In general, the best time for civil engineering majors to study abroad is during the first semester of their sophomore or junior years. If you are participating in the BS/MS Program, the first semester of your fifth year is also a good time to study abroad. Because your senior design courses must be completed at the University of Iowa, it is not recommended that you study abroad during your senior year.

Civil engineering students who study abroad during the academic year may need to take summer courses at the University of Iowa and/or add a semester to their expected graduation date in order to fulfill all of their academic requirements. (For more information about coordinating study abroad with your academic requirements, see the “Academics” tab of this webpage.)

If you would prefer not to study abroad during the academic year, various off-semester programs relevant to engineering students are also available. See the “Programs” tab for more information about summer and short-term study abroad programs.

All engineering students are strongly encouraged to plan their study abroad experience well in advance of their departure date. Be in touch with your advisors (both in Study Abroad and in the College of Engineering) early on in the planning process.

If you would like to study abroad during the academic year but can’t seem to find the time, it may be possible to complete some of your course requirements during a summer at the UI, thereby freeing up a semester to study abroad. If you are interested in completing some of your course requirements during the summer, consult with a faculty advisor in your major department about which courses are typically offered during summer sessions. They will be able to help you decide if you can take enough summer coursework to manage studying abroad during the academic year.

There are many opportunities for civil engineering students to fulfill academic requirements abroad. In general, courses taken abroad can be substituted for UI courses with approval from the appropriate UI department. Consult with a study abroad advisor about getting overseas courses approved for UI requirements. Once you select a program of interest, your study abroad advisor will give you a Credit Approval Form to complete with a College of Engineering academic advisor. Students in the Bachelor’s to Master’s program will need to get overseas course approvals from both the College of Engineering and from the Graduate School.

Major Requirements

Some courses in the Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) Curriculum will be easier to find overseas equivalents for than others. It will be relatively easy to find overseas equivalents for your General Education Component courses, Engineering Fundamentals courses (ENGR:2110 Statics, 2120 Electrical Circuits, and 2130 Thermodynamics), and Principles courses (CHEM:1110 Principles of Chemistry I and CEE:3533 Principles of Structural Engineering, 3763 Principles of Transportation Engineering, 3155 Principles of Environmental Engineering, and 3371 Principles of Hydraulics & Hydrology Engineering). CEE students have also had success finding overseas equivalents for CEE:3530 Soil Mechanics. If you plan in advance with an academic advisor in your department, you may be able to fulfill some of your Elective Focus Area courses abroad as well.

Typically, it is difficult to find overseas equivalents for CEE:2150 Natural Environmental Systems, ENGR:2710 Dynamics, and ENGR:2750 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies. Courses that are worth 4 semester hours also tend to be harder to find overseas substitutes for (e.g., ENGR:2510 Fluid Mechanics). Senior design courses (Water Resource Design, Structural Design of Concrete, Structural Design of Steel, Environmental Design, and Transportation Design) are usually completed at the University of Iowa, and your senior capstone (CEE: 4084 Project Design & Management in Civil Engineering) must be completed at the UI.

Keep in mind that some courses in the CEE curriculum are offered once per academic year and that many are prerequisites for courses you’ll need to take in future semesters. As you plan your study abroad experience, be sure your trip won’t prevent you from completing these prerequisites in time.

For courses that are difficult or impossible to find equivalents for abroad, one option is to complete these during a summer session at the University of Iowa. Often, the following courses are offered in the summer: CEE:1030 Intro to Earth Science, CEE:4103 Water Quality, CEE:4511 Numerical Calculations, CEE:5372 Exp Meth in Fluid Mech & Heat Transfer, and CEE:4512 Eng Design Optimization.

General Education Components

Because your General Education Component courses (GECs) are typically lower level, non-specialized courses, it may be easier to find overseas equivalents for those than for some of your upper-level engineering courses.

Language courses are especially good GECs to complete abroad. Of your required 15 GEC semester hours, you can take up to 12 semester hours of select language courses, as long as they are intermediate level or higher. For a list of approved languages, see the College of Engineering’s GEC webpage—linked to above. If you’re interested in taking language courses abroad, information about language-intensive study abroad programs is provided under the “Programs” tab.

Other GECs you might consider finding overseas equivalents for are those that include a cultural component. For instance, courses in approved GEC disciplines like Art History, Communication, Women’s Studies, and Economics are likely taught from varying cultural perspectives around the globe. For Civil Engineering Majors, a course in Urban and Regional Planning (another approved GEC discipline) might be particularly interesting to study in a foreign cultural context.

Elective Focus Area Courses

Your Elective Focus Area (EFA) is a set of 7 courses (21 semester hours) required for your degree. The Civil & Environmental Engineering Department offers several pre-approved EFA plans (with a list of courses that would fulfill the EFA), or students can propose their own custom EFA. All EFA courses must be advanced level courses, and some of the course requirements for the recommended EFAs can be quite specialized (i.e. difficult to find equivalents for overseas). Still, it may be possible for you to complete some of your EFAs abroad with the approval of your faculty advisor and the CEE Department. If you are completing a custom EFA, you may be able to design it with your study abroad experience in mind. If you are completing one of the pre-approved EFAs, research some of the other major advising pages on this site to see if they offer any programs relevant to your focus area. (For instance, if you are completing the Management EFA, check out the advising page for Business majors.)

General Electives

Study abroad can be a great opportunity to explore new disciplines. While you will not receive credit toward your major for general electives taken abroad, it’s possible to receive credit toward graduation. Talk to an advisor in the Study Abroad office for information about earning credit for general electives completed overseas.

Study abroad can be expensive. Luckily, various scholarships and grants are available for engineering students interested in gaining international experience. In addition to the various study abroad scholarships offered to UI students through International Programs, eligible students are encouraged to apply for the following scholarships offered through the College of Engineering. Questions about these scholarships should be directed to the Director of Finance in the College of Engineering.

Robert E. Moulds Global Engineering Scholarship

This scholarship is available to students in a declared College of Engineering major that are interested in the international environment and study abroad. Recipients must demonstrate financial need. Preference for these awards will go to undergraduate students interested in a VIPT program or a CoE-sponsored Study Abroad Program. Awards will range in amount from $1,000-$2,500 depending on the number of applicants and the funds available.

Oskvig Global Engineering Scholarship

This scholarship is available to Iowa residents in a declared Engineering major. Recipients must demonstrate interest in working in developing countries and working with energy and/or water. Awards will range in amount from $1,000-$2,500 depending on the number of applicants and the funds available.

JW Deegan Fund

Any College of Engineering undergraduate who has committed to an international experience and who demonstrates financial need (as determined by the FAFSA) is eligible for this award. It can be used to assist with airfare expenses. Award amounts will vary based on the number of applicants, the amount available, and the student's estimated cost of airfare.

In addition to fulfilling academic requirements abroad, civil engineering students are encouraged to intern, conduct research, take language courses, and explore new academic disciplines. The long-term and short-term study abroad programs listed below offer engineering courses that could likely be substituted for some of your major requirements. (See the "Academics" section for information about overseas course approvals.) Also listed are a few funded internship and research opportunities for engineering students.

If you would like to take language courses while abroad, information about language-intensive study abroad programs is available on the General Education MAP You can also search our programs database (using the language filter) for information about language programs. If you are interested in earning credit toward a language minor while abroad, talk to a study abroad advisor.

Students interested in taking non-engineering courses while abroad are encouraged to browse the programs database (using the discipline filter) and consult our Steps to Studying Abroad advising page. You are also encouraged to visit the Study Abroad Resource Room (located in the International Programs Office, 1111 University Capitol Centre), where a peer assistant can help you research study abroad programs.

Semester and Year-long

Iowa Regents Semester in Wales: Swansea University

Swansea University offers courses in Civil Engineering. Participants in this program take a British Culture & Politics course—which incorporates various local field trips—then enroll in regular courses at the university. You can attend for a semester or for the academic year.

CIEE Madrid Engineering & Society

This program is hosted by the Universidad Carlos III, one of Spain’s top-ranking engineering schools. Participants take a series of elective courses—aerospace, energy, communication, electrical, industrial, materials, and telecommunication engineering courses are offered—as well as a Spanish language course and a Spanish culture course. Courses can be taken in English or Spanish. You can also complete a for-credit Engineering-related internship via this program.

Summer

CIMBA Italy Program

Participants in this 4-week program take two courses from the following disciplines: engineering, business, economics, journalism, communication studies, and beginning Italian. Individual course descriptions are available on the CIMBA website. Typically, the engineering course offered is Statics. (For information about engineering courses that will be offered in the future, contact the CIMBA office, located in the Pappajohn Business Building Suite W230, or email cuis-info@uiowa.edu.) Faculty and students are drawn from American universities, and the instruction is in English.

Internships

General advice about interning abroad is available on the Internships Abroad page.

Research 

The Stanley Awards for International Research

The Stanley Awards are given annually to outstanding UI students for the pursuit of learning activities in international studies that are not available on the UI campus. Awards are given to undergraduates who have developed small-scale independent research or fieldwork projects on international topics that require travel abroad, and to graduate students who are in the early stages (pre-proposal stage only) of conducting research abroad for a master’s thesis. Award stipends vary depending on merit and the travel and living costs associated with the research project, but generally, they reimburse expenses between $1,000 and $3,000. Awards recipients are typically announced in April. Once the award is offered, recipients must complete their travel within the calendar year.