Pennsylvania State University offers the Bachelor of Rail Transportation Engineering as a full-time degree delivered on campus at its Any Penn State Campus and Altoona campuses in University Park , United States of America. Taught in English and completed over 4 years, the program equips students with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required for rail transportation engineering and related professional fields. The next available intake begins on June 1, 2027.
Rail Transportation Engineering (RTE) prepares students for careers in freight and transit rail. The curriculum is based on civil engineering with emphasis on rail transportation.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RAIL TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
You are seeking a technological career in a robust industry.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WHY STUDENTS CHOOSE TO STUDY RAIL TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
The Bachelor of Science in Rail Transportation Engineering (RTEAL) will provide students with the necessary skills for careers in the rail freight and passenger transportation industries. The RTEAL degree provides a solid background in engineering design, but also focuses on the maintenance and management skills required by the rail industry. The program provides a breadth of knowledge in the major areas associated with the design, operation, and maintenance of rail systems, including the engineering of rail and track structures, basic rail operating practices and safety, wheel/track dynamics, construction and maintenance of railroad infrastructure, and basic railroad communications and signals. Laboratories are used throughout the RTEAL curriculum to provide students with experiences in the field with actual rail equipment, and extensive team-based laboratory activities are used to develop the leadership qualities that are essential of rail professionals. In order to prepare students for the occupational challenges associated with careers in the rail industry, careful and candid discussions of career possibilities and working environments typical of railway professionals are provided throughout the RTEAL program.
Penn State requires the submission of specific academic credentials to complete your application. Review the secondary and post-secondary requirements for your country below.
If you are a first year student applying to Penn State:
Click Apply to start your Penn State application. Before starting, you can also review the Applying Online Worksheet for more details and helpful hints about the application.
Your application work can be saved at each step of the process by clicking the Save and Continue button at the bottom of the page. This feature will allow you to move back and forth within the application or log off and return to complete your application at a later time.
After completing your Academic History, you will need to provide your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR). As you begin the SRAR process, a new window will open allowing you to complete your SRAR. SRAR will focus on your high school coursework. It is important that this step is a complete and accurate representation of your school record. Therefore, have a copy of your secondary school records available as you complete your SRAR. You will need to enter every class and every grade earned for the last three years, as well as those classes in progress.
After completing your SRAR, you will be directed back to the Penn State application in order to complete the Program of Study portion of the application. Here, you will indicate your desired starting semester, your intended program of study, and your starting and ending campus. For further details on how to complete this portion based on your applicant type, please see the steps to apply for first-year students.
After completing this section of the application, you will provide some additional information, an activities resume, and a personal statement. You will be able to paste in this information from other sources, but note that the formatting may not always paste in as intended.
If you are a transfer student applying to Penn State:
All international transfer students will be required to submit official high school transcripts in order to complete the application. International transfer students will not complete the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) for either their high school or college coursework.
If you have accepted your offer of admission to Penn State:
If you completed SRAR and are accepted to Penn State, please provide the following for grade verification:
Career Services supports and serves students and alumni, faculty and staff, families, and employers in all areas related to career development and preparation. We can assist in any of the following: Major and Career Exploration Career Decision-Making Preparation of Employment Documents Internship and Job Search Strategies Interview Preparation Preparing for Graduate School Developing your Professional Online Brand Presentations and Workshops.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT POTENTIAL CAREER OPTIONS FOR GRADUATES OF THE RAIL TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING PROGRAM
The first step of the application process is to create a Penn State account, if you do not have one already. MyPennState is where future students can access the online application.
If you are new to MyPennState, you will need to establish a Penn State User ID and password, which you will access during the MyPennState profile creation process. Once you have your log in information, you can sign in to begin work on your application.
When creating the profile, please use the name that is on your passport. Because materials are filed alphabetically under the family name on the application, it is important that all correspondence and records consistently use the same name (family and given) and spelling. If this name does not match your academic records, please notify us of the difference. Please note: In the U.S., the family name is usually referred to as the last name, and the given name is referred to as the first name.
Additionally, Penn State requires a current, valid email address, as that is our primary means of communication with international students. To ensure deliverability, please make Penn State (psu.edu) an eligible sender to the account.
Applying to Penn State via the Common App is available to first-year (freshman) international students. If applying through the Common App, Penn State will create a MyPennState profile when the application is submitted and you will receive instructions on how to access your profile. If you intend to apply with the Common App, you do not need create a MyPennState profile prior to submitting your application.
While you can create a MyPennState profile at any time, the application for admission becomes available on the following dates:
Fall/Summer Admission: August 1
Spring Admission: June 1
The application submission dates vary by applicant type and intended program of study. Some programs have specific deadlines or admissions requirements. Please refer to our Dates & Deadlines for more information about application deadlines, as well as our Admissions Requirements to review information about any additional materials required for your intended program of study.
Click Apply Online to start your Penn State application.
Your application work can be saved at each step of the process by clicking the "Save and Continue" button at the bottom of the page. This feature will allow you to move back and forth within the application or log off and return to complete your application at a later time.
After completing your Academic History, you will need to provide your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR), unless otherwise directed. You will be directed to enter information about your secondary school coursework. Please have a copy of your secondary school records as you complete SRAR. It is important that this step is a complete and accurate representation of your school record. You will need to enter every grade for every course you have taken in the last three years, as well as your current schedule of classes.
Students educated in South Korea will not complete SRAR. The document requirements for South Korea can be found by reviewing our International Credential Requirements.
After this section, you will be directed back to the Penn State application to complete the Program of Study portion. Here, you will indicate your desired starting semester, your intended program of study, and your starting and ending campus. For further details on how to complete this portion based on your applicant type, please see the steps to apply for either first-year students or transfer students.
After this portion, you will provide some additional application information, an activities resume, and a personal statement. You will be able to paste in this information from other sources, but note that the formatting may not always paste in as intended.
Complete the Common App, which will then direct you to MyPennState to complete SRAR. Applicants using the Common App may feel that they provided their high school record via the Common App, but Penn State requires the completion of SRAR via MyPennState. We strongly encourage you to obtain an official copy of your high school transcript to ensure accurate entry of your coursework completed and grades earned. The SRAR will include all of your high school coursework from your last three years of work and your current year schedule. If your final year grades are available when you enter SRAR, you can enter them at that time.
The application requires a nonrefundable application fee of $75 for international students. Be sure to complete the last step after Summary and Review, which finalizes payment of your fee, and be certain it is successfully submitted. Once the application is submitted, you can verify its completion by accessing your MyPennState profile.
In order to complete your Penn State application, we need the following materials:
Please note: The writing component of standardized tests (SAT or ACT) is not required. The writing component will not be used as part of our evaluation. If your test scores include the writing component, by all means, have those scores sent to Penn State. Additionally, we do not require SAT Subject Tests.
Please see the admissions requirements for international students to review the details about the required application materials. Some programs require additional items to complete your application. Please review our Admissions Requirements for those details.
Penn State does not require letters of recommendation, nor are they used in a student’s evaluation (unless required for a specific program).
You can always check the status of your application in MyPennState. We will communicate with you via MyPennState and through a series of emails regarding the missing items for your application. When everything has arrived, you will see a status in MyPennState confirming the completion of your application.
Please note: It is your responsibility to check on the status of your application and send us any missing materials.
Once we have reached a decision regarding your application, we will update your status in MyPennState and provide a printable PDF of your decision letter. Review our Dates & Deadlines to see when you should expect your decision.
If accepted, you can accept your offer of admission in MyPennState to begin the process of becoming a Penn State student. Visit our Accepted Students section to review the next steps in this process. Once you accept your offer of admission to Penn State, those students completing SRAR will submit their official records for validation purposes as soon as possible.
United States of America, University Park
