Engineering MS: Civil Engineering MS
Wisconsin’s only master’s program with one-year options
Shape your future and advance your career and earning potential with your civil engineering master’s degree. The program enables you to customize your degree to your specific objectives and interests. You’ll enhance your career credentials and demonstrate you’re ready for the next step in a leadership role or be ready to follow a path to doctoral study.
Our one-year options, including providing credit for graduate internships, help you fast-track your degree (see Curriculum & Internship Credit tab below).
The master’s program accepts students with undergraduate degrees in civil engineering and other fields within engineering, enabling you to pivot your career in this field with faster-than-average anticipated growth (6% from 2023-2033 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics).
No GRE is needed if your bachelor’s degree is from an ABET-accredited program.
Program Type
Master’s
Program Format
On Campus
A few companies that support the credit-earning graduate internship course
- Bloom Companies, LLC
- CSD Structural Engineers
- Giles Engineering Associates, Inc.
- GRAEF
- Ruekert-Mielke
- WisDOT
- YA Engineering Services
View the Curriculum & Internship Credit tab to learn more.
Employers are always looking for top candidates who strive to better themselves, and getting a master’s degree from UWM helped me differentiate myself from others and provided me with the essential tools to succeed.

CSD Structural Engineers
Two ways to reduce your time to graduation
UWM’s Accelerated Graduate Degree Program (Integrated BS-MS) enables UWM students to take six graduate credits while completing their bachelor’s degree. This work can be used to satisfy six credits of both their bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, at the undergraduate tuition rate, saving you time and money.
Program Overview:
- 3.2 minimum GPA
- 36 credits or less remaining for your bachelor’s degree
- 6 credits maximum
- No GRE exam required for admission to UWM Graduate School
- Can apply to the thesis or non-thesis master’s programs
The CIV ENG 921 Graduate Internships course provides you with a hands-on learning experience within a professional engineering environment. The internship experience aims to enhance your technical skills, critical thinking abilities, and professional development, preparing you for a successful career. You can also earn an hourly salary in a full-time or part-time capacity, providing you with financial support.
NOTE: This is only available as part of the non-thesis master’s program with a capstone or comprehensive exam option; find details here.
Internship overview:
- 6 credits maximum (3 credits maximum per semester).
- To receive three credits students are required to work a minimum of 150 hours (50 hours per credit).
- Can only be taken as a non-thesis graduate student.
- Students must have completed at least six graduate-level credits before enrolling in the CIV ENG 921 Graduate Internship course.
- The internship will be coordinated between the department, the student and the company. Students may not register for the course directly.
- To gain admission to the CIV ENG 921 Graduate Internship course you must have already obtained an internship and must be registered for this course during the semester in which the internship takes place.
Time Frame | Graduate School Credits | UWM Grad School Tuition & Fees* |
Prior to enrolling in the internship course | Complete two graduate-level UWM courses (6 credits) or transfer 6 credits of graduate work. NOTE: Students who complete the Accelerated Graduate Degree Program (above) while earning a bachelor’s degree would eliminate the UWM Graduate School Tuition and Fees shown at right for these 6 credits. | $5,193.17 |
Internship Semester 1 | 9 engineering credits, 1 graduate seminar credit (effective academic writing), 3 graduate internship credits (13 credits total) | $6,832.77 |
Internship Semester 2 | 9 engineering credits, 3 graduate internship credits (12 credits total) | $6,832.77 |
ONE YEAR | 31 credits | $18,858.71 LESS potential internship salary: $15,000** POTENTIAL COST $3,858.71 |
**Internship wages calculated at $25/hour, 20 hours/week, 15 weeks/semester.
Civil Engineering Industry Advisory Board
Adetoye Adeniyi | Retired Civil Engineer Supervisor at WisDOT | |
---|---|---|
Clayton Cloutier, IAC Chair | Associate, CSD Structural Engineers | ![]() |
John Corbin | Transportation Automation Program Manager, US Federal government | ![]() |
Terry Giles | Owner, Giles Engineering Associates, Inc. | |
Roberto Gutierriez | South East Region Director, Wisconsin Department of Transportation | ![]() |
Kevin Muhs | City Engineer, City of Milwaukee | ![]() |
Nick Passint | President - Mixer Systems, Inc. | ![]() |
Laura Powers | Senior Materials Scientist, Petrographer, YA | ![]() |
Steve Rech | Steve Rech, PE, SE, GRAEF | ![]() |
Mathew Tharaniyil | President, Bloom Companies, LLC | ![]() |
Steven Wurster | Chief Operating Officer, Ruekert & Mielke, Inc. | ![]() |
Julie Zimdars | Senior Managing Engineer, Ramboll | ![]() |
Discuss your particular situation and learn more.
- Associate Professor Rani ElHajjar, Department Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- elhajjar@uwm.edu or 414-229-3647
Thesis Option
Learn more abour the 30-credit thesis option here.
Please note that the Graduate Internship Course can’t be used with the thesis option.
Research Assistantships / Teaching Assistantships
Most students choose to incorporate Teaching Assistantships (TAs) or Research Assistantships (RAs) during their graduate study which helps to fund their education while also building leadership skills. Assistantship decisions are made by the academic departments only after an applicant has been accepted into the program.
More Information
Contact the College of Engineering & Applied Science Graduate Programs Office.
We’re Southeast Wisconsin’s R1 research university. Our civil engineering master’s students have the opportunity to work with faculty engaged in cutting-edge research in areas including:
- Application of nanomaterials in construction and on surfaces
- Industrial waste product utilization in structural materials
- Design with polymer composite materials and structures
- Water quality and sensing for contamination
- New structural designs and methods
- Flexible pavement design
- Hydrodynamic modeling and fluid mechanics
- Smart mobility technologies, smart traffic lights, intelligent transportation systems, big data analytics, urban computing and cloud computing
As an R1 research institution, research is integral to our work at UWM and to the experience of students pursuing graduate degrees. Our college has a wide range of faculty-led labs that perform cutting edge research. Please see the Faculty & Staff tab for the specific research interests and labs of each civil and environmental engineering faculty member. View a full list of our college’s research labs, centers and institutes.
Faculty
- Assistant Professor of Engineering Education, Civil & Environmental Engineering
- blackows@uwm.edu
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences 1107
- Scientist II, Civil & Environmental Engineering
- Lab Manager, Bicycle and Motorcycle Engineering Research Laboratory, EMS W301
- adressel@uwm.edu
- 414-229-5357
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E261
- Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Department Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- elhajjar@uwm.edu
- 414-229-3647
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences 910A
- Associate Dean for Research, Engineering & Applied Science Office of the Dean
- andrewjg@uwm.edu
- 414-229-7389
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences 580
- Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- helwany@uwm.edu
- 414-229-4131
- Engineering and Mathematical Sciences W236AA
- Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- li@uwm.edu
- 414-229-6891
- Engineering and Mathematical Sciences E321
- Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- liao@uwm.edu
- 414-229-4228
- Engineering and Mathematical Sciences E363
- Lawrence E. Sivak '71 Professorship
- Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Director, Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation (IPIT)
- Founder and Director, Safe and Smart Traffic Lab
- qinx@uwm.edu
- 414-251-8866
- Northwest Quadrant 4414B
- Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- adeeb@uwm.edu
- 414-229-2860
- Engineering and Mathematical Sciences 315
- Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
- Founder and Director, Automated, Connected & Electric Mobility Systems Lab
- tomshi@uwm.edu
- Northwest Quadrant 4420
- Lawrence E. Sivak '71 Faculty Fellowship
- Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- sobolev@uwm.edu
- 414-229-3198
- Engineering and Mathematical Sciences 1255
- Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Director, Structural Engineering Lab
- ht@uwm.edu
- 414-229-5166
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E332
- Lawrence E. Sivak Faculty Fellowship
- Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- hanititi@uwm.edu
- 414-229-6893
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences 1139
- Lawrence E. Sivak '71 Professorship
- Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- wang292@uwm.edu
- 414-251-6446
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E371G
- Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- jzhao@uwm.edu
- 414-229-2330
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences W330A
Advising
- Advisor, Graduate Programs
- Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Health Informatics
- crary@uwm.edu
- 414-229-7267
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E379
- Advisor, Graduate Programs
- Civil/Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering
- rpackard@uwm.edu
- 414-251-8543
- Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E379
UWM is proud to be one of only two R1 research universities in Wisconsin. We’re also a top externally funded institution with robust opportunities for teaching and research assistantships. Partners that support our research include:
- A O Smith Corporation
- AECOM
- ATSP Innovations
- Badger Meter
- Bloom Company
- Caterpillar Inc.
- Electric Power Research Institute
- Federal Highway Administration
- Gannett Fleming Inc.
- Hyundai Motor Company
- Iowa Department of Transportation
- Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
- Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
- Milwaukee Riverkeeper
- National Academies
- National Institute of Aerospace
- National Science Foundation
- National Space Grant Foundation
- Space & Naval Warfare Systems & Command
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory
- UWM Foundation
- Veolia Water Milwaukee
- Village of Shorewood
- WE Energies
- Wisconsin Department of Transportation