Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering - Transportation Engineering

Transportation engineering involves the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of large-scale transportation facilities such as highways, airports, railroads, harbors, pipelines, and public transit systems. The civil engineer designs, builds and manages the infrastructure that provides for movement of both people and freight.
At the University of Virginia, undergraduate courses in transportation engineering focus on geometric design, pavement design, road user and vehicle characteristics, traffic studies and urban transportation planning. Computer methods are introduced and applied in many transportation applications. Complementary courses include probability and statistics and systems engineering courses. This transportation curriculum provides an excellent introduction to the methodology of transportation systems analysis and design.
The field of transportation engineering is comprised of two main streams of development: technology and planning. Technology is critical to the understanding of the function of the system, in predicting its performance and its costs, and in identifying alternatives in the form of fixed plant investments as well as operational changes. Planning methods are critical to long range plans and short-term system management problems, such as energy shortages and air pollution. The opportunities in transportation engineering appear to be excellent in the future. Graduates may be employed by governmental agencies, private companies, railroads, shippers, or transportation consultants. The transportation program at the University of Virginia is a flexible one that will prepare the student for a wide choice of careers. Civil Engineering is the broadest of all engineering professions and encompasses the application of science and technology to the planning, design, analysis, construction, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure and natural environment. Civil engineers are the fabricators of modern society and the protectors of our environment. Civil engineering program emphasizes the complex interrelationships between infrastructure, social systems, and the environment. We develop civil engineers who will seek to sustainably and equitably design, management, and construct infrastructure systems, and who are prepared to innovate with new materials and create and use digital and virtual technologies. Civil infrastructure is diverse, including many subsystems such as stormwater and drinking water systems, waste management systems, neighborhoods, highways, railways, high-rise buildings, and bridges. We develop the insight to anticipate how changes in one subsystem may affect the others and ultimately the environment, energy systems, communities, and the quality of life.

High School Transcripts. Typically, the most important factor in the admission evaluation process is demonstrated academic achievement in a challenging secondary school program. The admission committee looks for applicants who have completed the most rigorous academic courses available in their secondary schools and recommends that prospective students should exceed minimum high school graduation requirements. We require an official transcript. The secondary program should include no fewer than 16 academic courses and must include the following courses: English 4 units Mathematics 4 units Foreign Language 2 units Science (from among biology, chemistry, and physics) 2 units (*) Social Studies 1 unit A TOEFL or IELTS score should not be more than two years old. Depending on the school, most admitted graduate students attain a minimum total score of 90 on the internet-based (iBT) TOEFL (including sectional minimums of 22 in speaking, 22 in writing, 23 in reading and 23 in listening). The minimum paper-based TOEFL score requirement is usually 600, and the minimum IELTS score requirement is 7.0.