Program Overview for Undergraduate Studies

The undergraduate program in CEE at the University of Michigan is a traditional four-year program of study resulting in a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in Civil Engineering (BSE CE). It provides students with a broad-based education and the rigorous preparation to succeed in a variety of careers and graduate fields, both within engineering and beyond.

Undergraduate students in our program study six of the main focus areas within Civil & Environmental Engineering; Construction Engineering and Management, Structural Engineering, Materials Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering, and Environmental Engineering.

Many projects are sufficiently large and complex that civil and environmental engineers seldom work alone, but usually are part of an interdisciplinary team, and so benefit from a broad-based education. Civil and environmental engineers design, plan and construct infrastructure systems including buildings, bridges, highways, airports, tunnels, pipelines, channels, waste-water systems, waste sites, remediation systems, power generating plants, manufacturing facilities, dams and harbors. These infrastructure systems are key to sustaining human development and activities, and civil and environmental engineers must consider technical as well as economic, environmental, aesthetic, and social aspects.

Students who do well in our undergraduate program are encouraged to consider graduate work and may take some of their electives in preparation for graduate study. The Sequential Graduate/Undergraduate Studies (SGUS) program is available for students who graduate with a GPA of 3.5 and above, and allows students to complete a Master’s degree in our department in one additional year.

The following set of objectives describes what our graduates are expected to achieve within several years of graduation:

• The graduates of the Civil Engineering Program at Michigan will have the necessary intellectual tools and technical skills to take on careers of leadership in the development of new technologies, construction of modern infrastructure, and to contribute to society through participation in policy making and governance. Graduates will have a solid foundation in civil engineering and will achieve success in graduate education and a broad range of career opportunities.
• Our graduates will become team leaders, and will successfully address open-ended problems applying critical thinking.
• The U-M Civil Engineering graduates will become effective communicators of technical and professional information in written, oral, visual and graphical form.
• Professional careers of U-M graduates will be distinguished with a high degree of awareness of moral, ethical, legal and professional obligations to protect human health, human welfare, and the environment.

For more information, please see these pages or contact us.

The undergraduate program is accredited for the BSE in Civil Engineering by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.