Environmental Science

Graduate students in environmental science pursue coursework and research in a wide variety of areas, which include:

• Air quality
• Water quality
• Water treatment
• Wastewater treatment
• Solid and hazardous waste
• Bioremediation
• Stormwater treatment
• Wetlands management

The MS degree program in environmental science is open to full-time and part-time graduate students.  Students may start their graduate studies in the fall, spring or summer semester. 

A bachelor’s degree in a field of science is required for admission to the MS degree program in environmental science

A minimum of 3.0 GPA is required for admission into the environmental science graduate degree program.

Candidates for the MS degree in environmental science have 2 options. Option A requires 30 credit-hours including a thesis of 6 to 10 hours and a final oral examination including defense of the thesis. Option B requires 30 hours including a 3- or 4-hour special problem investigation in the specialization and a final examination. It does not require a thesis.

The MS degree in environmental science requires an understanding of chemical, biological, and physical principles of environmental engineering processes, i.e., satisfactory completion of CE 770, CE 772, CE 773 and CE 774 or equivalent.

Courses to be applied toward the M.S. degree must be listed on a Plan of Study form approved by the student’s major professor and examining committee and the departmental graduate advisor. All graduate students must have an approved Plan of Study on file by the beginning of their second semester of study. Graduate courses offered by the CEAE department are identified by the prefixes CE, ARCE and CMGT and are numbered 700 and above.  No more than 9 hours of courses from other departments or more than 6 hours of courses numbered below 700 (of which only 3 hours may be within the department) may be applied toward the degree without approval of the department’s graduate advisor. No more than 4 hours of special-problem credit may be applied toward any of the master’s degrees without approval of the department’s graduate advisor.

Doctoral students in environmental science pursue coursework and research in a wide variety of areas, which include:

• Air quality
• Water quality
• Water treatment
• Wastewater treatment
• Solid and hazardous waste
• Bioremediation
• Stormwater treatment
• Wetlands management

Students may start their graduate studies in the fall, spring or summer semester. A bachelor’s degree in a field of science is required for admission to the PhD degree program in environmental engineering.

Exceptionally well-qualified baccalaureate degree holders may be accepted directly into the fast-track PhD degree program without prior completion of a master’s degree.  Students in the fast-track PhD program are not required to write a master’s thesis or complete the MS degree en route to the PhD.

A minimum of 3.0 GPA is required for admission into the Environmental Science doctoral degree program.

Doctoral graduate students must satisfy the university’s requirements that apply to all doctoral degrees.  These requirements are stated in the "Doctoral Degree Requirements" section of the Academic Catalog. The student also must complete additional requirements of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering.

1.   The student must pass a qualifying exam to the satisfaction of a faculty advisory committee. This committee shall consist of the proposed dissertation advisor and at least two other members of the graduate faculty. At least two of the committee members must be CEAE faculty members holding regular graduate faculty status. A student with a master's degree must take the qualifying exam after completion of 12 credit-hours toward the doctoral degree. Students admitted to the doctoral degree program directly from the bachelor's degree must take the qualifying exam after completion of 30 credit-hours toward the doctoral degree. The final examination for a master's degree granted by the KU CEAE Department may also serve as the qualifying exam for the doctoral degree. In this case, the examining committee would make two separate pass/fail decisions: one for the master's exam and another for the doctoral qualifying exam.

2.   The student must submit a completed Plan of Study form before the end the first semester of study. The Plan of Study must be approved by the advisory committee identified in Item 1 above and must list the following:

(a)  The course work to be completed.  The amount of course work required for the doctoral degree depends on the student’s needs and level of preparation.  The student’s advisory committee will decide how many credit-hours of course work are needed and may require specific courses.  The course-work requirement may not be less than 24 credit-hours beyond the master’s degree, or 48 credit-hours beyond the bachelor’s degree for students without a master’s degree.   

(b) One proposed foreign language or research skill.  Any course work taken to satisfy the foreign language or research skill requirement shall be in addition to the course work required in item 2(a).

(c) The student's dissertation topic or the general area proposed for the dissertation.

3.   A minimum of 18 hours of research credit (CE 991 and CE 999 combined) are required. The student should enroll in CE 991 before passage of the comprehensive exam and CE 999 thereafter. The student’s enrollment in research hours should reflect the demand on the research advisor’s time.