Environmental Engineering - Requirements

Environmental Engineering Requirements

To begin candidacy for an M.S. EnvE, a student must have completed an ABET accredited undergraduate degree in engineering, or have a B.S. in a physical or biological science and have completed specified core course requirements at the undergraduate level.

Applicants with a B.S. in Engineering

Graduates of U.S. ABET or Canadian accredited engineering programs who have maintained a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) may be accepted with Full Graduate Standing (Full Status); students whose GPA is 2.75/4.0 or above may be accepted with Provisional Status. In the latter case, recommendation for full status may be made by the M.S. EnvE Graduate Committee to the University of Nebraska Graduate College if the student maintains a B average (3.0/4.0) in the first nine semester hours of graduate coursework. Graduates of non-ABET-accredited engineering programs will be reviewed by the M.S. EnvE Graduate Committee for possible admission on an individual basis.

Most students with an ABET-accredited B.S. degree in Civil Engineering and Biological Systems Engineering will already have completed the required undergraduate coursework. Some students in other majors (e.g., Chemical Engineering, Geological Engineering) may be required to take one or two undergraduate core courses. All students must have completed the following core courses or their equivalent (as determined by the M.S. EnvE Graduate Committee), to be fully admitted into the program. Students who have not completed all of these courses may be admitted provisionally and be required to take specific courses that do not count toward their graduate degree.

All students must have completed the following core courses or their equivalent (as determined by the M.S. EnvE Graduate Committee), to be fully admitted into the program. Students who have not completed all of these courses may be admitted provisionally and be required to take specific courses that do not count toward their graduate degree.

UNL Course NumberNameCredit Hours
MATH 106, 107, 208 Calculus I, II, III 14 hours
MATH 221 Differential Equations 3 hours
PHYS 211 General Physics I (calculus-based) 4 hours
CHEM 110, 111, or 113 General Chemistry 4 hours
CSCE 105, 150 or 155, or equivalent Computer Programming 3 hours
MECH 223 Statics 3 hours
MECH 373 Dynamics 3 hours
CIVE/MECH 310 Fluid Mechanics 3 hours
or CHME 332 Transport Operations II 3 hours
CIVE/BSEN 326 Intro. to Environmental Engr. 3 hours
CIVE 327 Env. Engineering Laboratory 1 hours
CIVE 352 or BSEN 350 Water Resources Engineering 3 hours
CIVE 419 or 425, CHME 453, or BSEN 480 Env. Process Design Elective 3 hours


Applicants without a B.S. in Engineering

The M.S. EnvE Program admits, with a provisional status, students without an engineering background that have exceptional grade point averages, references, and/or professional experience. In addition to the normal requirements for the M.S. degree, such students must take (or have taken elsewhere) several undergraduate level background courses, as detailed below. A non-engineer should expect to devote a longer time to the M.S. degree program than a graduate student with an engineering degree.

Because of the competition for financial assistance, non-engineering students often do not receive financial aid during the period they are primarily taking these undergraduate make-up courses. However, they often receive financial assistance during the latter part of their programs.

The M.S. Environmental Engineering is not an EAC (ABET) Accredited engineering degree, which is like all other UNL Graduate Engineering Degrees, and most other graduate engineering degrees in the United States. The Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects as of 11/18 allows students with a non-engineering BS degree to sit for the FE. In order to sit for the PE exam, the student will need to meet the NCEES Engineering Education Standard, which can be found at:
https://ncees.org/engineering/ncees-engineering-education-standard/

In many, but not all cases, the combination of coursework from the student’s B.S. degree, engineering deficiency classes, and engineering graduate classes will meet these standards. Students without a B.S. degree in engineering are strongly encouraged to both visit with their advisor and with the Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects to develop a plan to meet the standard.

Required Courses: The courses (or their equivalents) necessary for a student's background are listed below.

UNL CourseCredit Hours 
MATH 106, 107, 208 Calculus 14 hours  
MATH 221 Differential Equations 3 hours  
PHYS 211 General Physics I (calculus-based) 4 hours  
CHEM 110, 111, or 113 General Chemistry 4 hours  
CSCE 105, 150 or 155, or equivalent Computer Programming 3 hours  
MECH 223 Statics 3 hours  
MECH 373 Dynamics 3 hours  
CIVE 310 Fluid Mechanics or CHME 332 Transport Operations II 3 hours  
CIVE/BSEN 326 Introduction to Environmental Engineering 3 hours  
CIVE 352 or BSEN 350 Water Resources Engineering 3 hours  
CIVE 419, CIVE 425, or CHME 453 [Environmental Process Design Elective] 3 hours  


The required background courses are determined on a case-by-case basis. Students with a B.S degee in the physical sciences who have completed mathematics through differential equations typically require one to two extra semesters to complete their degree program.

Additional Requirements for International Applicants
International applicants who have not graduated from an ABET or CAB accredited undergraduate engineering program in the United States or Canada must take the TOEFL and the verbal and quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Those international applicants must achieve a TOEFL score of 550 (paper) or 80 (internet) and a minimum equivalent ranking of 75 percent on the quantitative portion of the GRE examination.

These scores must be directly reported to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Graduate Studies Office.

Graduates of foreign environmental engineering programs who have met the above conditions and who are in the top five percent of their graduating class or equivalent standing from an environmental engineering program comparable to accredited (ABET) programs may be admitted with full status. Students in the upper 20 percent of their graduating class or equivalent standing from a recognized environmental engineering program may be admitted with provisional status. Students will be recommended for full status after removing all specified undergraduate deficiencies and maintaining at least a B average (3.00/4.00) in the first nine hours of graduate coursework.