I’m looking into colleges in the Midwest area that are good in the engineering field. I’ve found plenty of options, but some have a separate degree for EnvE while some others don’t. This wouldn’t be a problem, as all the colleges also allow you to get a degree in CE and concentrate in EnvE. My question is, what is the coursework difference? I don’t think I would like CE nearly as much as EnvE, and I would like to limit the amount of classes that I don’t necessarily enjoy. General answers on separate degrees vs concentrating in a certain subject are welcome also. Thanks!
Edit- sorry if this is in the wrong thread. My selection for colleges hinges quite a bit on this question though.
You need to look at the specific courses required for each degree program. All that is right on each college or university website.
Thanks… Didn’t even realize that was an option for when looking at CE and concentrating in EnvE!
Just dig around and you will be able to find the full programs each place requires for the majors/minors/concentrations. Look at requirements for general education distribution and for electives within the major field as well. We did that for Happykid’s major. At her university, the courses offered for a concentration in her specialization were almost exactly the same as what other universities considered to be a major in that topic. In the end, the courses that show up in your transcript are more important than what your university names your major.
Environmental Engineering is a specialization within Civil Engineering.
Sometimes it is only offered at the masters level.
At the undergraduate level, sometimes the difference is just the selection of electives within the context of Civil Engineering.
The presence of a separate degree program can be a proxy for a wider selection and depth of coursework when it comes to electives and/or the presence of ABET accreditation.
In Civil Engineering and its associated specializations ABET accreditation can be important, so make sure you understand the differences. Ideally each school has an associated degree sheet or equivalent that you can look up.
Best of luck!
Some examples:
ABET Accredited
Civil
http://students.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/BSCE2021-DegreeSheet.pdf
Environmental
http://students.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/BSEVE2021-DegreeSheet.pdf
Non ABET Accredited
Environmental Health
http://students.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/AASDegreeSheetBSEEH2020.pdf
On-line resource for lookup of ABET accredited degree programs.
http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx
Ah okay thanks guys. Makes sense. From what I can tell concentrating in EnvE vs a degree in EnvE is very similar but also different. Obviously probably depends on the school, but for example : Madison treats it as a concentration, and you still need to take all of the CE courses to concentrate in EnvE, which I’m not really interested in. While Purdue and Twin Cities have separate ABET accredited EnvE programs. These focus a lot more heavily on just EnvE, which I am a lot more interested and I think better suited for. I think I just answered my own question haha. If I’m wrong about anything or if there is anymore input I’d be glad though! Thanks for all the help!
“I don’t think I would like CE nearly as much as EnvE” - What aspects fo EnvE appeal to you? You use the term “EnvE” like it is a standard term, but I think it varies a lot from school to school.
I was originally Civ/Env but switched to Mech my sophore year - ha, 1981, so not recent experiences. From what I know about Engineering (much of it learned on these threads, not my own experience which has all been at one big corporataion) … in general it is better to go the Civ/Env route. But if you tell us more about your interests, we can advise better.
Hm. To be perfectly honest, I only think I would like the courses taken for EnvE because they have to do with the professions EnvE go into. I would he happy doing anything EnvE do (I think). I think environmental remediation work and waste water/air pollution would be the most interesting however. Like I said though, I think I would find anything they do interesting. Reading the “What environmental engineers do” tab on the bureau of labor statistics, nothing really pops out to me as “oh I would hate to do that”. Hope that provides a little insight into what I find interesting. However, I know that summaries of jobs do not give a very good view of what they actually do. So, I’m sure some of the jobs I would like much better than other.