Civil Engineering

Students can specialize their degree with one of six concentrations.

Construction management: Construction management is a broad and complex discipline that integrates the multiple stages of large-scale construction projects with the detailed technology and knowledge needed to complete them. In this concentration, you learn to approach and lead construction projects from a sustainable and holistic perspective. You’ll be exposed not only to technical engineering concepts but also to a much broader application of these concepts as they relate to large and complex projects. You’ll learn and apply ideas related to construction project control and organization, sustainable design, and technologies in construction, logistics, resource management, incorporating technological and business innovation, and economic and environmental viability.

Environmental, water, and coastal systems: With this concentration, you’ll learn to tackle interconnected challenges in water, energy, waste, air pollution, and related fields-all in the context of a changing planet. This technical area within the department covers a wide range of technologies and design solutions for natural systems, from the molecular scale to global climate change. Our faculty work on creating hardware and software tools to better monitor, predict, and mitigate environmental pollution and create clean environments.

Geotechnical/Geoenvironmental engineering: This program includes studies in soil mechanics/foundations and geoenvironmental engineering. It includes studies of soil and related earth materials for problems related to the protection of human health and the environment. Related areas include fate/transport in subsurfaces, subsurface remediation, and others. By leading and housing the research center PROTECT, a $23M program funded by NIH-NIEHS, our faculty are world-class leaders in environmental health. They engage in research that focuses on reducing exposure to groundwater contamination and developing green remediation strategies that mitigate preterm birth rates by reducing exposure to pollutants that may threaten human health and natural ecosystems.

Structures: Structural engineering at Northeastern University focuses on urban engineering and use-inspired research that prepares students for many of the unique technical challenges of our time. Students in this concentration study under our faculty who are known internationally as leaders in natural hazard characterization, dynamic and nonlinear infrastructure simulation, sensor development, design of novel and sustainable infrastructure systems, offshore wind structures and wind engineering, materiomics, and material design through molecular simulation, and structural reliability. Our research, both analytical and experimental, is supported by the state-of-the-art Laboratory for Structural Testing of Resilient and Sustainable Systems (STReSS Laboratory), which enables experimental characterization of large-scale structural systems and components.

Transportation: Urban transportation of people and goods is undergoing a significant transformation with the introduction of new types of services (bike sharing, ride-hailing, etc.) and concepts such as mobility on demand and mobility as a service. Coupled with technological advances related to electric, connected, and autonomous vehicles, these developments promise to completely change the nature of urban mobility while addressing the significant challenges of safety, sustainability, and equity. This program is designed for students interested in working on the frontlines of transportation engineering.

Data and systems: The data and systems concentration, grounded in faculty interests and existing courses, will prepare students to use new and emerging technologies in data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, as well as systems analysis (e.g., operations research, economics, system identification) and sensors to address problems in domains spanning all (traditional) civil and environmental engineering (CEE) areas. This is an umbrella program that serves all CEE disciplines by providing a solid foundation in modern programming languages such as Python and R, developing students’ data analytics skills, promoting a systems perspective, and, importantly, honing these in the context of data-driven CEE problem-solving.

Applications received after the stated deadline dates will be accepted and processed as quickly as possible; however it may not be possible to have a decision rendered in time for the applicant to begin taking classes for the desired term if admitted.

Applications submitted by the referenced dates will receive full consideration for the referenced term. Applications received after the referenced dates will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

• Completed online application form

• Two letters of recommendation

• Transcripts from all institutions attended

  • The Foreign Credential Evaluation (FCE) is a required assessment of all transcripts and documents from non-U.S. accredited post-secondary education institutions. (Review the FCE requirements by country.)

• GRE is not required for terms starting during the 2023-2024 or 2024-2025 academic years

• Statement of purpose

• Resumé

• TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo for international applicants

• The application fee is waived for all new applicants applying to any of our Master of Science or Graduate Certificates for the fall 2025 and spring 2026 application terms.