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Educational Objectives & Outcomes

Program Educational Objectives

The educational objectives of our undergraduate education programs are in alignment with the mission of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the mission of the School of Engineering and the mission of MIT. They were developed as part of our latest curriculum revision, which began in 2013.

Institute Mission Statement

The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

The Institute is committed to generating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge, and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges. MIT is dedicated to providing its students with an education that combines rigorous academic study and the excitement of discovery with the support and intellectual stimulation of a diverse campus community. We seek to develop in each member of the MIT community the ability and passion to work wisely, creatively, and effectively for the betterment of humankind.

School of Engineering Mission Statement

The MIT School of Engineering’s mission is to educate the next generation of engineering leaders, to create new knowledge, and to serve society.

We strive to attract the most talented people in the world: to create, to innovate, and to see the unseen. Close knit and collaborative, the School is embedded in a hub for technology innovation, Kendall Square, and surrounded by the old world charm and cosmopolitan brio of Cambridge-Boston.

The largest of MIT’s five schools, the School of Engineering comprises about 70 percent of MIT’s undergraduates and 45 percent of graduate students. Just over a third of MIT’s faculty are in the School, and they generate more than half of the sponsored research at the Institute.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Mission Statement

Our core mission is to educate, inside and outside the classroom.  We offer undergraduate degree programs in the broad areas of infrastructure and environment.  Our graduate programs provide limitless possibilities at the frontier of knowledge and innovation.

Educational Objectives

Educational Objectives for the Bachelor of Science in General Engineering, Course 1-ENG Undergraduate Program

The current program educational objectives were developed as part of the program’s ongoing efforts to maintain through innovation an undergraduate program that meets the needs of our constituents. The current educational objectives of the undergraduate program are:

  1. Graduates will become principals in the industries associated with engineering and professional engineers starting-up and growing their own new firms. They will become recognized experts working in government, consulting firms, and international organizations around the country and around the world addressing some of the most challenging problems of our times.
  2. Graduates will become leading researchers and professors who create and disseminate new knowledge in engineering.
  3. Graduates will pursue lifelong learning, such as graduate work and other professional education.
  4. Graduates will be leaders, both in their chosen profession and in other activities

Student Outcomes

Outcomes for the Bachelor of Science in General Engineering, Course 1-ENG Undergraduate Program

  1. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
  2. an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
  3. an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences 
  4. an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
  5. an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
  6. an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
  7. an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.​