• Study in the Albrook Hydraulics Lab, which has modeled dams for rivers throughout the world and currently studies fish passage and channel restoration issues for industry and government.
• Engage in practical research and community outreach through WSU’s Water Research Center, which has facilitated $5.9 million in innovative programs during the past five years.
• Programs can be tailored to fit your needs and interests to give you a strong foundation for a career in professional practice, research, or teaching.
• Learn fundamental engineering principles plus an intensive introduction to each of the specializations within civil engineering.
• WSU students often score in the highest percentile in the national Fundamentals of Engineering exam, the first step toward professional licensing.
• Benefit from the more than 30 laboratories in WSU’s department of civil and environmental engineering.
• Pursue research in hydrology, environmental science, fluid mechanics, modeling, numerical analysis, computational science, and other disciplines required by engineers, managers, and scientists.
• Join other science, math, and engineering students in the Stephenson residence hall—share courses with your neighbors, study together, get free tutoring, and use the hall’s own computer lab.

In addition to the strong, broad-based preparation of the civil engineering major, you can take water resource engineering courses like these:

• Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory
• Hazardous Waste Engineering
• Hazardous Waste Treatment
• Hydraulic Design
• Groundwater Hydrology

For more information on these courses, see the hydraulics and water resource engineering program website.

See the WSU Catalog for degree requirements and complete course lists; all students must meet requirements as outlined in the catalog in order to graduate. Talk with your academic advisor about planning and scheduling your courses.

Plan ahead

To certify your major in the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, you will need to complete specific prerequisite courses. Use our list of transfer equivalencies to make sure you take the right transfer courses at your current college.

Also check out the University's transfer student guide for more information on transferring to WSU.

A variety of state, federal, and university-sponsored programs are available to help students with educational costs.

For all students at WSU

Washington State University awards millions of dollars in financial aid and scholarships to students every year based on financial need, academic merit, or a combination of the two.

To get all the financial help WSU can provide, start by doing these two things:

• Complete the University's general scholarship application so you can be eligible for scholarship consideration.
• Complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) so WSU can consider you for aid (scholarships, grants, loans, etc.) based on financial need.

Click here for more info about WSU scholarships and financial aid

For students in water resource engineering

In addition to University-wide scholarships, the College of Engineering and Architecture offers more than 300 scholarships a year to students in their first and second years of study. Incoming freshmen and transfer students have the opportunity to receive scholarship money from the College that will be continued by the school or department.

High school mathematics through trigonometry and calculus and high school sciences are essential for success in the undergraduate program.

Your strengths and interests should include enjoyment of solving problems and putting ideas into action, curiosity about how things work and how to make them better, interest in improving the environment, and a desire to help people live better.

The University’s student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers is consistently ranked among the nation’s best. Members can interact with field professionals through monthly meetings and regional or national conferences. The WSU chapter has won awards in national ASCE competitions in concrete canoe and bridge building.

WSU’s environmental engineering club, made up of the student chapters of the Water Environment Foundation and the Air and Waste Management Association, is an academic, professional, and social club for students interested in  a career in environmental engineering. The group works to promote student and public interest in environmental engineering and environmental issues through public outreach, conferences, and seminars.

The student chapter of Engineers Without Borders at WSU does community-based, sustainable engineering projects around the world.

Graduates in WSU's civil engineering program are actively sought by employers. In addition to traditional architectural and engineering firms, students may work with government agencies, utility companies, telecommunications businesses, oil and natural resource industries, consulting firms, aerospace manufacturing companies, and construction industries, as well as biotechnology and information technology firms.

Salaries are comparable to other traditional fields of engineering and very attractive. As in all areas of civil engineering, the job market has remained steady over the years because civil engineers are always needed to design, build, and rehabilitate the nation's infrastructure.