Frequently Asked Questions

For University requirements, please thoroughly explore Stanford's Graduate Admissions website.

CEE Visit Day is held during spring each year. Admitted applicants will be notified of the CEE Visit Day timeline in their letter of acceptance. If you have been admitted and are seriously considering Stanford's CEE program, please reserve this date for your Stanford visit, as we will be unable to accommodate a request to visit at another time.

Our MS degree programs can be completed in one academic year (3 quarters). However, most students choose to complete the degree in 4 or 5 quarters.

Please see our faculty roster. Our faculty is well-distributed in terms of experience and areas of emphasis.

Graduates of our department are extremely versatile with regards to their post-MS careers. Our MS graduates enter a range of positions upon graduation, as engineers and consultants in private and public companies of all sizes, government agencies, and non-profits. You will find companies from all sectors actively recruiting Stanford Civil and Environmental Engineering graduates.

Please check the deadlines provided on the Application Timelines and Deadlines page. No applications will be accepted after the deadline.

Application fee waivers are available but very limited. You can find the application for a fee waiver in your online application. 

To be considered for a waiver, apply for it in the online degree program application at least a few weeks before the application deadline. Requests for application fee waivers sent through email will not be considered. Depending on whether you would like to be considered for an application fee waiver or not, there are three possible scenarios: 

a) You do not need a waiver. You pay the $125 application fee out of pocket before submitting your application. 

b) You would like an application fee waiver. You apply for the fee waiver in the application portal, get approved, receive a fee waiver code via email, and submit your program application after paying your fee with this code.

c) You would like an application fee waiver. You apply for it are either denied a fee waiver or do not hear back in time before the application is due. In this case, if you still would like to be considered for admission to a graduate program, you will need to pay the $125 application fee out of pocket and submit your application before the application deadline.  

For more information about application fee waiver options, please check this page. 

You cannot make any changes to your application materials after submission. Any application materials over email will not be accepted so please do not email them to us. All application materials must be submitted through the official application portal.

No. For programmatic and curricular reasons, admitted students should plan to commence studies at the beginning of the academic year, in September.

No, the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department does not accept or consider GRE scores. 

In general, yes, if your first language is not English. On your application, self-report both your ETS scores and percentages. The Graduate Admissions website has further details about the university-wide test requirements and exceptions. There is a high expectation for English language fluency in both formal use and informal interactions, in written and oral situations. One of the key goals of our educational programs is the further development of communication skills in English and ongoing opportunities are built into the curriculum.

For applicants applying to MS programs within the School of Engineering at Stanford, the minimum TOEFL scores are 90 (internet-based TOEFL test) and 575 (paper-based TOEFL test). However, paper-based TOEFL was discontinued as of January 2024, so it is no longer an option for new test-takers. If ETS is able to deliver paper-based TOEFL scores to Stanford via our normal process, we will accept them.

Yes, Stanford accepts IELTS scores. For more information, please review the English proficiency requirements. 

No, CEE does not consider letters submitted through Interfolio.

Transcripts must be submitted with English translations from your school or a professional translating service. The translations must be literal, complete versions of the original documents.

Please see our Graduate Funding page. You can find additional information on the Stanford Financial Aid website.

The typical MS cohort ranges from 20-60 MS students depending on the MS program.

All application documents must be submitted electronically as part of your application. Official paper transcripts are not required unless admission is offered. Any application materials over email will not be accepted. You cannot make any changes to your application materials after submission. Please note that we cannot guarantee the review of materials, including letters of recommendation, received after the deadline.

PhD applicants may be contacted for follow up interviews during the review of applications. However, please note that the number and timing of interviews do not signify any particular outcome regarding admissions decisions.

No, PhD applicants cannot be considered for an MS program in the same application cycle. However, applicants who are not admitted are welcome to apply to an MS program in a future application cycle.

Do not submit documents detailing financial support or ability to pay when applying. If you are accepted into Stanford, we will inform you of the information we need and send you the necessary forms. Do not send financial statements in advance.

Please see here to calculate and estimate of your total costs

Applicants can expect to hear from us in early March. All applicants must maintain current and correct email addresses so we can communicate with you via email. All decision letters are posted in your Application Status Portal. Within fifteen minutes of your decision being posted, you will receive an email notification, unless you happen to check the portal within those fifteen minutes. 

Enroll as a Non-Degree Option (NDO) student through the Stanford Online platform. You can skip the application if you email stanfordonline-gradprograms@stanford.edu a copy of your CEE admit letter and list the course(s) you want to enroll in. Stanford Online is managed by the Stanford Engineering Center for Global & Online Education (CGOE). You are responsible for paying the tuition cost. 

• You will take the same courses as Stanford students who are already here, and earn Stanford credit and a Stanford transcript. Up to 18 units earned as an NDO student may be applied towards a Stanford master's degree.  
• Classes are online only. NDO classes do not qualify you for Stanford housing over the summer.
• Here is more information about the NDO Program.
• IMPORTANT: DO NOT enroll under the Summer Session Program if you want your units to be applied towards a Stanford master's degree. Summer Session units do not count towards a graduate degree per Stanford's Registrar's Office, even if the Summer Session courses look equivalent to the NDO courses. 

Please carefully review the information on our website under the Graduate Admissions sections since most of the answers are posted there. If you still have further questions that are specific to graduate admission to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, contact cee-admissions@stanford.edu. Please be patient as we get many inquiries, especially around admission season. For help with the online application system and required application documents, submit a help ticket through your application portal instead. 

NOTE: Decision feedback is not available to applicants denied admission. We recognize that you devote a great deal of time and effort to your application and may wish to discuss it with a member of our admissions committee or a faculty member. Regrettably, we are unable to provide individual feedback to any applicant due to the volume of applications received. 

If you have MS program-specific questions after reading the information on our web site, please contact that MS program directly by sending an email to:

Program and contacts:

• Atmosphere and Energy
  • ttsung2@stanford.edu (Tim Tsung)
• Environmental Engineering
  • carsonj@stanford.edu (Carson Jones); mfeldis@stanford.edu (Marjorie Feldis)
• Sustainable Design & Construction
  • gwtuttle@stanford.edu (Geoffrey Tuttle)
• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
  • kvonner@stanford.edu (Kim Vonner)