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2025 Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools

137 Colleges in the United States
4,453 Master's Degrees
$80,099 Avg Early-Career Salary
a master's degree in civil engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #40 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual reviewed 137 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of civil engineering. Combined, these schools handed out 4,453 master's degrees in civil engineering to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Civil Engineering School for Your Master's Degree

Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools The civil eng master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality civil eng program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for civil engineering students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Civil Eng Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Civil Engineering in the United States

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for civil engineering students seeking a a master's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools for a Master's in Civil Eng

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

Stanford University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in civil engineering. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Civil Engineering master's degree recipients from Stanford University earn a boost of around $3,641 over the typical earnings of civil engineering graduates.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Stanford University

2
33 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in civil engineering. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Northwestern University

3

It's difficult to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you wish to pursue a master's degree in civil engineering. MIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge.

Those civil engineering students who get their master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology receive $8,706 more than the average civil eng graduate.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

4

Columbia University in the City of New York is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in civil engineering. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.

Civil Engineering master's degree recipients from Columbia University in the City of New York earn a boost of about $8,099 above the typical income of civil engineering majors.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Columbia University in the City of New York

5

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those civil engineering students who get their master's degree from University of Southern California earn $10,926 more than the average civil eng graduate.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of Southern California

6

UW Seattle is a very large public university located in the large city of Seattle.

Master's recipients from the civil engineering degree program at University of Washington - Seattle Campus make $7,363 above the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

7

UC Davis is a very large public university located in the suburb of Davis.

Those civil engineering students who get their master's degree from University of California - Davis make $6,810 more than the standard civil eng grad.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of California - Davis

8
27 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Johns Hopkins University

9
57 Annual Graduates

Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon University

10
248 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of California - Berkeley

11

Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the civil eng program state that they receive average early career income of $81,361.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Cornell University

12

NJIT is a large public school located in the large city of Newark.

Civil Engineering master's degree recipients from New Jersey Institute of Technology receive an earnings boost of around $9,601 over the typical earnings of civil engineering majors.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology

13

Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Civil Engineering master's degree recipients from University of California - San Diego receive an earnings boost of about $9,444 above the typical income of civil engineering majors.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of California - San Diego

14
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY

NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.

Master's recipients from the civil engineering program at New York University get $11,561 more than the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from New York University

15
Villanova crest
Villanova University
Villanova, PA

Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Villanova.

Those civil engineering students who get their master's degree from Villanova University receive $8,931 more than the average civil eng graduate.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Villanova University

16

UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.

Master's students who receive their degree from the civil eng program earn an average of $81,415 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

17

Georgia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the city of Atlanta.

Students who graduate with their master's from the civil eng program state that they receive average early career earnings of $80,401.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

18

Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the civil eng program report average early career wages of $79,679.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

19

UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign.

Students who graduate with their master's from the civil eng program report average early career income of $79,099.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

20

Located in the large city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Civil Engineering master's degree recipients from Northeastern University get an earnings boost of around $3,492 above the average income of civil engineering majors.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Northeastern University

21
14 Annual Graduates

Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of Notre Dame

22

Located in the city of Raleigh, NC State is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's recipients from the civil engineering degree program at North Carolina State University get $8,824 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from North Carolina State University

23
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
11 Annual Graduates

Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Duke University

24

Located in the large suburb of Hoboken, Stevens is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Those civil engineering students who get their master's degree from Stevens Institute of Technology earn $2,645 more than the typical civil eng graduate.

More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology

25
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
10 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Vanderbilt University

Rest of the Top Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools

26
27

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
28 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
29 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA
30 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
31 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
32 University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA
33 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA
34 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY
35 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
36 University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA
37 University of Delaware Newark, DE
38 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
39 Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO
40 Clemson University Clemson, SC
41 Auburn University Auburn, AL
42 Iowa State University Ames, IA
43 George Washington University Washington, DC
44 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
45 Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO

Civil Engineering by Region

View the Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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One of 41 majors within the Engineering area of study, Civil Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Civil Eng Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Civil Engineering 4,123
Structural Engineering 131
Civil Engineering 86
Trasportation Engineering 79
Water Resources Engineering 30
Geoenvironmental Engineering 4

Majors Similar to Civil Eng

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 7,060
Mechanical Engineering 6,953
Computer Engineering 3,890
Biomedical Engineering 3,217
General Engineering 2,655
Systems Engineering 2,159
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 2,080
Industrial Engineering 1,732
Chemical Engineering 1,556
Other Engineering 1,414

Notes and References

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