Concurrent Master’s Degree Program with Civil and Environmental Engineering
This concurrent degree program is temporarily suspended and is not currently admitting students. Please check the upcoming 2021-22 Catalogue for additional information.
The Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy (UPPP) in the School of Social Ecology and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering offer a concurrent degree program that allows students to earn both a master of Urban and Regional Planning (M.U.R.P.) and a master of Civil Engineering (M.S.) in less than the three years required if the degrees were pursued sequentially. Students in the concurrent degree program must meet a minimum of twice with the UPPP graduate coordinator and/or MURP faculty program director. The first meeting is at the start of the student’s concurrent program to review current requirements and devise a plan of study for the MURP. The second meeting is the start of the third quarter of the first year of the concurrent program to assess progress toward the MURP, identify the student's Capstone choice, and review the plan for completion of MURP course work.
Requirements
The concurrent degree program involves a course plan that fulfills requirements in both programs. The engineering focus of the concurrent degree program requires 48 units and is organized around two tracks: (1) Transportation Systems, and (2) Hydrology and Water Resources Systems. The course load for both CEE and M.U.R.P. is the same for both tracks. For the CEE track, two plans are available: Thesis option and Course Work option. The plan of study for both options must be developed in consultation with a Faculty Advisor and approved by the Program Graduate Advisor. There may be no redundancy of courses between the CEE and M.U.R.P. tracks.
Plan I: Thesis Option
Thesis option requires the completion of 48 units of study of which a maximum of 10 units can be taken for study in conjunction with the thesis research topic. Upon approval of the Program Graduate Advisor, the maximum of 10 units of thesis research can be extended to 16 units. Thesis research includes the completion of an original research project; the writing of the thesis describing it; and a review by a thesis committee. Of the 48 units, a minimum of 28 units must be in non-research, graduate-level approved engineering or related courses (numbered 200-291) with at least 16 of 28 units from the CEE Department. The remaining units may be earned as graduate-level course work, individual research, or upper-division undergraduate units (maximum 10 units).
Plan II: Course Work Option
Course Work option requires the completion of 48 units of study, at least 40 of which must be in non-research graduate-level approved engineering or related courses (numbered 200-291) with at least 28 of 40 units from the CEE Department. The remaining eight units may be earned as graduate-level course work, individual research, or upper-division undergraduate units. Undergraduates seeking admission to the concurrent master’s degree program should have a strong record of course work in disciplines related to civil and environmental engineering and urban planning, and they must meet the requirements for admission in both departments. For more information about these requirements, visit the CEE Graduate Admissions and MURP Graduate Admissions websites.