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The Civil and Environmental Engineering program offers foundational undergraduate training for careers in private practice, public service, or advanced academic pursuits. It focuses on core civil engineering principles and design methodologies, allowing students to apply fundamental engineering concepts across various specialties like construction management, environmental engineering, geotechnics, structural design, transportation systems, and water resources. Students ultimately select a concentration to prepare for professional work or further education.
The curriculum is enriched with coursework in communications, arts, humanities, social sciences, and complementary engineering fields. Learners develop teamwork skills and interdisciplinary problem-solving abilities through classroom instruction, lab work, and field exercises. The program concludes with a capstone design course, where students tackle real-world engineering challenges by integrating their acquired knowledge and technical skills.
The majority of Penn State’s applications come from traditional, first-year students. The following types of students are considered first-year applicants (or freshman applicants, as some refer to them): Current high school student in his or her senior year; Student who has earned a high school diploma or a GED and has no post-secondary coursework; Student who has attempted 17 or fewer credits (semester hours) of college coursework at a regionally accredited college/university before attending Penn State; Current high school student who may have enrolled in another institution(s) before graduating from high school (dual enrollment); Student who may have attended Penn State on a nondegree basis.
English Language Proficiency
The following are ways in which you can satisfy the language proficiency requirement: TOEFL: A minimum TOEFL score of 80 on the Internet-based TOEFL or 550 on the old paper exam and a minimum of 20 in each section of the new paper exam (code #2660); IELTS: A minimum IELTS score of 6.5 on the academic test.