Enhance your expertise in civil engineering
Advance your career with a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from UCF. Florida is among the top states with the highest employment of civil engineers, and UCF is conveniently located near top civil engineering employers such as the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Florida Department of Transportation and the City of Orlando.
The program reflects the very broad nature of the field, which encompasses the design, construction and enhancement of the infrastructure of society. As a student, you can take courses and conduct research in structural analysis and design, geotechnical engineering and foundations, transportation planning and operations, traffic engineering, construction engineering, water resources engineering and smart cities. With this degree, you can prepare to work in civil and construction-related industries, academic institutions, consulting firms, and city, county, state and federal government agencies.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
- UCF is consistently ranked among the top schools for civil engineering graduate education by U.S. News and World Report.
- UCF is ranked the among the top five U.S. transportation science and technology programs, and is consistently ranked among the top civil engineering programs, by ShanghaiRanking.
- UCF is located near major civil engineering employers such as the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Florida Department of Transportation and the City of Orlando.
- Students with a bachelor’s degree can apply.
- Students can conduct research in world-class facilities with internationally recognized faculty.
CURRICULUM AND PROGRAM ADMISSIONS
The Ph.D. in Civil Engineering is a research-oriented degree that requires course work combined with intensive research. The program requires a minimum of 72 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree. Thirty of the 72 credit hours can be met with either a nonthesis or thesis master’s degree in civil engineering. This leaves 42 credit hours, of which 18 credit hours must be dissertation research and a minimum of 15 credit hours must be formal course work. A maximum of nine credit hours of doctoral research hours can be used in the doctoral program, which could be replaced by additional formal course work.
For students without a master’s degree who directly enter the program with a bachelor’s degree, there will be a minimum of 45 hours of formal course work (i.e., 30 credit hours identical to the course work for a nonthesis master’s degree in any of the civil engineering focus areas, plus a minimum of 15 credit hours course work past the master’s degree). In addition, these students can enroll for doctoral research credit hours during or after their first semester in the program. The 27 credit hours required in addition to the 45 credit hours course work will be 18 credit hours in dissertation research, and a maximum of nine credit hours in doctoral research. Up to nine credit hours of doctoral research can be replaced by additional formal course work subject to the approval of the doctoral adviser and the advisory committee.
For all students, the program of study must be developed with an advisory committee and meet departmental approval at the beginning of the program, at which time transfer credit will be evaluated on a course-by-course basis.
LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION
This program has potential ties to professional licensure or certification in the field. For more information on how this program may prepare you in that regard, please view the licensure disclosure for the Ph.D. in Civil Engineering.
CONTACT
Andrew Randall
Professor and program coordinator
andrew.randall@ucf.edu
Sadia Afrin
Graduate program coordinator
sadia.afrin@ucf.edu