Civil Engineering (MS)

CIP Code

14 .0801 .00

Overview

The Master of Science in Civil Engineering supports the mission of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley by preparing students who are globally competitive to effectively practice engineering with professionalism and a commitment to ethnical responsibilities. Students will be afforded opportunities to meet and interact with practicing engineers, businesses, and governmental agencies as well as to participate in professional engineering organizations and in research. The program prepares students for local, regional, or worldwide employment in the engineering profession with a 30‐hour degree program.

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to the Master of Science in Civil Engineering degree program with clear admission status, prospective candidates must first meet all requirements for graduate admission to UT Rio Grande Valley, as well as the other requirements listed below:

  1. Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering or a bachelor’s degree in another field with courses and/or experience that prepare the applicant for graduate work in Civil Engineering.
  2. Undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 60 semester credit hours. Students with an undergraduate GPA between 2.75 and 3.0 may be considered for conditional admission.
  3. Three letters of recommendation from professional or academic sources.
  4. Letter of intent detailing professional goals and reasons for pursuing the graduate degree.
  5. Curriculum Vitae or Resume.

Application must be submitted prior to the published deadline. The application is available at www.utrgv.edu/gradapply.

Program Requirements

Leveling Courses

Students admitted to the MS in Civil Engineering without a civil engineering background may be required to completed one or more of the leveling courses below as determined by the advisor

CourseCourse Name
CIVE 3331Environmental Engineering
CIVE 3341Structural Steel Design
CIVE 3345Transportation Engineering
CIVE 4335Water Resources Engineering
CIVE 4346Reinforced Concrete Design
CIVE 4347Foundation Design
CIVE 4349Construction Planning and Management

Required Courses - 6 Hours

This degree plan includes courses that appear in more than one section of the degree plan. These courses can only be used to fulfill one requirement on the degree plan and credit hours will only be applied once.

Choose two from the following:

CourseCourse Name
CIVE 6341Advanced Water Resources Engineering
CIVE 6352Advanced Geotechnical Engineering
CIVE 6354Advanced Transportation Engineering
CIVE 6359Advanced Construction Scheduling
CIVE 6361Theory of Structures

Non-Thesis Option

Prescribed Electives - 24 Hours

This degree plan includes courses that appear in more than one section of the degree plan. These courses can only be used to fulfill one requirement on the degree plan and credit hours will only be applied once.

CourseCourse Name
CIVE 6311Open Channel Flow
CIVE 6312Water Resources Sustainability
CIVE 6315Hydrologic Modeling
CIVE 6322Construction Estimating
CIVE 6324Construction Method and Equipment
CIVE 6326Advanced Asphalt Pavement Materials
CIVE 6332Geothermal Engineering
CIVE 6340Advanced Cement Concrete Materials
CIVE 6341Advanced Water Resources Engineering
CIVE 6343Water Quality Engineering
CIVE 6345Geo-Environmental Engineering
CIVE 6352Advanced Geotechnical Engineering
CIVE 6353Slope Stability and Retaining Walls
CIVE 6354Advanced Transportation Engineering
CIVE 6356Introduction to Data Science
CIVE 6359Advanced Construction Scheduling
CIVE 6361Theory of Structures
CIVE 6362Structural Dynamics
CIVE 6363Bridge Engineering
CIVE 6371Continuum Mechanics
CIVE 6381Independent Study and Research
CIVE 6399Topics in Civil Engineering

With program coordinator’s approval, students may take up to 6 credit hours outside of the Department of Civil Engineering at UTRGV.

Capstone Requirement

Technical Report Requirement

To fulfill the program's requirements and qualify for graduation, students are mandated to submit a technical report covering advanced topics related to a civil engineering course of their choice, during their enrollment in a CIVE course. The majority of CIVE courses necessitate a technical report that fulfills this requirement. The report should meet the standards of a master’s-level document, containing essential chapters including an introduction, results, conclusion, and references. However, the specific criteria for the quality of the report should be discussed with the course instructor. The course instructor will evaluate the quality of the reports, and then the reviewed report will be submitted to the graduate program coordinator for final approval regarding the fulfillment of the technical report requirement.

Thesis Option

Prescribed Electives - 18 Hours

This degree plan includes courses that appear in more than one section of the degree plan. These courses can only be used to fulfill one requirement on the degree plan and credit hours will only be applied once.

CourseCourse Name
CIVE 6311Open Channel Flow
CIVE 6312Water Resources Sustainability
CIVE 6315Hydrologic Modeling
CIVE 6322Construction Estimating
CIVE 6324Construction Method and Equipment
CIVE 6326Advanced Asphalt Pavement Materials
CIVE 6332Geothermal Engineering
CIVE 6340Advanced Cement Concrete Materials
CIVE 6341Advanced Water Resources Engineering
CIVE 6343Water Quality Engineering
CIVE 6345Geo-Environmental Engineering
CIVE 6352Advanced Geotechnical Engineering
CIVE 6353Slope Stability and Retaining Walls
CIVE 6354Advanced Transportation Engineering
CIVE 6356Introduction to Data Science
CIVE 6359Advanced Construction Scheduling
CIVE 6361Theory of Structures
CIVE 6362Structural Dynamics
CIVE 6363Bridge Engineering
CIVE 6371Continuum Mechanics
CIVE 6381Independent Study and Research
CIVE 6399Topics in Civil Engineering

With program coordinator’s approval, students may take up to 6 credit hours outside of the Department of Civil Engineering at UTRGV .

Thesis - 6 Hours

CourseCourse Name
CIVE 7300Master Thesis I
CIVE 7301Master Thesis II

Total Credit Hours: 30