The objective of the Civil Engineering Program at the Illinois Institute of Technology is to prepare graduates to enter and be successful in the civil engineering profession. Graduates are expected to become licensed professional engineers, and to reach responsible positions in a wide range of professional settings including consulting firms, industry or government. As well, this program will prepare students to begin and successfully complete graduate studies in engineering and/or post- baccalaureate education in a professional degree program. The Civil Engineering Program provides breadth in core sub-disciplines and depth in at least one area of specialization.

The civil engineer often is confronted with conditions so variable and complex that they cannot be precisely defined by science and mathematics. Therefore, a knowledge of the arts and social sciences, as well as the physical sciences, is essential. In addition, because civil engineering requires overall planning of very large projects whose components involve many other disciplines, it is also necessary to have knowledge of management techniques. The goal of the civil engineering degree program is to provide an education that enables graduates to make far-reaching decisions that draw not only from technical knowledge but also from integrity and judgment.

In the professional courses, classroom lectures are supplemented by laboratory practice, including the study of materials, concrete, hydraulics, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, and surveying. The principal functional areas that are considered subdivisions of civil engineering are structural engineering, transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering, water resources engineering, and construction management.

The Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering provides introductory undergraduate education in these six sub-disciplines of civil engineering and provides professional specializations in the areas of structural, geotechnical, transportation, civil-environmental, construction engineering and architectural engineering. The department also offers graduate degree programs and conducts research in the areas of structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, transportation engineering, and construction engineering and management. In addition, the department provides undergraduate service courses to the College of Architecture in the area of structural engineering and through minors in construction management and fire protection and safety engineering.