PhD Civil Engineering at UTK: Fees 2026 Dates & Requirements

Specific departmental requirements for the PhD include:

A minimum of 72 credit?hours beyond the bachelor?s degree, exclusive of credit for the MS thesis. Of this number, a minimum of 24 credit?hours in 600 Doctoral Research and Dissertation will be required. It is expected that the research work will be in journal publication form prior to approval of the dissertation.

A minimum of 18 credit?hours of graduate courses in civil engineering or environmental engineering, exclusive of thesis or dissertation credit, at least 6 credit hours of which must be 600-level courses.

Additional coursework in civil engineering, environmental engineering, or related scientific and engineering fields, amounting to a minimum of 18 credit?hours, subject to approval by the student?s faculty committee. These related fields will normally include such disciplines as mechanics, chemistry, mathematics, microbiology, physics, and other engineering fields. A minimum of 6 credit?hours of mathematics will be required beyond the civil engineering undergraduate requirements.

At the discretion of the student?s dissertation committee and depending on the student?s background, more than 36 credit hours of courses may be required.