Civil Engineering, M.S.

The Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering at Cal State L.A. prepares students for careers in specialized areas of Civil Enngineering and for further study at the doctoral level.

Admission to the Program

Applicants must possess a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering or a related field with a GPA of 2.75 or better in the last 90 quarter (60 semester) units. Prerequisite courses may be required for non-civil engineering students or for students from non-abet accredited civil engineering programs. A promising applicant with a GPA between 2.5 and 2.74 in the last 90 quarter (60 semester) units may be admitted as a special action student. Special action students must achieve an overall GPA of 3.0 (B average) for four qualifying courses (16 units) as approved in advance by the department. All qualifying courses should be completed by the end of the third quarter of graduate study. All students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 to remain in good standing in the program.

Requirements for the Degree (45 units)

A minimum of 45 units is required for the degree, with at least 24 units from 500-level courses. A thesis or comprehensive examination is required. ME 409, MATH 402A or an equivalent advanced mathematics course is also required. student’s program must be approved by the civil engineering department before enrolling in any course.

Area of Specialization (24–41 units)

Students must meet with a civil engineering graduate advisor to create a graduate program based on an area of specialization selected from the following list:

1. Environmental Engineering/Water Resources
2. Geotechnical Engineering
3. Structural Engineering/Applied Mechanics
4. Transportation/Highway Engineering

Within an area of specialization, students must complete at least 24 units of civil engineering courses, of which, at least 16 units must be from 500-level courses. For students choosing to complete the thesis, five (5) units of graduate research (CE 597), four (4) units of graduate directed study (CE 598), and four (4) units of thesis (CE 599) may be included in the area of specialization, upon approval from the department.

1. Environmental Engineering/Water Resources (24-41 units)

CE 480 - Environmental Modeling (4)
CE 483 - Hydrology I (4)
CE 484 - Environmental Engineering Design (4)
CE 485 - Water Supply (4)
CE 554 - Advanced Topics in Civil Engineering (4)
CE 579 - Environmental Mass Transfer (4)
CE 580 - Advanced Environmental Modeling (4)
CE 582 - Statistical Hydrology (4)
CE 583 - Hydrology II (4)
CE 585 - Environmental Transport (4)
CE 586 - Open Channel Hydraulics (4)
CE 587 - Hydraulics II (4)
CE 599 - Thesis (1–4)
GEOL 484 - Hydrogeology (4)
GEOL 487 - Watershed Analysis (4)
GEOL 560 - Hydrogeology (4.5)
GEOL 561 - Vadose Zone Hydrogeology (4.5)
GEOL 562 - Contaminant Hydrogeology (4.5)
GEOL 563 - Water Quality Seminar (4.5)
CE 597 - Graduate Research (1–5)
CE 598 - Graduate Directed Study (1–4)
CE 589 - Coastal Engineering (4)

3. Structural Engineering/Applied Mechanics (24-41 units)

4. Transportation/highway engineering (24-41 units)

Outside of Area of Specialization (4-21 units)

ME 409 Mechanical Engineering Analysis (4) or MATH 402A Advanced Mathematics I For Engineers And Physicists (4) or equivalent. In addition to 4 units of Advanced Mathematics, up to a maximum of 17 units outside of the area of specialization may be taken with approval from the department.

Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement

Students are required to satisfy the graduation writing assessment requirement (GWAR) by passing the writing proficiency examination (WPE). Students selecting this option must register for the WPE (listed as UNIV 400) no later than the add deadline for the third quarter they are enrolled in the graduate program. Students with earned doctorate or masters degrees or those who have passed a similar examination at an accredited institution must see the department and may petition to earn credit for UNIV 400.

Comprehensive Examination or Thesis (0 or 4 units)

Students who select the comprehensive examination should expect to take it the quarter they complete all course work in their programand must comply with college and departmental requirements. The comprehensive examination can be attempted a maximum of two times.

CE 596 - Comprehensive Examination (0)
or
CE 599 - Thesis (1–4) (4 units)
Thesis units are included in the area of specialization

Quicklinks Search Form

Search form

University Catalog