To earn an MS degree, students typically must take a comprehensive exam (this is campus policy) or in special cases where they have arranged it in advance, complete an MS thesis or report. To help students plan for sufficient performance on the comprehensive exam, the following guidelines were adopted by the ENV faculty, in consultation with student representatives, in the 2025-26 academic year:
- On the comprehensive exam, students choose 3 questions out of 4 options.
- Air Quality (CE218A)
- Fluid Mechanics (CE200A)
- Hydrology (including undergraduate material from CE103 and graduate material from CE203).
- Water Quality Engineering (including undergraduate material from CE115 and graduate material from CE211A).
- Performance on each question is summarized with the following point scale: 1 = needs improvement 2 = developing 3 = proficient 4 = excellent.
- One re-take is offered several weeks after the comp exam and open to any student who took the comprehensive exam that semester.
- To earn an MS degree, a passing comprehensive-exam score is typically at or above 7 points (out of 12 possible points, see above). Such performance is not considered sufficient on its own for earning an MS degree.
Some students working on their MS degree have arranged a PhD position with a research advisor, either during their MS year or before it. Proceeding from MS to PhD is technically an admission to a new degree, and thus subject to the review of an admissions committee. When a student shows sufficient academic progress, this committee review is usually brief. When there is a question about whether a student’s academic progress is sufficient, the ENV program faculty will meet and discuss the student’s admission to the PhD program using an approach of holistic review. To help students plan for sufficient academic progress, the following guidelines were adopted by the ENV faculty, in consultation with student representatives, in the 2025-26 academic year:
- Course grades at or above 3.0;
- CE299 grades satisfactory;
- Comprehensive exam score at or above 9 points (out of 12 possible points, see above)
- None of these assessments are considered sufficient on their own for admission to the PhD because we value the principle of holistic review.