Civil Engineering

Vanderbilt's Graduate Program in Civil Engineering has a long-standing record of excellence in both teaching and research in the specific areas of:

• Multiscale/Multiphysics Characterization and Computational Mechanics of Materials & Structures
• Long-term Performance & Chemo-mechanical Behavior of Cementitious Materials
• Structural Health Monitoring, Damage Prognosis & Life Extension
• Risk and Reliability Engineering & Management
• Multimodal Transportation Systems Analysis
• Geospatial Intelligence Methods & Applications

A new focus of study and research is the M. Eng. in Construction Management . This new program is popular with practicing engineers seeking construction management leadership roles in the industry. 

During the first two semesters, M.S./Ph.D. students specializing in Structural Mechanics and Materials are required to take the following five core courses

• CE 301: Advanced Mechanics of Solids I
• CE 302: Advanced Mechanics of Solids II
• CE 307: Finite Element Analysis
• CE 309: Structural Dynamics and Control
• CE 310: Probabilistic Methods in Engineering Design

Optional courses offered by the specialty area are:

• CE 290: Reliability and Risk Case Studies
• CE 293: Advanced Structural Steel Design
• CE 294: Advanced Reinforced Concrete Design
• CE 295: Mechanics of Composite Materials
• CE 299: Special Topics (decided by need)
• CE 311: Engineering Design Optimization
• CE 313: Advanced Reliability Methods
• CE 317: Stability of Structures
• CE 318: Prestressed Concrete
• CE 325a-325c: Individual Study  (Topic as needed)
• CE 371a-371b: Reliability and Risk Engineering Seminar

Other graduate level courses offered by the parent or other department can be taken by the approval of the academic/research adviser.

M.S./Ph.D. students specializing in Multi-modal Transportation Engineering need to choose courses from the following list.

• CE 255: Transportation System Design
• CE 256: Urban Transportation Planning
• CE 257: Traffic Engineering
• CE 259: Geographic Information Systems
• CE 262: Intelligent Transportation Systems
• CE 290: Reliability and Risk Case Studies
• CE 310: Probabilistic Methods in Engineering Design
• CE 313: Advanced Reliability Methods
• CE 371a-371b: Reliability and Risk Engineering Seminar
• CE 351: Public Transportation Systems
• CE 353: Airport Planning and Design
• CE 355: Advanced transportation Design
• CE 356: Advanced Transportation Planning
• CE 357: Theory of Traffic Flow
• CE 359: Emerging Information Systems Applications
• CE 325a-325c: Individual Study (Topic as needed)
• CE 371a-371b: Reliability and Risk Engineering Seminar

Other graduate level courses offered by the parent or other departments can be taken by the approval of the academic/research advisor.

Requirements

• Scores on the GRE General Test are a part of the application to the Graduate School.  The department looks favorably at high verbal and quantitative scores at the 90th percentile or greater.  GRE scores are one of the many components of the overall admission decision.
• Applicants whose native language is not English and who have not received their education at an English-speaking university must submit scores on the TOEFL.  International students should have a TOEFL score of not less than 570. Since four to six weeks are usually required for scores to reach the Graduate School, you should take the test no later than November 19 in order for the scores to arrive by January 15. 

Scholarships

Teaching Assistantships

• Financial support provided by department
• Main responsibility is to assist instructors
• Continuing support is contingent upon academic progress and positive evaluation
• Teaching assistantships are short-term support and priority is given to new incoming graduate students

Research Assistantships

• Financial support provided by individual faculty members through research grants
• Main responsibility is to assist faculty members with research project(s)
• Continuing support is contingent upon academic and research progress as well as availability of funds