2023 Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree School for You
Civil Engineering is the #50 most popular major in the country with 21,388 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 187 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Civil Engineering
Our analysis found Stanford University to be the best school for civil engineering students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools list. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Princeton University is a great place for civil engineering students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rice University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools list. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Houston.
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Duke University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree civil engineering programs. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
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Vanderbilt University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for civil engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.
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Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Terre Haute.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for civil engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a very large student population.
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Santa Clara University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
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Villanova University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools list. Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Villanova.
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With a ranking of #12, University of Southern California did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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Cornell University landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree civil engineering programs. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.
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North Carolina State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for civil engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. NC State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Raleigh.
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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for civil engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #15 on the list. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.
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University of California - San Diego did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for civil engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a very large student population.
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Johns Hopkins University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #18, University of Notre Dame did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students working on their master’s degree. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.
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University of California - Berkeley came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
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Manhattan College ranked #20 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Riverdale, Manhattan is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Loyola Marymount University ranked #21 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Columbia University in the City of New York ranked #22 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #23, Michigan State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public school with a very large student population.
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University of Washington - Seattle Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for civil engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #24 on the list. Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #25, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students working on their master’s degree. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.
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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus | Atlanta, GA |
| 30 | New Jersey Institute of Technology | Newark, NJ |
| 31 | San Jose State University | San Jose, CA |
| 32 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
| 33 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL |
| 34 | Lehigh University | Bethlehem, PA |
| 35 | Tufts University | Medford, MA |
| 36 | University of Nebraska - Lincoln | Lincoln, NE |
| 37 | Texas A&M University - College Station | College Station, TX |
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 |
| Great Lakes |
More Civil Engineering Rankings
Civil Engineering Related Rankings by Major
Civil Engineering is one of 40 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related to Civil Eng
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 46,178 |
| Electrical Engineering | 28,844 |
| Computer Engineering | 17,987 |
| Chemical Engineering | 12,917 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 12,811 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Master Sgt. Roger Parsons.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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