Master of Science

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a special field designation of Atmosphere/Energy on the transcript.

Students admitted to graduate study in the department can satisfy the requirements for the Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering by completing a minimum of three quarters of full tuition registration (more than 8 units) and a minimum of 45 units of study beyond the BS degree. All 45 units must be taken at Stanford.

Our course requirements allow students the flexibility to select courses closest to their interest while maintaining the goal of giving students a background in both energy and atmosphere. The A/E MS degree requires at least 30 units of study at the graduate level (courses numbered 200 or above) and at least 24 units of study from the School of Engineering. Courses numbered below 100 may not be used to fulfill the 45-unit degree requirement.

Additional requirements for the MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering with an emphasis on Atmosphere/Energy include the completion of:

A minimum of 30 units in combined atmosphere- and energy-related courses

Of these 30 units, a minimum of 8 core courses of at least 3 units taken for letter grades.

Of those 8 core courses, you may take either 3 energy + 5 atmosphere; 4 energy + 4 atmosphere; or 5 energy + 3 atmosphere core courses.

The remainder of the 30 units may be from either atmosphere- or energy-related courses

15 additional units to fulfill the 45-unit MS requirement

These units must be in engineering, science, mathematics or related fields or pertinent to the student's degree objective and must be approved by the advisor. Physical education and language courses or remedial English-language instruction (EFSLANG) courses, for example, cannot count toward the MS degree. Students may take up to 6 out of the 45 units required for the MS degree on S/NC or CR/NC basis (instead of receiving a letter grade), but these pass/no credit courses cannot count toward the minimum requirement of 8 core courses. The only exception to the 6-unit rule is when a student takes a normal (non-seminar, non-research) course of 2 units that was not offered for a letter grade, so must have been offered S/NC (or the equivalent in the business school).

Select additional courses from the following to meet the 30 unit minimum of Atmosphere & Energy Core coursework and Atmosphere/Energy Electives.

The Sustainable Design and Construction program prepares students for careers in the built environment: researching, designing, building, and managing sustainable facilities and infrastructure to maximize their lifecycle economic value and net contribution to environmental and social functions and services.

Core and elective classes cover topics covering cutting-edge information technology such as sensor networks embedded in “intelligent” buildings and infrastructure, micro and macro strategy on infrastructure development across the globe, as well as entrepreneurship and organization design for new businesses, and corporate or governmental initiatives aimed at enhancing the sustainability of the built environment.

Employers of past SDC graduates include architectural and engineering design firms, general contractors across a range of sizes and geographies, design-build firms and developers focused on delivering green buildings and infrastructure; energy and sustainability consultants; facility management and sustainability departments within large companies; clean-tech startups and venture funds. Several students have also targeted opportunities in the AEC industry by launching their own businesses directly out of the SDC program.

Master of Science Degree

Graduating from Stanford’s Sustainable Design & Construction program means you have the expertise to pursue various career paths in the built environment. Alumni have gone on to join top-tier companies in the AEC industry or start their own.

Many apply with existing civil and environmental engineering degrees, but our highly interdisciplinary MS past graduates include students who majored in physics, economics, business management, public policy, industrial relations, philosophy, and music. Each incoming class also varies widely in that they include students coming directly from a bachelor’s degree and some who have worked for several years or more in industry. To support the diverse interests of our students, we offer five distinct tracks that focus on various aspects of the built environment, all of which can be completed in 1 year (3 academic quarters). The five tracks share a curriculum guide that trains students in critical fundamental skills like modern project management techniques and life cycle assessment strategies but offers unique electives within the program to allow students the flexibility to pursue the topics that most interest them. Click on the title of each track below for more information:

1. Forty-five total units of coursework relevant to the structural engineering profession must be completed.

2. Five Structural Engineering Core Courses must be completed.

3. Thirty units of coursework must be taken within the graduate-level Structural Engineering and Mechanics Program. Acceptable courses for these 30 units consist of any of the Structural Engineering Core Courses, as well as courses from the Breadth Electives Courses (courses offered for 3-4 units may count as four units toward this requirement, regardless of enrollment units, but please note that if enrolled for three units, only three units will count toward the minimum 45 unit requirement for degree conferral).

4. At least 36 units must be completed within the School of Engineering.

5. All courses taken to fulfill the thirty units within the graduate-level Structural Engineering and Mechanics program (item 3), and at least 36 units of courses, must be taken for a letter grade. In addition, no more than six units may be taken CR/NC, subject to approval by your advisor.

6. The following exception to item 5 applies: There is no restriction on the number of units taken for CR/NC in Summer 2020, Autumn 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021 that may be counted to satisfy the degree requirements.

7. No more than ten units of undergraduate coursework may be counted toward the degree. As per university policy, all units for a graduate degree must be in courses at or above the 100 level.

8. No more than six units of the undergraduate prerequisites listed above may be counted toward the degree.

9. No more than six combined Independent Study and CPT units may be counted toward the degree.

10. CEE 298, the Structural Engineering and Mechanics Seminar, must be completed

11. No more than three units of seminar courses may be counted toward the degree.

12. Your study list must be coordinated with and approved by your academic advisor.

CEE280 and CEE283 are required courses that must be taken unless a waiver is obtained from the professor.

CEE285A and CEE285B are suggested courses.

CEE281 and CEE291 are suggested courses.

CEE291 is offered during alternating academic years, and will not be offered during AY 26-27. Please check Navigator for more information.

CEE203 is a suggested course.

Select additional courses from the list of breadth electives and course offerings from the engineering and engineering-related disciplines that contribute to a coherent program of study. See the Suggested Courses by Areas of Interest opens in a new tab for more courses.

This is a complete list of requirements for completing the MS degree in Mechanics & Computation.

1. Forty-five total units of coursework relevant to the field of Mechanics & Computation must be completed.

2. CEE 281 and CEE 291 are required courses. CEE291 is offered during alternating academic years, and will not be offered during AY 26-27. Please check Navigator for more information. Students must take CEE 306, and depending on which spring course is offered, either CEE 314 or CEE 315. If one of these courses is not offered, please consult the instructor of that particular course to find an alternative.

3. One of the two seminars, CEE 298 (Structural Engineering and Geomechanics Seminar) or ME 395 (Mechanics and Computation Seminar), must be completed.

4. Thirty units of coursework must be taken within the graduate-level Mechanics & Computation Program. Acceptable courses for these 30 units consist of any of the Mechanics and Computation Core Courses and courses from the Breadth Electives Courses. Courses offered for 3-4 units may count as four units toward this requirement, regardless of enrollment units, but note that if enrolled for three units, only three units will count toward the minimum 45-unit requirement for degree conferral.

5. At least thirty-six units must be completed within the School of Engineering.

6. All courses taken to fulfill the thirty units within the graduate-level Mechanics & Computation program (item 4), and at least 36 units of courses, must be taken for a letter grade. In addition, no more than 6 units may be taken CR/NC, subject to approval by your advisor.

7. No more than ten units of undergraduate coursework may be counted toward the degree. As per university policy, all units for a graduate degree must be in courses at or above the 100 level.

8. No more than six units of the undergraduate prerequisites listed above may be counted toward the degree.

9. No more than six combined Independent Study and CPT units may be counted toward the degree.

10. No more than three units of seminar courses may be counted toward the degree.

11. Your study list must be coordinated with and approved by your academic advisor.

1. Students starting in even years are required to take CEE 306 and CEE 314. Students beginning in odd years are required to take CEE 310 and CEE 315 instead.

2. One of the two seminars, CEE 298 or ME 395, must be completed.

3. CEE 291 is offered during alternating academic years, and will not be offered during AY 26-27. Please check Navigator for more information.

The Hybrid SES MS program was designed with four goals in mind:

1. To provide a graduate degree that focuses on the application of systems-thinking concepts and data science tools to the disciplines of civil and environmental engineering

2. To provide increased access to Stanford Civil and Environmental MS degrees for working professionals who are not able to leave the workforce for an entirely full-time MS degree program (typically 1.5 years in CEE)

3. To allow Civil and Environmental Engineering master’s students to apply lessons from their graduate studies in their daily professional career by taking 1/3 of their required units as a part-time student with the opportunity and flexibility to take courses online

4. To increase the affordability of earning an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering by enabling students to continue working full-time while completing 1/3 of the required units part-time with the opportunity and flexibility to take courses online

With these four goals in mind, to earn the hybrid SES MS degree, students complete 45 graduate academic units. These units are distributed across four components of the degree.

Students complete their hybrid SES MS courses as part-time Honors Cooperative Students (HCP) opens in a new tab. They can take between three units and seven units of graduate courses per hybrid quarter. Hybrid SES MS students can complete the hybrid component of their degree in as little as three quarters or as many as 5 or 6 quarters. Most importantly, students in the hybrid SES MS program should plan to complete their hybrid courses in the spring or summer quarter before joining us as full-time residential graduate students on campus in the autumn quarter.