Civil Engineering B.S. (BSCE)
The BSCE degree includes required and elective courses in structural analysis and design, environmental engineering, water resources, transportation engineering or geotechnical engineering.
Students may elect to focus coursework in a specialty area in their senior year through electives. The program culminates with a final capstone design course that allows students to apply many of the principles and concepts on a community-serving project.
The Civil Engineering (CE) degree program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the General Criteria and the Civil and Similarly Named Engineering Program Criteria.
BSCE Program Educational Objectives
The civil engineering program at Portland State University prepares graduates to practice civil engineering responsibly and ethically by (1) working effectively in the professional engineering community and (2) continuing to learn and enhance their abilities in civil engineering.
BSCE Student Outcomes
Graduates of the civil engineering program at Portland State University will have the skills and abilities to prepare them to begin professional practice or to succeed in graduate studies.
Graduates will have:
• an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
• an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
• an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
• an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
• an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
• an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
• an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
Requirements
BSCE majors must complete all University and department degree requirements:
- Freshmen and sophomore math, science, and engineering courses must be completed with a minimum grade of C;
- Junior and senior engineering and science courses, and EC 314U must be completed with a minimum grade of C-;
- Prerequisite courses must be passed with the minimum grade ("C" for 100 and 200 level courses, "C-" for 300 and 400 level courses) or better in order to move ahead in the sequence;
- The student’s cumulative PSU GPA must be 2.33 or higher to graduate from the BSCE program;
- Any deviation from the required courses including engineering and mathematics substitutions must be approved in writing by the Department Chair.
Freshman Year
| CE 111 | Introduction to Civil and Environmental Engineering | 3 |
| CE 112 | Civil and Environmental Engineering Computations | 3 |
| CE 115 | Civil Engineering Drawing and Spatial Analysis | 3 |
| Ch 221 | General Chemistry I | 4 |
| Ch 222 | General Chemistry II | 4 |
| Ch 227 | General Chemistry Laboratory | 1 |
| Ch 228 | General Chemistry Laboratory | 1 |
| Mth 251 | Calculus I | 4 |
| Mth 252 | Calculus II | 4 |
| Mth 261 | Introduction to Linear Algebra | 4 |
| | First Year Inquiry | 15 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 46 |
Sophomore Year
| EAS 211 | Statics | 4 |
| EAS 212 | Strength of Materials | 4 |
| EAS 215 | Dynamics | 4 |
| CE 211 | Plane Surveying and Mapping | 3 |
| CE 212 | Field Problems in Plane Surveying | 1 |
| Mth 254 | Calculus IV | 4 |
| Mth 256 | Applied Ordinary Differential Equations | 4 |
| Ph 221 | General Physics (with Calculus) I | 3 |
| Ph 222 | General Physics (with Calculus) II | 3 |
| Ph 223 | General Physics (with Calculus) III | 3 |
| Ph 214 | Lab for Ph 201 or Ph 211 or Ph 221 or Ph 231 | 1 |
| Ph 215 | Lab for Ph 202 or Ph 212 or Ph 222 or Ph 232 | 1 |
| Ph 216 | Lab for Ph 203 or Ph 213 or Ph 223 or Ph 233 | 1 |
| | Sophomore Inquiry | 8 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 44 |
Junior Year
| CE 315 | The Civil and Environmental Engineering Profession | 1 |
| CE 316 | Applied Probability and Statistics for Civil & Environmental Engineering | 4 |
| CE 321 | CEE Properties of Materials | 4 |
| CE 361 | Fluid Mechanics | 4 |
| CE 324 | Elementary Structural Analysis | 4 |
| CE 325 | Indeterminate Structures | 4 |
| CE 341 | Soil Classification and Properties | 4 |
| CE 351 | Introduction to Transportation Engineering | 4 |
| CE 362 | Engineering Hydraulics | 4 |
| CE 364 | Water Resources Engineering | 4 |
| CE 371 | Environmental Engineering | 4 |
| G 301 | Geology for Engineers | 3 |
| Ec 314U | Private and Public Investment Analysis | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 48 |
Ec 314U is a required course that can be taken as a part of some upper-division clusters.
Senior Year
| CE 444 | Geotechnical Design | 4 |
| CE 484 | Civil & Environmental Engineering Project Management and Design I | 3 |
| CE 494 | Civil & Environmental Engineering Project Management and Design II | 3 |
| | One Structural Design Elective | 4 |
| | One Transportation Design Elective | 4 |
| | Approved civil engineering electives | 19 |
| | Upper-division cluster | 8 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 45 |
Approved Structural Design Elective:
| CE 432 | Structural Steel Design | 4 |
| CE 434 | Principles of Reinforced Concrete | 4 |
Approved Transportation Design Elective:
| CE 450 | Transportation Safety Analysis | 4 |
| CE 458 | Public Transportation Systems | 4 |
| CE 459 | Transportation Operations | 4 |
| CE 462 | Traffic Engineering Applications and Signal Timing | 4 |
| CE 493 | Design and Operation of Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure | 4 |
Approved Civil Engineering Electives:
CE 401 – CE 406: 4 credits recommended maximum across all numbers, 2 maximum for CE 404 Internship credit; additional credits require Department Chair approval.
CE 407: 3 credits recommended maximum; additional credits require Department Chair approval.
Total Credit Hours: 183
Students may take one course outside the CEE Department to apply toward senior electives. Approved non-CE courses are ME 321, ME 455, G 424, Geog 488, and Geog 492. Additional non-CE classes require prior approval of the CEE Department; requests should be sent to ceedept@pdx.edu prior to the start of the term.