This MS is designed for students who have completed a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, although domestic students with related undergraduate degrees may be considered for provisional admission. The MS educates students in the theory and practice of civil engineering science and design, with a technical concentration. The master's degree is increasingly expected for high level practice in civil engineering, and prepares graduates to practice in civil engineering for: federal, state, or local government; engineering design firms; construction firms; public utilities; non-governmental organizations; and local and regional planning firms, among others. The MS degree serves as a foundation for subsequent study in a doctoral program in civil engineering, as well as for graduate studies in architecture, law, business, economics, finance, and public policy and administration.

Both part-time and full-time study is available. Full-time students typically complete the degree in one and a half, to two years.

Admissions

Admission is competitive. Most successful students have earned an undergraduate degree in engineering or a related science. Specific application requirements and deadlines can be found at: https://cec.gmu.edu/application-requirements-and-deadlines.

Banner Code: EC-MS-CEIE

Degree Requirements

Total credits: 30

All MS students must develop a faculty-approved plan of study with a minimum of 30 graduate credits. These credits include two core courses (CEIE 601 Infrastructure Modeling and CEIE 605 Risk and Uncertainty in Civil Engineering), specific requirements of a concentration declared by the student, and seminar requirement (CEIE 795 Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Seminar).

Plan of Study

Students are responsible for developing and receiving advisor approval on a plan of study no later than the end of their second semester of study. Courses taken without prior approval by the faculty advisor may not be accepted for credit toward the degree. No more than three courses used for credit toward the MS may be cross-listed as undergraduate courses. None may repeat material completed as part of the student’s previous studies. Most MS courses are offered on a two-semester or three-semester rotation.

Core Courses

All MS students must complete the following two core courses, preferably within the first 12 credit hours of their MS studies. These courses provide a common background for understanding the breadth and complexity of civil and infrastructure engineering and for analyzing and solving engineering problems.

CEIE 601Infrastructure Modeling3
CEIE 605Risk and Uncertainty in Civil Engineering3
Total Credits6

Concentration in Construction Engineering and Management (CEM)

Select at least three from the following five construction engineering and management core courses:9
Construction Administration 1
Building Information Modeling 1
Legal Aspects of the Construction Process
Design for Constructability
Construction Cost Estimating 1
Total Credits9
1

Cross-lists with an undergraduate course

Electives

A list of approved electives for the construction engineering and management concentration is provided below. Note that the remaining construction engineering and management core courses can also be selected as electives.

CEIE 501Sustainable Development 13
CEIE 524Introduction to Bridge Engineering3
CEIE 525Structural Evaluation and Rehabilitation3
CEIE 531Earth Retaining Structures and Slope Stability3
CEIE 532Foundation Design 13
CEIE 574Construction Computer Application and Informatics 13
CEIE 578Construction Planning and Scheduling 13
CEIE 607Public Infrastructure Management and Finance3
CEIE 636Sources of Geotechnical Data3
CEIE 677Construction Simulation3
CEIE 678Infrastructure Asset Management3
CEIE 679Special Topics in Construction Management3
GGS 553Geographic Information Systems3
1

Cross-lists with an undergraduate course

Concentration in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (EWRE)

Select at least three from the following five environmental and water resources engineering core courses:9
Air Pollution Formation and Control 1
Remote Monitoring Techniques for Civil Engineering Applications 1
Water Resources Engineering I: Principles and Practice
Flood Hazards Engineering and Adaptation 1
Water Quality
Total Credits9
1

Cross-lists with an undergraduate course

Electives

A list of approved electives for the environmental and water resources engineering concentration is provided below. Note that the remaining environmental and water resources engineering core courses can also be selected as electives.

CEIE 540Water Supply and Distribution 13
CEIE 542Open Channel Flow 13
CEIE 550Environmental Engineering Systems 13
CEIE 553Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes 13
CEIE 607Public Infrastructure Management and Finance3
CEIE 634Geoenvironmental Design3
CEIE 643Coastal Flood Hazards3
CEIE 649Special Topics in Water Resources Engineering3
CEIE 657Environmental Engineering Microbiology3
CEIE 659Hazardous Waste3
CEIE 664Transportation Engineering and the Environment3
CEIE 683Water and Wastewater Systems Security3
CEIE 742Water Resources Engineering II: Water Resource Systems3
COMM 637Risk Communication3
CHEM 627Aquatic Environmental Chemistry3
CHEM 651Environmental Chemistry of Organic Substances3
CSI 501Computational Science Programming3
CSI 690Numerical Methods3
CSI 720Fluid Mechanics3
CSI 721Computational Fluid Dynamics I3
EVPP 524Introduction to Environmental and Resource Economics3
EVPP 670Environmental Law3
GGS 553Geographic Information Systems3
GGS 579Remote Sensing3
GGS 629Remote Sensing of the Environment and Earth System3
GGS 650Introduction to GIS Algorithms and Programming3
GGS 656The Hydrosphere3
GGS 754Earth Science Data and Advanced Data Analysis3
GGS 787Scientific Data Mining for Geoinformatics3
STAT 554Applied Statistics I3
1

Cross-lists with an undergraduate course

Concentration in Geotechnical Engineering (GEOE)

Select at least three from the following five geotechnical engineering core courses:9
Earth Retaining Structures and Slope Stability
Foundation Design 1
Engineering Geology 1
Geoenvironmental Design
Sources of Geotechnical Data
Total Credits9
1

Cross-lists with an undergraduate course

Electives

A list of approved electives for the geotechnical engineering concentration is provided below. Note that the remaining geotechnical engineering core courses can also be selected as electives.

CEIE 524Introduction to Bridge Engineering3
CEIE 573Legal Aspects of the Construction Process3
CEIE 575Design for Constructability3
CEIE 607Public Infrastructure Management and Finance3
CEIE 631Soil Dynamics3
CEIE 632Soil Remediation3
CEIE 633Designing with Geosynthetics3
CEIE 635Advanced Soil Mechanics3
CEIE 637Tunneling and Ground Improvement3
CEIE 638Advanced Foundation Design3
CEIE 639Special Topics in Geotechnical Engineering1-3
CEIE 659Hazardous Waste3
GGS 553Geographic Information Systems3
1

Cross-lists with an undergraduate course

Concentration in Structural Engineering (STRE)

Select at least three of the following five structural engineering core courses:9
Structural Steel Design II
Pre-stressed Concrete
Structural Analysis II
Mechanics of Materials II
Structural Dynamics
Total Credits9

Electives

A list of approved electives for the structural engineering concentration is provided below. Note that the remaining structural engineering core courses can also be selected as electives.

CEIE 512Structural Steel Design 13
CEIE 513Reinforced Concrete Design 13
CEIE 524Introduction to Bridge Engineering3
CEIE 525Structural Evaluation and Rehabilitation3
CEIE 532Foundation Design 13
CEIE 575Design for Constructability3
CEIE 607Public Infrastructure Management and Finance3
CEIE 619Special Topics in Structural Engineering3
CEIE 620Intelligent Systems in Civil Engineering3
CEIE 623Reinforced Concrete Design II3
CSI 690Numerical Methods3
CSI 742The Mathematics of the Finite Element Method3
1

Cross-lists with an undergraduate course

Concentration in Transportation Engineering (TRNE)

Select at least three of the following five transportation engineering core courses:9
Travel Demand Modeling
Intelligent Transportation Systems
Transportation Engineering and the Environment
Traffic Engineering Modeling and Analysis
Applied Statistics I
Total Credits9

Electives

A list of approved electives for the transportation engineering concentration is provided below. Note that the remaining transportation engineering core courses can also be selected as electives.

CEIE 560Public Transportation Systems3
CEIE 561Traffic Engineering 13
CEIE 562Urban Transportation Planning 13
CEIE 607Public Infrastructure Management and Finance3
CEIE 665Travel Survey Methods and Data Analysis3
CEIE 667Multi-modal Transportation Systems3
CEIE 668Transportation Economics3
CEIE 669Special Topics in Transportation Engineering3
CEIE 762Network Models for Transportation Planning3
CEIE 763Discrete Choice Analysis in Transportation3
CS 504Principles of Data Management and Mining3
GGS 553Geographic Information Systems3
1

Cross-lists with an undergraduate course

Note:

For all concentrations, electives outside of the chosen concentration can only be taken or substituted with the approval of the faculty advisor or the department.

Project or Thesis Option

Students, with the consent of a faculty advisor and departmental approval, may be approved to complete a project or thesis.

Research Project

Students complete CEIE 798 Research Project in Civil Engineering, during which they prepare and present a scholarly paper. The scholarly paper is a technical report on an independent study, laboratory or computer experimentation, or literature search on a current civil and infrastructure engineering topic selected with approval of a faculty advisor. CEIE 798 Research Project in Civil Engineering credits count toward elective credit hours required for the MS degree.

CEIE 798Research Project in Civil Engineering3
Total Credits3

Master's Thesis

Students complete CEIE 799 Master's Thesis which counts toward the 30 credit hours required for the MS degree. The MS thesis should reflect a significant, independent research effort that advances engineering science, and is worthy of publication. The work is conducted with the approval of a faculty thesis advisor, and the final written thesis and oral defense are defended before a three-member faculty committee. The thesis is recommended for those students who wish to develop and document their research skills, or contemplate subsequent enrollment in a PhD program. Students are advised of the university's continuous registration requirement for thesis and dissertation research credits. Upon first enrolling in CEIE 799 Master's Thesis, the student must continue registration for each fall and spring semester until the thesis is successfully completed. CEIE 799 Master's Thesis credits count toward elective credit hours required for the MS degree.

CEIE 799Master's Thesis (must complete 6 credits)1-6
Total Credits1-6

Seminar Requirement

All degree candidates must attend a minimum of five graduate seminars approved by the CEIE Department for the degree program. Students must enroll in CEIE 795 Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Seminar and receive a satisfactory (S) grade by their final semester. This course is used to verify the seminar attendance requirement and is repeatable. Continuous enrollment every semester is encouraged for attendance tracking and for dissemination of seminar information but is not required.

CEIE 795Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Seminar0
Total Credits0

Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, BS/Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, Accelerated MS

Overview

Highly-qualified students in the Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, BS have the option of obtaining an accelerated Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, MS.

See AP.6.7 Bachelor's/Accelerated Master's Degrees for policies related to this program.

Students in an accelerated degree program must fulfill all university requirements for the master's degree. For policies governing all graduate degrees, see AP.6 Graduate Policies.

Admission Requirements

Students in the Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, BS program may apply to this option if they have earned 60 undergraduate credits with an overall GPA of at least 3.30. All other criteria for admission are identical to criteria for admission into the Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, MS program.

Students who are accepted into the BAM Pathway will be allowed to register for graduate level courses after successful completion of a minimum of 75 undergraduate credits and course-specific pre-requisites. 

Accelerated Option Requirements

Students register for up to 12 credits of overlapping graduate level courses in place of undergraduate technical elective courses. 

Students are encouraged to take up to four of the following courses, based on their chosen concentration area in the master's program:

Concentration in Construction Engineering and Management (CEM)

CEIE 571Construction Administration3
CEIE 572Building Information Modeling3
CEIE 573Legal Aspects of the Construction Process3
CEIE 575Design for Constructability3
CEIE 576Construction Cost Estimating3

Concentration in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (EWRE)

CEIE 540Water Supply and Distribution3
CEIE 542Open Channel Flow3
CEIE 550Environmental Engineering Systems3
CEIE 551Air Pollution Formation and Control3
CEIE 553Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes3
CEIE 557Remote Monitoring Techniques for Civil Engineering Applications3
CEIE 645Flood Hazards Engineering and Adaptation3

Concentration in Geotechnical Engineering (GEOE)

CEIE 501Sustainable Development3
CEIE 524Introduction to Bridge Engineering3
CEIE 531Earth Retaining Structures and Slope Stability3
CEIE 532Foundation Design3
CEIE 535Engineering Geology3

Concentration in Structural Engineering (STRE)

CEIE 512Structural Steel Design3
CEIE 513Reinforced Concrete Design3
CEIE 524Introduction to Bridge Engineering3
CEIE 525Structural Evaluation and Rehabilitation3
CEIE 532Foundation Design3
CEIE 575Design for Constructability3

Concentration in Transportation Engineering (TRNE)

CEIE 560Public Transportation Systems3
CEIE 561Traffic Engineering3
CEIE 562Urban Transportation Planning3
STAT 544Applied Probability3

While still in undergraduate status, a maximum of 6 additional graduate credits may be taken as reserve graduate credit and applied to the master's program from the list below. Reserve graduate credits do not apply to the undergraduate degree.

CEIE 601Infrastructure Modeling3
CEIE 605Risk and Uncertainty in Civil Engineering3

Degree Requirements

Students must complete all credits that satisfy requirements for both the BS and MS programs. Up to four courses (12 credits) of approved master’s level courses taken as part of the undergraduate degree may be applied to the graduate degree. The courses selected for this purpose must be approved by the academic advisors of both the BS and MS programs, and students must have satisfactory performance (grade of 'B' or better) in each of the graduate courses intended to be applied towards the MS degree.

Degree Conferral

Students must apply the semester before they expect to complete the BS requirements to have the BS degree conferred. In addition, at the beginning of the student's final undergraduate semester, students must complete a Bachelor's/Accelerated Master's Transition Form. At the completion of MS requirements, a master's degree is conferred. 

​Mechanical Engineering, BS/Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, Accelerated MS

Overview

Highly-qualified undergraduates may be admitted to the bachelor's/accelerated master's program and obtain a  Mechanical Engineering, BS and a Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, MS. in an accelerated time-frame after satisfactory completion of a minimum of 139 credits.

See AP.6.7 Bachelor's/Accelerated Master's Degrees for policies related to this program. 

Students in an accelerated degree program must fulfill all university requirements for the master's degree. For policies governing all graduate degrees, see AP.6 Graduate Policies.

Admission Requirements

Students in the Mechanical Engineering, BS program may apply to this option if they have earned 60 undergraduate credits with an overall GPA of at least 3.30. All other criteria for admission are identical to criteria for admission into the Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, MS program.

Students who are accepted into the BAM Pathway will be allowed to register for graduate level courses after successful completion of a minimum of 75 undergraduate credits and course-specific pre-requisites.

Accelerated Option Requirements

Students must complete all credits that satisfy requirements for both the BS and MS programs. Students register for up to 12 credits of overlapping graduate level courses in place of undergraduate technical elective courses. 

Students are encouraged to take up to four of the following courses, based on their chosen concentration area in the master's program:

Concentration in Construction Engineering and Management (CEM)

CEIE 571Construction Administration3
CEIE 572Building Information Modeling3
CEIE 573Legal Aspects of the Construction Process3
CEIE 575Design for Constructability3
CEIE 576Construction Cost Estimating3

Concentration in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (EWRE)

CEIE 540Water Supply and Distribution3
CEIE 542Open Channel Flow3
CEIE 550Environmental Engineering Systems3
CEIE 553Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes3
CEIE 557Remote Monitoring Techniques for Civil Engineering Applications3

Concentration in Geotechnical Engineering (GEOE)

CEIE 501Sustainable Development3
CEIE 524Introduction to Bridge Engineering3
CEIE 531Earth Retaining Structures and Slope Stability3
CEIE 532Foundation Design3
CEIE 535Engineering Geology3

Concentration in Structural Engineering (STRE)

CEIE 512Structural Steel Design3
CEIE 513Reinforced Concrete Design3
CEIE 525Structural Evaluation and Rehabilitation3
CEIE 532Foundation Design3
CEIE 575Design for Constructability3

Concentration in Transportation Engineering (TRNE)

CEIE 560Public Transportation Systems3
CEIE 561Traffic Engineering3
CEIE 562Urban Transportation Planning3
STAT 544Applied Probability3

Students also have the option of taking the following one or two additional graduate-level courses for reserve that will only count for the graduate degree program:

CEIE 601Infrastructure Modeling3
CEIE 605Risk and Uncertainty in Civil Engineering3

Degree Conferral

Students must apply the semester before they expect to complete the BS requirements to have the BS degree conferred. In addition, at the beginning of the student's final undergraduate semester, students must complete a Bachelor's/Accelerated Master's Transition form. At the completion of MS requirements, a master's degree is conferred.

Advising & Plan of Study

Each student is assigned a faculty advisor upon acceptance. Students must meet with their advisors during their first semester and design an approved plan of study. Students are encouraged to seek out their advisor when questions arise and when their plan of study needs to be revised. 

Students must have a working background in their selected concentration area. A student lacking these foundations may be required to take one or more foundation courses.