What are the basic admission requirements?
Due to the large number of applications, pre-screening is not performed. You will have to formally apply before an assessment of your admissibility can be made. However, below are the basic guidelines. Please note that there are a wide variety of factors that are considered. More detailed information can be found on the Admissions page.
GPA – a minimum of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
TOEFL/IELTS – a required minimum TOEFL Internet-based Test (iTB) score for international students whose native language is not English of 18 on each part and a total score of at least 80. We also accept the IELTS exam (minimum score of 6.5 on each section).
GRE – there is no minimum required GRE score but qualitative scores should be competitive with the current applicant pool.

With less than 3.0 GPA, direct admission is not possible; if the overall application package looks acceptable, the review committee may recommend that a few (3-4) courses be taken as a non-degree studies (NDS) student and demonstrate proficiency. After the completion those courses, the review committee will review (or re-review) an application for admission consideration. Note that an applicant could transfer up to 12 hrs of graduate coursework, with at least a B grade, to your graduate coursework plan (i.e., you could transfer the NDS credits with a B or better grade).

GRE scores are no longer required for admission to any of our graduate programs. Applicants are welcome to submit GRE scores with their applications if they choose to do so. Since GRE scores are no longer required, they can not be used to judge or determine admission to the program. Submitted scores will be reviewed as reference only.

We receive a large number of requests for application fee waiver. NC State University is a public university, and we do not have a way to “waive” the application fee for anyone. The fee has to be paid by someone, either the applicant or the program. The program does not have the funds to cover the fee for all the applicants given the number of applications we receive. Thus, we are not in a position to cover anyone’s application fees.

Yes, as long as there is enough time to process the application. International students should also consider the time required to process their visa and travel documents to arrive before the start of the term.

The cost of attendance can be found on this chart Cost of Attendance: Graduate Student. Tuition and fees are subject to change each new academic year.

Depending on the prior academic preparation and experience, there are possible pathways to bridge from a non-engineering undergraduate degree to a master’s degree in civil engineering. The key purpose of the bridging includes: 1) to develop the necessary fundamental engineering knowledge to be prepared for graduate engineering courses; and 2) to build up sufficient engineering credit hours. With these considerations in mind, we have suggested lists of science/math and engineering courses for each area of concentration (e.g., transportation engineering, structural engineering, etc.). You can find that suggest list of background courses here: go.ncsu.edu/nonengineering.

Yes, both thesis and non-thesis programs are considered to be in the STEM field.

We fund a small percentage of our graduate students generally in the form of a Research Assistantship (RA) or a Teaching Assistantship (TA). International students must take and pass an NC State University speaking test before they can apply for a TA. RAs are available from individual faculty and vary according to the active grants and contracts that the faculty member has at any particular time. You may go to the Research link at our departmental web site and review our faculty interests. You may then contact those faculty members whose technical interests overlap with your own and inquire directly about possible research opportunities. Generally, TAs and RAs are not granted to non-thesis students. Funding decisions are usually made after admission.

Statements of Purpose can go over the word count limit within reason.

Yes, official scores are required during the application review process. An application will not be considered complete until officials scores have been received and usually not released to the department for review until complete. If an application is reviewed with only unofficial scores, a decision will not be made or submitted to the Graduate School without official test scores.