Civil Engineering, M.S.
Admissions
Students with Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees in civil or environmental engineering are eligible to enter the M.S. degree program. 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 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.S. degree programs with B.S. degrees in engineering. Exceptions to the minimum undergraduate GPA requirements for admission to the M.S. degree program may be made for students with special qualifications.
For students with non-engineering baccalaureate degrees, or engineering degrees from programs not accredited by ABET, the minimum grade requirement is a GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale on their undergraduate coursework, and 3.0 on a 4.0 scale on any graduate course work.
The general Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required for students entering the M.S. degree program providing the student has a GPA of 3.4 or higher and a B.S. degree in civil or environmental engineering or closely related field 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, 160 on the Q section, and 3.5 on the Analytical Writing (A) section.
Degree Requirements (30 Hours)
For the M.S. degree, 30 credit hours, of which 6 credit hours must be ECIV 799, are required. At least 12 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. Prescribed core courses are required for each area of study (see “Core Courses” below). A maximum of 6 credits of ECIV 797 may be used toward the student’s program of study.
Credits earned in ECIV 798 do not count toward a student’s program of study.
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 research and career 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 750 | Principles of Environmental Engineering Process | 3 |
| Select three of the following: | 9 | |
| Life Cycle Assessment of Engineered Systems | ||
| Principles of Municipal Solid Waste Engineering | ||
| Air Pollution Control Engineering | ||
| Environmental Engineering Process Modeling | ||
| Intermediate Special Topics * | ||
| Water and Wastewater Treatment Theory I | ||
| Water and Wastewater Treatment Theory II | ||
| Unit Operations Laboratory for Water and Wastewater Treatment | ||
| Industrial Wastewater Treatment | ||
| Selected Topics in Civil Engineering * | ||
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course * | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 12 | |
- *
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 730 | Advanced Soil Mechanics | 3 |
| Select three of the following: | 9 | |
| Intermediate Special Topics * | ||
| Slope Stabilty, Retaining Systems and Lateral Earth Pressure | ||
| Theoretical and Numerical Methods in Geomechanics | ||
| Physico-chemical Properties of Soils | ||
| Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering | ||
| Ground Improvement Techniques | ||
| Advanced Foundation Design | ||
| Selected Topics in Civil Engineering * | ||
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course * | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 12 | |
- *
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 | |
| Railway Engineering I | ||
| Operation and Logistics of Railway Systems | ||
| Design of Railway Bridges and Structures | ||
| 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 | |
| Management of Engineering Projects | ||
| Dynamics of Structures | ||
| Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering | ||
| Dynamic Analysis of Railway Systems | ||
| Design Project in Railway Engineering | ||
| Selected Topics in Civil Engineering * | ||
| Select one of the following "Cross-Disciplinary" core courses: | 3 | |
Select of one Geotechnical Engineering core course | ||
Select one Environmental 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 Hours | 12 | |
- *
To be approved by student's advisor and ECIV graduate director through program of study (MPOS) form.
- **
Applies to PhD students 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 720 | Advanced Structural Mechanics and Analysis | 3 |
| Select three of the following: | 9 | |
| Intermediate Special Topics * | ||
| Theory and Design of Plates and Shells | ||
| Dynamics of Structures | ||
| Advanced Analysis and Design in Structural Metals | ||
| Repair and Retrofit of Structures | ||
| Advanced Analysis and Design of Reinforced Concrete | ||
| Prestressed Concrete Analysis and Design | ||
| Advanced Foundation Design | ||
| Selected Topics in Civil Engineering * | ||
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course * | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 12 | |
- *
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 | |
| Geotechnical Engineering in Transportation | ||
| Transportation Systems Planning | ||
| Highway Design | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Traffic Engineering | ||
| Traffic Flow Theory | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Deterministic Civil and Environmental Systems Engineering | ||
| Probabilistic Civil and Environmental Systems Engineering | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Intermediate Special Topics * | ||
| Selected Topics in Civil Engineering * | ||
Select one USC graduate (500-level or higher) course * | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 12 | |
- *
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 | |
| Open Channel Hydraulics | ||
| Engineering Hydrology | ||
| Subsurface Hydrology | ||
| Intermediate Special Topics * | ||
| Select at least two of the following: | 6-12 | |
| Computational Hydraulics | ||
| Numerical Methods in Subsurface Hydrology | ||
| Advanced Hydrology | ||
| Unsaturated Flow Theory | ||
| Contaminant Transport | ||
| Erosion and Sediment Control | ||
| Fluid Transients | ||
| Sediment Transport and River Mechanics | ||
| 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 Hours | 12 | |
- *
To be approved by student's advisor and ECIV graduate director through program of study (MPOS) form.