<p>There are only a few schools that actually offer a program in Architectual engineering or in Structural engineering. If this is what my HS junior son wants to study, are there ways to pursue this line of education in other programs?</p>
<p>I have a HS jr daughter also interested in this path. She's also interested in Environmental Engineering. Since both Architectural & Environmental generally fall under Civil Engineering, she's looking only at schools that offer all 3. With the exception of Texas A&M that is :-) Right now her list includes, CU Boulder, KU, OU & Tx A&M. All 4 have good engineering programs that appear to be broad enough in case she decides against Arch Eng. She's just beginning to visit, so we shall see how she feels after her visits. Her approach to choosing schools was 1. To see what schools offer Arch Eng. 2. Determine which of those were also on the US News List of best undergrad Eng programs. That gave her a listof 12 schools from which she chose CU, KU & OU. A&M is just a school she wants to look at even thought they don't have either Ach or Env Eng. From web site brousing, she's particularly interested in the CU Boulder Engineering program. Her interest in Arch Eng stems from her interest in Art History, so I'm not sure that Arch Eng as an interest will last.<br>
All of this is to say we would love to know more also.</p>
<p>Penn State offers a program in Architectural Engineering AND civil engineering. If I wasn't doing Aerospace engineering, I would be doing one of those or mechanical engineering. I, personally, think all of those are a very nice field to study.</p>
<p>I believe Penn State's AE program is ranked second, behind UTA. Their program is more comprehensive than many others (5 years vs 4, with a nice opportunity to do a summer in Rome and earn a MAE in that five years). One thing that DS liked about the program is that some of the design courses are actually taught by the architecture faculty. At other schools we visited there didn't seem to be much cooperation at all between the two programs. They also have an incredible placement rate; more companies come to recruit at the job fair than the department graduates each year. One student we know of had five very attractive offers all in the mid-Atlantic area where he was hoping to live.</p>
<p>The MS degree is gradually displacing the BS as the first professional degree in civil engineering. In fact, the MS degree (or equivalent post-graduate study) is likely to become a legal requirement for professional engineering licensure in many states over the next decade. ASCE and NCEES have formally recommended this change, and state boards are currently considering it.</p>
<p>If you want to pursue any specialized branch of civil engineering (architectural, structural, environmental, traffic, geotechnical, etc.), your educational (and career) options are likely to be much greater if you are prepared to pursue a BS/MS combination, rather than a terminal BS.</p>