core course credit, not both.

Structural Engineering (12 hours)

Course Title Credits
ECIV 720Advanced Structural Mechanics and Analysis3
Select three of the following:9
ECIV 590
Intermediate Special Topics *
ECIV 722
Theory and Design of Plates and Shells
ECIV 724
Dynamics of Structures
ECIV 725
Advanced Analysis and Design in Structural Metals
ECIV 726
Repair and Retrofit of Structures
ECIV 727
Advanced Analysis and Design of Reinforced Concrete
ECIV 728
Prestressed Concrete Analysis and Design
ECIV 737
Advanced Foundation Design
ECIV 790
Selected Topics in Civil Engineering *
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course *
Total Credit Hours12
*

To be approved by student's advisor and ECIV graduate director through program of study (MPOS) form.

Transportation Engineering (12 hours)

Course Title Credits
Select one of the following:3
ECIV 535
Geotechnical Engineering in Transportation
ECIV 540
Transportation Systems Planning
ECIV 541
Highway Design
Select one of the following:3
ECIV 542
Traffic Engineering
ECIV 748
Traffic Flow Theory
Select one of the following:3
ECIV 705
Deterministic Civil and Environmental Systems Engineering
ECIV 706
Probabilistic Civil and Environmental Systems Engineering
Select one of the following:3
ECIV 590
Intermediate Special Topics *
ECIV 790
Selected Topics in Civil Engineering *
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course *
Total Credit Hours12
*

To be approved by student's advisor and ECIV graduate director through program of study (MPOS) form.

Water Resources Engineering (12 hours)

Course Title Credits
Select up to one of the following:0-3
ECIV 560
Open Channel Hydraulics
ECIV 562
Engineering Hydrology
ECIV 563
Subsurface Hydrology
ECIV 590
Intermediate Special Topics *
Select at least two of the following:6-12
ECIV 760
Computational Hydraulics
ECIV 761
Numerical Methods in Subsurface Hydrology
ECIV 762
Advanced Hydrology
ECIV 763
Unsaturated Flow Theory
ECIV 764
Contaminant Transport
ECIV 765
Erosion and Sediment Control
ECIV 766
Fluid Transients
ECIV 767
Sediment Transport and River Mechanics
ECIV 790
Selected Topics in Civil Engineering *
Select up to one of the following:0-3
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course *
Total Credit Hours12
*

To be approved by student's advisor and ECIV graduate director through program of study (MPOS) form.