BA/BS in Civil Engineering

Civil engineers shape the built world, from roads and bridges to sewage networks and libraries, and their work spans structures, water supply, waste management, construction, geotechnical, environmental and transportation concerns. The work matters especially in Southern California, where earthquakes, water and transit raise major engineering problems. Students share a common engineering core across the first two years and part of the third, covering mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials, circuits, mechanics, thermodynamics and economics. The last two years add structures, hydraulics, soils, surveying, computer drafting, concrete and steel structures, construction and a capstone design course. Hands-on learning happens in an applied mechanics lab, a senior design lab, a geotechnical lab and a structural analysis research center, and Los Angeles itself serves as a laboratory for studying existing structures.