May 25, 2024  
2021-2022 University Catalog 
    
2021-2022 University Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Civil Engineering Supplemental Information


Technical Elective Requirements for CE Students


1.) Total credit requirement: CE students must complete thirty (30) credits of technical electives. The technical elective plan of study must be consistent with career objectives. For instance, one can elect to emphasize a particular area of civil engineering by taking several courses in that area, or one can choose a general program in civil engineering by taking courses in several emphasis areas.

2.) Minimum CE credit requirement and associated rules: A minimum of twenty-one (21) credits of technical electives must come from CE-designated courses. The remaining nine (9) credit hours required may come from a combination of courses that are not CE-designated but have been approved for technical elective credit and from additional CE-designated courses. See below for details regarding approved technical electives that are not CE-designated courses. All technical electives must be selected in support of the career objectives of the student and be approved by the advisor.

3.) Breadth requirement:  (B) At least four (4) courses must be completed, guaranteeing sufficient breadth of study in at least four of the emphasis areas.

4.) Design content requirement:  (D) At least three (3) courses must be completed guaranteeing sufficient design content.

5.) Sequence requirement: A sequence is defined as a minimum of two (2) technical elective courses from a given CE emphasis area. Each student must complete at least two (2) such sequences of technical electives. 

6.) All technical elective courses must be taken for a grade. 

Civil Engineering Technical Elective Courses by Area


Technical Elective Policies for non-Civil Engineering Courses



Students in the School of Civil Engineering are encouraged to choose technical electives that are consistent with their career objectives. In many cases, this can involve courses that are offered outside of the School. The purpose of the policies below is to provide general criteria for appropriate technical elective courses offered by other departments.

1.) The following categories of courses offered outside of Civil Engineering are generally approved as technical electives, subject to certain restrictions described later:

  • 300-, 400-, or 500-level courses offered by any school, department, or division in the College of Engineering or the College of Science at Purdue University.
  • All Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPCS) courses, including those at the 100- and 200-level, up to a maximum of three (3) credits.
  • All 300- and 400-level Aerospace Studies (AFT), Naval Science (NS), and Military Science and Leadership (MSL) courses, up to a maximum of six (6) credits, applicable only to students who have completed four semesters in a Purdue ROTC program.
  • Management (MGMT) courses at a level equal to or higher than MGMT 20000.
  • Entrepreneurship (ENTR) courses at a level equal to or higher than ENTR 20000.
  • The following 200-level courses:
    • CEM 20100 
    • ECE 20100 
    • CHM 25500 
    • CHM 25600 
    • CHM 25700 
    • CHM 26100 
    • CHM 26105 
    • CHM 26200 
    • CHM 26205 
    • CHM 26505 
    • CHM 26605.

2.) The following courses are considered to be substantially equivalent to courses required for the BSCE degree and thus are not eligible to be considered as technical electives:

  • Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering: AAE 33300 - Fluid Mechanics, AAE 33301 - Fluid Mechanics Laboratory.
  • Electrical & Computer Engineering: ECE 30200 - Probabilistic Methods In Electrical And Computer Engineering
  • Industrial Engineering: IE 33000 - Probability and Statistics In Engineering II.
  • Management: MGMT 30500 - Business Statistics.
  • Mathematics: MA 30300 - Differential Equations and Partial Differential Equations for Engineering and the Sciences, MA 35100 - Elementary Linear Algebra
  • Mechanical Engineering: ME 30900 - Fluid Mechanics, ME 32300 - Mechanics Of Materials
  • Nuclear Engineering: NUCL 32000 - Introduction To Materials For Nuclear Applications
  • Physics: PHYS 31000 - Intermediate Mechanics, PHYS 50300 - Fundamental Concepts Of Physics, PHYS 50400 - Principles Of Physics I, PHYS 50500 - Principles Of Physics II.
  • Statistics: STAT 30100 - Elementary Statistical Methods, STAT 35000 - Introduction To Statistics, STAT 50100 - Experimental Statistics I, STAT 50200 - Experimental Statistics II, STAT 50300 - Statistical Methods For Biology.

3.) All courses outside of Civil Engineering having the Coop or Internship course attribute or associated with cooperative education, internships, industrial practice, etc. are not eligible to be considered as technical electives.

4.) The following variable title or individual study courses do not have general approval to be considered as technical electives; however, a student may send a written request to the CE Undergraduate Office to initiate the process to have a specific course from this list considered for technical elective credit:

  • Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering: AAE 49000, AAE 59000
  • Agricultural & Biological Engineering: ABE 49500, ABE 49800, ABE 49900, ABE 59000, ABE 59100, ABE 59200
  • Biomedical Engineering: BME 39500, BME 49500, BME 49800, BME 59500, BME 59600
  • Biological Sciences: BIOL 39500, BIOL 39800, BIOL 49400, BIOL 49500, BIOL 49600, BIOL 49700, BIOL 49800, BIOL 49900, BIOL 50000, BIOL 54200, BIOL 59500
  • Chemistry: CHM 49000, CHM 49900, CHM 50200, CHM 59900
  • Chemical Engineering: CHE 41100, CHE 41200, CHE 49700, CHE 49800, CHE 49900, CHE 59700
  • Computer Science: CS 39000, CS 49000, CS 49700, CS 59000, CS 59100
  • Construction Engineering & Management: CEM 49700
  • Earth & Atmospheric Science: EAS 39100, EAS 49400, EAS 49700, EAS 55000, EAS 59100
  • Electrical & Computer Engineering: ECE 49500, ECE 49600, ECE 59500
  • Engineering Education: ENE 49800, ENE 59000, ENE 59500
  • Entrepreneurship: ENTR 39000, ENTR 49000
  • Environmental & Ecological Engineering: EEE 49500
  • Global Engineering Program: GEP 30000, GEP 40000
  • Industrial Engineering: IE 49000, IE 49900, IE 59000, IE 59500
  • Interdisciplinary Engineering: IDE 49500
  • Management: MGMT 29000, MGMT 39000, MGMT 49000, MGMT 59000
  • Materials Engineering: MSE 49000, MSE 49700, MSE 49900, MSE 59500, MSE 59700
  • Mathematics: MA 39000, MA 49000, MA 59800
  • Mechanical Engineering: ME 49700, ME 49800, ME 49900, ME 59500, ME 59700
  • Nuclear Engineering: NUCL 49700, NUCL 49800, NUCL 59700
  • Physics: PHYS 47000, PHYS 49000, PHYS 50700, PHYS 57000, PHYS 59000, PHYS 59300, PHYS 59500
  • Science: SCI 49000
  • Statistics: STAT 39000, STAT 49000, STAT 51500, STAT 59700, STAT 59800

5.) Any course not included in the categories described in item #1 above does not have general approval to be considered as a technical elective; however, a student may send a written request to the CE Undergraduate Office to initiate the process to have a specific course considered for technical elective credit.

6.) CEM and EEE courses may be used to satisfy the sequence requirement for technical electives in the areas of Construction Engineering, Geomatics Engineering, and Environmental Engineering, respectively. No other non-CE courses may be used to satisfy the sequence requirement.

General Education Requirements for CE Students


  • CE Students must complete a minimum of 18 credit hours of General Education Elective Courses. Three credit hours of General Education Electives is covered with the combination of 1 cr. from CE 29202 (2 cr.) + CE 39201 (2 cr.). 

  • CE students must complete CE 29202 and 39201 and receive a grade of C- or better. It is recommended that CE students take CE 39201 in their Junior year. 

Additional General Education Courses


The 15 credit hours of additional General Education courses must be chosen subject to the requirements listed below: (COM 11400 cannot be used to fulfill any of these requirements)

  • Credit Hours: 6.00 - A minimum of 6 credit hours must be taken in subjects designated as Social Sciences;
    • One course must be taken from the University Core Behavioral/Social Sciences approved list. 
  • Credit Hours: 6.00 - A minimum of 6 credit hours must be taken in subjects designated as Humanities;
    • One course must be taken from the University Core Humanities approved list. 
  • Credit Hours: 6.00 - A minimum of 6 credit hours must be taken from courses at the 30000-level or above OR having a prerequisite (Non-Introductory) in the same subject. 
    • Example: SPAN 10200 is a humanities elective that is non-introductory (has a prerequisite of SPAN 10100) and also meets the foundational humanities approved list. 
  • If a student desired to take classes in a foreign language subject, credit is now allowed for language courses in the student’s native tongue(s), but literature, culture, drama, and related courses are allowed. 
  • All courses must be taken for a grade. However, credit by examination or granted credit, conditioned solely at the discretion of the awarding department, can be used to satisfy any part of these requirements. 
  • No Course may be used more than once even if the offering department allows it to be repeated for credit. 

Click here for Civil Engineering General Education Courses  

Other Recommendations

  • No more than 6 credits of General Education courses should be taken in any one semester. 
  • It is highly recommended that ECON 25100 be taken. 

Course used to satisfy the General Education requirements must be drawn from the following list of subjects. 

Most courses offered in these subjects are allowable, provided that a course is open to CE students and a course is not focused primarily of professional training, natural science or mathematics. 

  • Social Sciences (AGEC, ANTH, HDFS, COM, ECON, POL, PSY, SLHS, SOC, WGSS)
  • Humanities (AAS, AD, AMST, ARAB, ASAM, ASL, CHNS, CLCS, CMPL, DANC, ENGL, LC, FR, GER, GREK, HEBR, HIST, IDIS, ITAL, JWST, JPNS, LALS, LATN, LING, MARS, MUS, PHIL, PTGS, REL, RUSS, SPAN, THTR, WGSS)

Combined BSCE and MSCE Program


A combined BSCE + MSCE program is available for outstanding Civil Engineering undergraduate students. This program can be completed in as little as five years (non-thesis and thesis option MSCE are possible) and result in receiving both the BSCE and MSCE degrees.

The BSCE + MSCE program is a mechanism for:

  • Providing a seamless transition from the BSCE to the MSCE program.
  • Stimulating interest in graduate study for advanced learning which would support more opportunities and faster advancement in professional and research/academic careers.
  • Allowing for special recognition of high levels of academic achievement.

The BSCE + MSCE program allows students to take up to 6 credits of graduate coursework (500 level) toward their BSCE professional elective requirement. These same 6 credits likewise count toward the MSCE degree.  Additional graduate level courses taken in excess of the bachelor’s requirement may also be eligible for transfer to a MSCE program for a total of 12 credits (6 dual counted; 6 excess).

Interested students typically apply as an “internal CE applicant” in the first half of their junior year with  a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.3 or higher. If the internal application is accepted, the student would apply for combined program status to begin in the first semester of their senior year. A GPA of 3.3 must be maintained during combined program status. Grades of “B” or better must be earned for any course that would be dual counted. 

Complete details of the combined BSCE + MSCE program can be found at https://engineering.purdue.edu/CE/Academics/Graduate/Combined-BSCE-MSCE


Questions about this information should be directed to cegrad@purdue.edu

Combined BSCE and MBA Program


The School of Civil Engineering in conjunction with the Krannert School of Management offers an integrated five-year BSCE/MBA. program to high-achieving students, Each year a significant number of engineering graduates pursue MBA’s at U.S. business schools. The MBA is seen as a complement to the engineer’s technical education, providing an understanding of the business context within which many technical decisions are made. Many employers also have a strong preference for hiring MBA’s with engineering backgrounds, particularly in the manufacturing and technology sectors, in which Krannert and the College of Engineering enjoy many longstanding relationships with leading employers. The BSCE/MBA combined degree offering will provide top BSCE students an efficient and cost-effective path for developing management knowledge as well as the highly valued credential of an MBA degree. It will also open new job opportunities for the program graduates that expedite their progression to high-level management positions.

Basic admission requirements include:

1.    Maintain a 3.5 graduation GPA.
2.    Secure at least one session of internship and/or co-op work experience prior to the senior year.
3.    Secure advanced credit (preferably math) or take summer courses in your CE program.
4.    Complete an application and successfully interview with the Krannert School of Management faculty for a spot in the class.

More details about the BSCE/MBA program are available online.

https://www.krannert.purdue.edu/masters/combined-degree-programshttps://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/InfoFor/DualDegrees