Civil Engineering

In 2017, the American Society of Civil Engineers graded the U.S. infrastructure system and gave it a D+. Business as usual is not an option anymore, so civil engineers are faced with building and rebuilding the future. As the broadest of the engineering professions, civil engineering provides a foundation for careers in structural engineering, construction materials engineering, construction management, geotechnical engineering, transportation, water resource engineering and fluid mechanics. With a major in civil engineering from Clemson, you'll learn to create, plan, design, construct, maintain and operate the structures, facilities and systems that are vital to the economy and to sustaining our civilization. The focus of the program is sustainable and resilient infrastructure.

Freshmen who major in engineering at Clemson are initially admitted into our general engineering program, where you'll have a year to explore many different engineering disciplines, meet faculty from each of our engineering departments and discover which major fits your personal interests and talents. On the admissions application, you will apply as a general engineering major.

As a civil engineering major you'll work closely with talented faculty who share a passion for civil engineering and for educating the next generation.

Construction Engineering and Management Emphasis: Dive into engineering and building systems and the management concepts used to execute construction projects.

Construction Materials Emphasis: Discover how to analyze and design materials including concrete, asphalt, aggregate and soil.

Environmental Engineering Emphasis: Strengthen your depth of understanding of how civil engineering interfaces with the environment.

Geotechnical/Geo-environmental Engineering Emphasis: Learn in situ, mechanical and physical properties of geo-materials and the related environmental issues.

Structural Engineering Emphasis: Understand the behavior of various structural materials and learn to analyze and design complex structural systems.

Transportation Systems Emphasis: Learn how to effectively move people and goods through interconnected air, land and marine transportation systems.

Water Resources Engineering: Gain specialized education in the movement and behavior of surface and subsurface water and their interaction with each and other and with natural and manmade conditions.

For the 2022 admissions cycle, Clemson has adopted a test-optional policy. Applicants are not required to submit a standardized test score to be considered for admission to Clemson for the 2022-2023 academic year.

If you choose that test scores should be used, your scores must be submitted electronically by the respective testing agency. Clemson’s institutional code for SAT is 5111, and the code for ACT is 3842. Clemson super-scores both the SAT and the ACT. For the SAT, this means that the overall total SAT score will then be derived by taking the highest of the evidence-based reading and writing/math scores.

According to The ACT, superscoring at Clemson means that we “consider a student’s highest ACT section (or subtest) scores regardless of test date. The super composite ACT score is calculated as the average of the best ACT English, Reading, Math, and Science subject scores and is used as one of multiple factors in admission and financial aid.”