Master of Science in Engineering - Civil and Environmental Engineering

Plan Description

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Construction at UNLV offers a number of program degree options leading to the Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) - Civil and Environmental Engineering. Specific areas of engineering that are currently available include Construction, Environmental, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, and Water Resources.

Learning Outcomes

www.unlv.edu/degree/ms-civil-engineering

Plan Admission Requirements

In addition to the general requirements for admission to the Graduate College, an applicant for the M.S.E. program must:

1. Have a bachelor’s degree in engineering or a closely related discipline. Applicants desiring to specialize in environmental engineering who have baccalaureate degrees in the natural sciences may require at least an additional semester of full-time study to complete engineering prerequisite undergraduate course work; this may include fluid mechanics, calculus through differential equations, engineering physics, chemistry and engineering economics. Successful environmental engineering applicants are expected to complete a set of graduate courses in engineering hydrology, hydraulics, statistics, water and wastewater treatment, and wastewater treatment plant design during their graduate study.
2. Submit a one page Statement of Objectives indicating the area of civil engineering in which they wish to pursue graduate work and the reason they wish to earn a master’s degree.
3. All applicants are required to take the verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing portions of the GRE General Test and submit the scores to the Civil and Environmental Engineering department. Successful applicants generally have a combined verbal and quantitative GRE score of at least 300 on the new test (1000 on all GRE exams taken before August 2011) and GRE analytical writing score of at least 3.
4. All domestic and international applicants must review and follow the Graduate College Admission and Registration Requirements.

Plan Requirements

See Subplan Requirements below.

Subplan 1: Thesis Track
Subplan 2: Non-Thesis Track
Subplan 3: Geographic Information Systems Thesis Track
Subplan 4: Geographic Information Systems Non-Thesis Track

Subplan 1 Requirements: Thesis Track

Total Credits Required: 30

Course Requirements 

Required Course – Credits: 3

CEE 700 - Research Methods in Civil and Environmental Engineering 

Elective Courses – Credits: 21

Complete 21 credits of advisor-approved elective coursework.

Thesis – Credits: 6

CEE 797 - Thesis in Civil Engineering 

Degree Requirements 

1. Satisfactory completion of CEE 700 during the first year and 21 credits of approved graduate courses plus six credits of work associated with the master’s level thesis, for a total of 30 credits. The final examination will include a defense of thesis.
2. At least 15 credits must be 700-level, of which at least 12 credits must be offered by the College of Engineering.
3. The program of study for each student must be approved by the student’s advisory committee.
4. Satisfactory progress is defined as filing an approved program before the completion of nine credits of course work, completion of at least six credits of the approved program per calendar year, maintenance of a GPA of 3.00 (4.00), no grades below C and compliance with the letter and spirit of the Graduate Catalog and published policies of the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering. Additionally, no more than nine credits below B are allowed in the student’s graduate program. If progress is not satisfactory, probation and separation may result, in accordance with the rules of the Graduate College. Any student whose GPA falls below 3.00 will be placed on probation and will have one semester to raise it to 3.00 or above.
5. The student’s Advising Committee should be composed of at least four members of the UNLV Graduate Faculty of which at least two must be tenured or tenure-track members of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the third from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering or a related field, and the fourth must be appointed by the Graduate College.
6. Each student’s program should show suitable breadth and coherence, as specified in the Graduate Catalog. Prior to filing, the program must receive approval by the student’s committee. An approved program must be filed before the completion of nine credits of course work after admission (regular or provisional). The responsibility rests with the student. Students will be dropped from the graduate engineering program if they neglect this requirement.

Graduation Requirements 

1. The student must submit all required forms to the Graduate College and then apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing his/her degree requirements.
2. The student must submit and successfully defend his/her thesis by the posted deadline. The defense must be advertised and is open to the public.
3. Student must submit his/her approved, properly formatted hard-copy thesis to the Graduate College, and submit the approved electronic version to ProQuest by the posted deadline.

Subplan 2 Requirements: Non-Thesis Track

Total Credits Required: 33

Course Requirements 

Required Courses – Credits: 33

Complete 33 credits of advisor-approved graduate coursework.

Degree Requirements 

1. Satisfactory completion of 33 credits of graduate courses approved by the student’s advisory committee, of which at least 50 percent must be 700-level offered by the College of Engineering.
2. The program of study for each student must be approved by the student’s advisory committee.
3. Satisfactory progress is defined as filing an approved program before the completion of nine credits of course work, completion of at least six credits of the approved program per calendar year, maintenance of a GPA of 3.00 (4.00), no grades below C and compliance with the letter and spirit of the Graduate Catalog and published policies of the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering. Additionally, no more than nine credits below B are allowed in the student’s graduate program. If progress is not satisfactory, probation and separation may result, in accordance with the rules of the Graduate College. Any student whose GPA falls below 3.00 will be placed on probation and will have one semester to raise it to 3.00 or above.
4. The student’s Advising Committee should be composed of at least four members of the UNLV Graduate Faculty of which at least two must be tenured or tenure-track members of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the third from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering or a related field, and the fourth must be appointed by the Graduate College.
5. Each student’s program should show suitable breadth and coherence, as specified in the Graduate Catalog. Prior to filing, the program must receive approval by the student’s committee. An approved program must be filed before the completion of nine credits of course work after admission (regular or provisional). The responsibility rests with the student. Students will be dropped from the graduate engineering program if they neglect this requirement.

Graduation Requirements 

The student must submit all required forms to the Graduate College and then apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing his/her degree requirements.

Subplan 3 Requirements: Geographic Information Systems Thesis Track

Total Credits Required: 30

Course Requirements 

Required Courses – Credits: 9

CEE 668 - GIS Applications in Civil Engineering 

CS 733 - Geographic Data Base Systems 

STA 751 - Spatial Statistics 

Applied Concepts Course – Credits: 4

Complete one of the following courses:

CEE 768 - Applied Geographic Information Systems 

EGG 768 - Applied Geographic Information Systems 

Statistics Course – Credits: 3

Complete one of the following courses:

STA 667 - Introduction to Mathematical Statistics 

STA 691 - Statistics for Scientists I 

Research Course – Credits: 3

CEE 700 - Research Methods in Civil and Environmental Engineering 

Elective Courses – Credits: 5

Complete 5 credits of advisor-approved elective coursework.

Thesis – Credits: 6

CEE 797 - Thesis in Civil Engineering 

Degree Requirements 

1. The Geographic Information Systems Thesis track requires the satisfactory completion of CEE 700 during the first year, 17 credits of required coursework, 4 credits of approved graduate courses and six credits of work associated with the master’s level thesis, for a total of 30 credits. The final examination will include a defense of thesis.
2. At least 15 credits must be 700-level, of which at least 12 credits must be offered by the College of Engineering.
3. The program of study for each student must be approved by the student’s advisory committee.
4. Satisfactory progress is defined as filing an approved program before the completion of nine credits of course work, completion of at least six credits of the approved program per calendar year, maintenance of a GPA of 3.00 (4.00), no grades below C and compliance with the letter and spirit of the Graduate Catalog and published policies of the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering. Additionally, no more than nine credits below B are allowed in the student’s graduate program. If progress is not satisfactory, probation and separation may result, in accordance with the rules of the Graduate College. Any student whose GPA falls below 3.00 will be placed on probation and will have one semester to raise it to 3.00 or above.
5. The student’s Advising Committee should be composed of at least four members of the UNLV Graduate Faculty of which at least two must be tenured or tenure-track members of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the third from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering or a related field, and the fourth must be appointed by the Graduate College.
6. Each student’s program should show suitable breadth and coherence, as specified in the Graduate Catalog. Prior to filing, the program must receive approval by the student’s committee. An approved program must be filed before the completion of nine credits of course work after admission (regular or provisional). The responsibility rests with the student. Students will be dropped from the graduate engineering program if they neglect this requirement.

Graduation Requirements 

1. The student must submit all required forms to the Graduate College and then apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing his/her degree requirements.
2. The student must submit and successfully defend his/her thesis by the posted deadline. The defense must be advertised and is open to the public.
3. Student must submit his/her approved, properly formatted hard-copy thesis to the Graduate College, and submit the approved electronic version to ProQuest by the posted deadline.

Subplan 4 Requirements: Geographic Information Systems Non-Thesis Track

Total Credits Required: 33

Course Requirements 

Required Courses – Credits: 9

CEE 668 - GIS Applications in Civil Engineering 

CS 733 - Geographic Data Base Systems 

STA 751 - Spatial Statistics 

Applied Concepts Course – Credits: 4

Complete one of the following courses:

CEE 768 - Applied Geographic Information Systems 

EGG 768 - Applied Geographic Information Systems 

Statistics Course – Credits: 3

Complete one of the following courses:

STA 667 - Introduction to Mathematical Statistics 

STA 691 - Statistics for Scientists I 

Elective Courses – Credits: 17

Complete 17 credits of advisor-approved elective coursework.

Degree Requirements 

1. The Geographic Information Systems Non-Thesis track requires satisfactory completion of 17 credits of required coursework and 16 credits of graduate courses approved by the student’s advisory committee, of which at least 50 percent must be 700 level offered by the College of Engineering.
2. The program of study for each student must be approved by the student’s advisory committee.
3. Satisfactory progress is defined as filing an approved program before the completion of nine credits of course work, completion of at least six credits of the approved program per calendar year, maintenance of a GPA of 3.00 (4.00), no grades below C and compliance with the letter and spirit of the Graduate Catalog and published policies of the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering. Additionally, no more than nine credits below B are allowed in the student’s graduate program. If progress is not satisfactory, probation and separation may result, in accordance with the rules of the Graduate College. Any student whose GPA falls below 3.00 will be placed on probation and will have one semester to raise it to 3.00 or above.
4. The student’s Advising Committee should be composed of at least four members of the UNLV Graduate Faculty of which at least two must be tenured or tenure-track members of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the third from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering or a related field, and the fourth must be appointed by the Graduate College.
5. Each student’s program should show suitable breadth and coherence, as specified in the Graduate Catalog. Prior to filing, the program must receive approval by the student’s committee. An approved program must be filed before the completion of nine credits of course work after admission (regular or provisional). The responsibility rests with the student. Students will be dropped from the graduate engineering program if they neglect this requirement.

Graduation Requirements 

The student must submit all required forms to the Graduate College and then apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing his/her degree requirements.

Plan Graduation Requirements

Refer to your subplan for Graduation Requirements.

Subplan 1: Thesis Track
Subplan 2: Non-Thesis Track
Subplan 3: Geographic Information Systems Thesis Track
Subplan 4: Geographic Information Systems Non-Thesis Track