All applicants must meet the Graduate School's admission requirements to be considered for admission. In addition, applicants must also meet the department's more stringent admission requirements listed below to be considered for admission:

Grades: A minimum undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) on the equivalent of the last 60 semester hours (approximately two years of work) is required for domestic applicants. A strong academic performance comparable to an average of B or above grades for all undergraduate course work is required for international applicants.

Degree: A bachelor's degree from an ABET-accredited engineering program or from a recognized international institution is required. Applicants who do not have a bachelor's degree as specified above may study for the master of science in civil and environmental engineering (Program Option C); however, to become eligible for this program, applicants must meet the department's deficiency requirements, some of which may be completed as deficiencies after admission. As a general rule, students with more than 12 credits in deficiencies are not admitted to the graduate program. Rather, they are encouraged to enroll as special students until more of their deficiencies are satisfied. All plans of study within this option must be approved by the department faculty. The deficiency requirements for applicants without a bachelor's degree from an ABET-accredited engineering program or from a recognized international institution must be obtained from the department.

Any admitted student whose score is lower than the scores listed below will be required, by the Graduate School, to take the English as a Second Language Assessment Test upon arrival at UW-Madison.

TOEFL: 92 for internet based test (IBT) and 580 for paper test

MELAB: 82

The mission of the civil and environmental engineering program is to develop leaders in education, industry, government and entrepreneurship who can use their acquired skills to improve society. The academic program provides a comprehensive framework of courses in the broad area of civil and environmental engineering with opportunities to develop specialized expertise. It also emphasizes the development of integrated teamwork abilities, communication, leadership, and creative research skills. Graduate study in the department offers an opportunity to undertake advanced study and research in various areas of specialization. Areas include:

Construction engineering and management: construction engineering and management, sustainable design and construction, and advanced construction and computer modeling

Environmental engineering: water supply, water quality, water treatment, wastewater treatment, solid and hazardous waste management, air pollution, biotechnology, and alternative energy

Geo and pavement engineering: geotechnical, geological and geoenvironmental engineering, pavement materials and design, asphalt binders and mixtures, geosynthetics, in-situ testing and engineering geophysics, recycled materials in sustainable construction

Structural engineering: structural analysis and design of wood, concrete, steel, and highway bridge structures; design for earthquake and wind loading; seismic rehabilitation

Transportation engineering: highway and traffic engineering, intelligent transportation systems, transportation planning, freight, and infrastructure management, transportation safety, user comprehension and behavior, advanced driving- and micro-simulation

Water resources/environmental fluid mechanics: analysis, measurement, modeling of currents, flows, and waves in natural and constructed systems; surface and groundwater hydrology; hydraulic engineering; coastal engineering; sedimentation and transport processes; infrastructure impacts of extreme weather events, hydroecology and stream restoration

Students may also pursue studies in the broad fields of environmental engineering/science and systems analysis. Areas of specialization are organized into a constructed facilities division (including transportation engineering, structural engineering, construction engineering and management, pavement engineering, materials for constructed facilities, and geotechnical engineering) and an environmental engineering division (including geoenvironmental engineering, environmental fluid mechanics and water resources engineering, environmental science and technology, and environmental and water chemistry).

Degrees require a coordinated core program of courses, selected from CEE and other department/program offerings. Graduate degree programs closely associated with the department include human factors, environmental chemistry and technology, water resources management, geological engineering, land resources, and limnology and marine science.

In support of the instructional and research programs are laboratory facilities for highway materials; transportation systems; driving simulation and human factors; soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering; coastal and hydraulic engineering; environmental fluid mechanics; environmental engineering processes and engineering chemistry; structural engineering; geoenvironmental engineering, and geotechnical engineering research. Water resources engineering, environmental engineering, and water chemistry have additional research facilities in the Water Science and Engineering Laboratory on the shore of Lake Mendota. The Environmental Engineering Field Laboratory is located at the Nine-Springs Madison Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant.