Civil Engineering

With a civil engineering degree from Wilkes, you can help design, build and maintain infrastructure that society depends upon daily. Develop foundations and structures, public water and sewage systems, stormwater management, and air, solid, water and hazardous waste treatment processes.

Program Snapshot

Program Type Format Credit Hours
Major On Campus 128

Why Study Civil Engineering at Wilkes?

You’ll work in small classes and laboratories with dedicated faculty who are experienced civil, environmental, and mechanical engineers with professional engineering licensure, and/or who earned the highest degree in the field.

Benefit from our hands-on approach to learning engineered systems and design. Use software commonly used in industry even as you gain a strong background in all sciences and take part in extensive laboratory and field experiences.

Many capstone projects involve engineers and experts from outside Wilkes on projects that have a direct impact in northeast Pennsylvania. Our Industrial Advisory Council, comprising alumni engineers and other professionals from the region, ensures that the Wilkes curriculum answers relevant and real-world industry needs.

What Will You Learn as a Civil Engineering Major?

  • Gain a broad foundation in mathematics, chemistry, physics, general engineering and geosciences.
  • Learn to solve engineering problems and manage projects.
  • Cultivate collaboration skills in group projects and activities with both engineering and science students and with faculty who have diverse technical background and expertise.
  • Use the latest software and technologies for system analysis and engineering design.
  • Develop leadership, speaking, writing, organizational and problem-solving skills.
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Program Highlights

Four Concentrations

Choose a specialty that will equip you to address sustainable and resilience design to minimize risk to infrastructure due to climate change, natural and man-made disasters, and current and future pandemics and other human health threats.

Excellent Facilities

Work in the Cohen Science Center and Mark Engineering Center, two high-performance computing labs, a 3D visualization and printing facility, and the most powerful research computing resource in the area.

Job-Ready Graduates

Industry partners say Wilkes graduates arrive “job ready” and technically well prepared to succeed. Many of our graduates are given the responsibilities to be a project manager very quickly after being hired.

Accreditation

Wilkes is in the process of applying for accreditation in civil engineering from the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET external website. Wilkes has long-running ABET-accredited programs in environmental, mechanical and electrical engineering.

State-of-the-Art Facilities

As a civil engineering student at Wilkes, you’ll work in the state-of-the-art Cohen Science Center and the new Mark Engineering Center. Use two high-performance computing laboratories that include the latest geographic information system, engineering graphic design, and Bentley Systems engineering software.

New labs include a 3D visualization and printing facility. WARLOC, a new high-performance computer cluster, is the most powerful research computing resource in the area. Coming soon are a new soil and rock mechanics lab, and new equipment in the hydraulics lab. 

4

concentrations

60%

of engineering courses are supplemented with hands-on, laboratory experience

100%

of civil engineering students complete a design-focused senior capstone project

Careers & Outcomes

The median entry-level salary for civil engineers was $64,000, according to the 2020 Civil Engineering Salary Report. Median pre-tax annual salary in 2019 was $115,000. Nearly nine out of 10 respondents were either very satisfied or satisfied with their overall job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that civil engineering is projected to grow at a rate of 8% between 2020 and 2030.

A degree in civil engineering prepares graduates for designing, planning, and construction of essential infrastructure. Civil engineers work in government or community public works settings, as well as in the private sector in consulting or construction firms. 

Popular Careers

  • Structural Engineer

  • Geotechnical Engineer
  • Environmental Engineer
  • Project and Site Engineer
  • Design Engineer
  • Water Resource Engineer
  • Civil Engineer
  • Contractor

Recent Employers

  • Quad Three Group Inc.
  • Borton-Lawson
  • Pennoni Engineering
  • Cowen Associates
  • HDR Engineering
  • The Crossroads Group
  • Washington County, MD

Graduate Schools

  • Lehigh University
  • Penn State
  • Texas A&M
  • Villanova University
  • University of Central Florida
  • University of Delaware

I really had the opportunity at Wilkes to make my time here count. I was able to create my own path and make my four years matter.

Nia Williams '17 - Environmental Engineering