Top Civil Engineering Schools in 2015

Discover the top civil engineering schools based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020.

Focused on the design and creation of all kinds of structures – including buildings, roads, dams, canals, bridges and infinite other useful things – civil and structural engineering is an invaluable profession across the modern world.

Thanks to the continued development of technology and innovation in the sector, today more than ever society is seeing an increased need for experts in these fields. Those who study civil engineering at a leading university are well-placed to enter a jobs market with high levels of graduate recruitment and exciting opportunities from early on.

But what are the world’s top civil engineering schools? Here’s where the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015 can help, providing a ranking of the 200 top civil engineering schools around the planet. The ranking is compiled based on employer and academic reputation, as well as research citations (find out more here).

Read on for an overview of the leading civil engineering departments across each world region, or take a look at the full top 200 here.

Top civil engineering schools in the US & Canada

The ranking features a total of 49 universities in the US & Canada, with 12 in Canada and 37 in the US. As well as the three US universities in the top 10 (see above), a further 18 are within the top 100, including the University of Texas at Austin (79^th in the overall QS World University Rankings® 2014/15), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (63^rd in the world rankings), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech, 107^th in the world rankings), Purdue University (102^nd in the world rankings), Texas A&M University (165^th in the world rankings), University of Michigan (23^rd in the world rankings), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA, 37^th in the world rankings) and University of California, San Diego (UCSD, 59^th in the world rankings) – all within the global top 50.

In Canada meanwhile, five schools rank within the top 100: the University of British Colombia (43^rd in the world rankings), University of Toronto (20^th in the world rankings), McGill University (21^st in the world rankings), University of Alberta (84^th in the world rankings) and the University of Waterloo (169^th in the world rankings).

To prepare for studying abroad in the US or Canada, visit our country guides.

Top civil engineering schools in Europe

Home to the most top civil engineering universities in Europe is the UK, with 25 entries in the ranking. As well as Imperial College London and Cambridge in the top 10, also ranked among the world’s top 100 are the University of Oxford (5= in the world rankings), the University of Manchester (30^th in the world rankings), the University of Sheffield (69^th in the world rankings), UCL (University College London, 5^th in the world rankings), the University of Bristol (29^th in the world rankings), the University of Edinburgh (17^th in the world rankings) and the University of Leeds (97^th in the world rankings).

Each with seven top universities for civil engineering are Germany and Italy. While Italy claims two within the top 50 – the Politecnico di Milano (229^th in the world rankings) and Politecnico di Torino (365^th in the world rankings) – Germany offers four within the top 100: Technische Universität München (TU Munich, 54^th in the world rankings), KIT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (127^th in the world rankings), Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen, 147^th in the world rankings) and Universität Stuttgart (274^th in the world rankings).

There are plenty more top civil engineering schools across Europe, including three each in Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Of these, only Greece’s National Technical University of Athens (441-450 in the world rankings), Spain’s Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (337^th in the world rankings) and Sweden’s KTH, Royal Institute of Technology (110^th in the world rankings) are within the top 50 worldwide. Also among the top 100 are the Belgian KU Leuven (82^nd in the world rankings), the Portuguese University of Porto (293^rd in the world rankings), the Greek Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (461-470 in the world rankings), the Spanish Politécnica de Madrid (385^th in the world rankings) and the Swedish Chalmers University of Technology (175^th in the world rankings) and Lund University (60^th in the world rankings).

Each with two entries in the ranking are the Czech Republic, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. While the Netheralands’ Delft University takes second place, Switzerland’s ETH Zurich (12^th in the world rankings) places 12^th and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, 17^th in the world rankings) ranks 21^st. The Czech Technical University in Prague (411-420 in the world rankings) ranks within the top 100, while Ireland’s Trinity College Dublin (71^st in the world rankings) and University College Dublin (UCD, 139^th in the world rankings) both feature in the top 200.

European countries offering one entrant each are Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Lithuania and Norway. The Technical University of Denmark (123^rd in the world rankings) ranks 49^th worldwide and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (246^th in the world rankings) also ranks within the top 100. Also featured are Austria’s Vienna University of Technology (246^th in the world rankings), Finland’s Aalto University (187^th in the world rankings), France’s Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA, 401-410 in the world rankings) and Lithuania’s Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (701+ in the world rankings).

Learn more about studying abroad in Europe with our comprehensive country guides.

Top civil engineering schools in Asia

In addition to Tsinghua University in the top 10, China claims 12 more top civil engineering schools, the most of any country in Asia. Of these Chinese schools, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (104^th in the world rankings) and Tongji University (393^rd in the world rankings) rank among the world’s top 50, while the Harbin University of Technology (481-490 in the world rankings), Peking University (57^th in the world rankings) and Zhejiang University (144^th in the world rankings) are also among the top 100.

In Japan, meanwhile, there are nine top civil engineering universities. As well as the prestigious University of Tokyo in 10^th place, Kyoto University (36^th in the world rankings) and the Tokyo Institute of Technology (68^th in the world rankings) are also among the top 50 for civil engineering, while Tohoku University (71^st in the world rankings) is within the top 100.

Of India’s seven representatives, four Indian Institutes of Technology are ranked within the world’s top 100: IIT Bombay (IITB, 222^nd in the world rankings), IIT Delhi (IITD, 235^th in the world rankings), IIT Kharagpur (IITKGP, 324^th in the world rankings) and IIT Madras (IITM, 322^nd in the world rankings).

While all six of South Korea’s offerings rank within the top 100, two are among the top 50: KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (51^st in the world rankings) and Seoul National University (SNU, 31^st in the world rankings).

A further five leading schools for civil and structural engineering can be found in Malaysia, led by Universiti Malaya (UM, 151^st in the world rankings), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM, 309^th in the world rankings) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM, 294^th in the world rankings).

All of Hong Kong’s four world-leading civil engineering schools are ranked well within the global top 50. Following HKU in 9^th place, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (162^nd in the world rankings) comes in at 11^th, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST, 40^th in the world rankings) in 17^th, and the City University of Hong Kong (108^th in the world rankings) in joint 35^th.

Taiwan also offers four entrants in the ranking, including National Taiwan University at 28^th (NTU, 76^th in the world rankings) and National Cheng Kung University at 51-100 (232^nd in the world rankings).

Finally, both Singapore and Thailand have two schools in the ranking. While Thailand’s offerings are both ranked 151-200 – the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (unranked in the world rankings) and Chulalongkorn University (243^rd in the world rankings) – Singapore’s schools are both within the world’s top 50, including NUS in 3^rd place worldwide and Nanyang Technological University (NTU, 39^th in the world rankings) in 18^th.

View our full range of country guides for information about studying abroad in Asia, or to discover more leading universities in the region, see the latest QS University Rankings: Asia.

Top civil engineering schools in Latin America

There are eight Latin American universities featured in the civil engineering ranking, split between four countries. Brazil boasts half of these, including the Universidade de São Paulo (USP, 132^nd in the world rankings) at 47^th and the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (271^st in the world rankings) at 101-150. Chile boasts two entrants: the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (167^th in the world rankings) ranked 51-100 and the Universidad de Chile ranked 151-200 (220^th in the world rankings). Finally, Colombia and Mexico each offer one. These are the Colombian Universidad de Los Andes Colombia (262^nd in the world rankings) at 151-200 and the Mexican Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, 175^th in the world rankings) at 51-100.

See our full range of Latin American country guides, or discover more leading universities in the region with the latest edition of the QS University Rankings: Latin America.

Top civil engineering schools in Australia & New Zealand

Of the 15 leading civil engineering schools in Australia and New Zealand, 13 belong to the Aussies and two to the Kiwis. For Australia, these include the University of New South Wales (48^th in the world rankings), the University of Sydney (37^th in the world rankings), Monash University and the University of Melbourne (33^rd in the world rankings) in the top 50, as well as Queensland University of Technology (QUT, 285^th in the world rankings), RMIT University (304^th in the world rankings), the University of Adelaide (100^th in the world rankings), the University of Queensland (UQ, 43^rd in the world rankings), the University of Western Australia (89^th in the world rankings) and the University of Newcastle (257^th in the world rankings) all ranked 51-100.

New Zealand’s two offerings in the civil engineering ranking are the University of Auckland (92^nd in the world rankings) and the University of Canterbury (242^nd in the world rankings) both in the top 50 worldwide.

Learn more about what to expect from studying in Australia and New Zealand with our country guides.

Top civil engineering schools in the Middle East

Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia each claim two leading civil engineering schools within their borders, of which the Turkish Middle East Technical University ranks highest at 51-100 (401-410 in the world rankings). Turkey’s second offering, Istanbul Technical University (501-550 in the world rankings), ranks at 101-150, while Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM, 225^th in the world rankings) places at 101-150 and King Saud University (KSU, 249^th in the world rankings) ranks 151-200.

Iran and Israel each feature once in the civil engineering ranking, with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (190^th in the world rankings) at 101-150 and the University of Tehran (651-700 in the world rankings) at 151-200.

Heading towards the south-west into Africa, Egypt features in the ranking with Cairo University (551-600 in the world rankings) at 151-200 for civil and structural engineering. The only other African country featured is South Africa with the University of Cape Town (141^st in the world rankings) also ranked 151-200.

To read more about studying abroad in each of these regions, head to our where to study site section.

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