BS Civil Engineering
Civil Engineering Major (ABET-Accredited)
The Civil Engineering Degree is ABET accredited. Stanfordʼs Civil Engineering major prepares students to plan, design, construct, and sustain the built environment, manage our air, energy, and water resources, protect our natural environment, and protect society from natural and climate-related hazards.
The work of civil engineers is crucial to the day-to-day lives of people around the world. The civil engineering field is both technical and people-oriented, requiring an ability to manage large, multi-faceted projects as well as diverse groups of people and having excellent communication skills. Students in the major learn to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and the primary areas of civil engineering to design systems to solve engineering problems, conduct hands-on and computational experiments, and communicate their ideas effectively.
What is ABET accreditation, and should I care about it?
A degree accredited by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) is a first step toward a professional engineering license. In California, you must accrue 6 years of work experience under the supervision of a licensed professional engineer before being allowed to take the licensing exam. An ABET-accredited B.S. degree counts as 4 years of this required work experience. Earning a M.S. degree from a department (like our CEE Dept.) that offers an ABET-accredited B.S. degree will give you credit for a total of 5 years of work experience in California, regardless of whether or not your B.S. degree is ABET-accredited. This policy regarding the M.S. degree can be found in the official document issued by the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, titled “Board Rules and Regulations Relating to the Practices of Professional Engineering...” (PDF, see p. 20, item (b)(4) for policy, and p. 2, item (h) for definition of term).
If you envision a career providing, supervising or managing professional engineering services (e.g. engineering investigations, design), you will likely need to become a licensed professional engineer and should aim, via your chosen BS and/or coterm (or MS) degrees, to earn ABET credit for 4-5 years of work experience.
Objectives and Outcomes
In the Civil Engineering major, students learn to:
● Establish themselves as practicing professionals in civil engineering or a related field;
● Pursue graduate study in civil engineering or other fields;
● Work effectively as responsible professionals independently or in teams handling increasingly complex professional and societal expectations;
● Formulate and solve complex problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics;
● Apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare;
● Recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts;
● Develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyses, and interpretation of data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
The Curriculum
The Civil Engineering curriculum includes a required core of classes taken by all declared majors that introduces the major areas of civil engineering. Subsequent coursework is taken in focus areas with breadth electives, allowing students to align their studies with their interests.
The Civil Engineering degree is ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredited, which is a first step toward a professional engineering license. If you envision a career providing, supervising, or managing professional engineering services (e.g., engineering investigations or design), you may wish to become a licensed professional engineer and should aim, via your BS and/or coterm (MS) degrees, to earn ABET credit for 4-5 years of work experience.
Careers
Graduates of our program pursue careers in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. The Civil Engineering degree prepares students for careers in structural engineering, construction management, environmental engineering, and related fields, where they plan, design, construct, and sustain the built environment, manage our natural resources, and help protect society from natural and climate-related hazards.
Graduate Study
Graduates of this program can enter engineering practice, although additional graduate training in engineering, such as through Stanfordʼs coterm program, is recommended for specialty fields. Graduates of this major are also prepared for graduate study in business, law, policy, and other fields.