MS in Earth and Environmental Engineering

Engage in research that drives real change and addresses global environmental challenges. You’ll have the chance to assist faculty with their research projects and gain firsthand insight into the vital role of earth and environmental engineering.

Join a department full of active scholars who are pioneering research in areas like energy-efficient desalination, resource recovery from waste materials, and AI-empowered climate modeling.

Don’t interrupt your career. We offer full-time and part-time options so you can fit your MS studies around your professional and personal commitments.

Focus your studies in one of three elective specializations including Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Mining and Materials, and Water Resources and Climate Risks. You also have the option to design your own elective specialization to reflect your personal interests and career goals.

Our dedicated Assistant Director of Graduate Career Placement can provide you with expert advice both during your studies and after graduation. You’ll receive personalized career guidance, application support, tailored workshops, and access to exclusive job opportunities within the earth and environmental engineering sector and beyond.

If you hold an appropriate bachelor’s degree in Engineering and already know you want to undertake a PhD, you can apply to our MS/PhD Track. You will be considered a doctoral student and will be eligible to receive equivalent funding. If you are not successful, you could still be offered a place on our MS program.

Explore, design and test energy technologies and infrastructure to address environmental and resource challenges.

Structure:

• Core courses:
  • A Better Planet by Design
  • Energy Sources and Conversion
  • Energy System Economics and Optimization
  • Introduction to Carbon Management
• Three-credit research course or six-credit thesis
• Specialized electives

Learn how to develop innovative engineering solutions to ensure the sustainable use and transformation of the Earth’s resources.

Structure:

• Core courses:
  • A Better Planet by Design
  • Industrial Ecology of Manufacturing
  • Introduction to Surface and Colloid Chemistry
  • Introduction to Sustainable Production of Earth Mineral and Metal Resources
• Three-credit research course or six-credit thesis
• Specialized electives 

Tackle the urgent challenges of water quality management on this climate-focused elective specialization.

Structure:

• Core courses:
  • A Better Planet by Design
  • Environmental Data Analysis and Modeling
  • Hydrosystems
  • Machine Learning for Environmental Engineering and Science
  • Management of Water Systems
  • Sustainable Water Treatment and Reuse
• Specialized electives

You also have the option to design your own elective specialization in consultation with your supervisor. This enables you to focus your studies to reflect your individual research and career interests. 

Mandatory requirements:

• Online application form
• A bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field from an accredited institution
• Transcripts from every post-secondary institution attended
• Three letters of recommendation
• Résumé or CV
• Personal statement
• $85 non-refundable application fee
• International applicants, or applicants whose undergraduate degree was received in a country in which English is not the official spoken language, must submit:
  • Results of an English language test. Accepted tests include the Test of English as a Foreign Language iBT (TOEFL) — including TOEFL iBT Home Edition, International English Language Testing System Academic (IELTS), Pearson Test of English (PTE Academic), or Duolingo English Test (DET). The ETS School Code for the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science is 2111.
  • Translation of the official transcript(s) and degree/diploma certificate(s) if the institution(s) attended does not issue transcripts in English. The translation must be conducted by a reputable service provider. 

Optional requirements:

• Any publications that you have written
• Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test Scores (School Code: 2111)
• You may be invited to an interview

To graduate from our MS in Earth and Environmental Engineering program, you must complete:

• 30 credits of graduate coursework
• Some undergraduate level science courses depending on your academic background
• The combination of credits can either be:
  • 24 credits of lecture courses and 6 credits of research culminating in a Master’s Thesis.
  • 27 credits of lecture courses, 3 credits of research which involves assisting a faculty member with ongoing analytical or experimental research, and a term paper describing your part in that research.
  • 30 credits of lecture courses approved by the Advisor. However, a thesis is strongly recommended.

Your academic plan of studies must be approved by the faculty by the second month of your first semester at Columbia.