Career Overview
Is the civil and environmental engineering program right for you?
Civil and environmental engineering is about environmental stewardship, community service, sustainable development, and improvement. It involves the conception, planning, design, construction, and operation of facilities essential to modern life, ranging from transit systems, satellites and renewable energy facilities, as well as the solution of pressing global problems related to the environment and public health.
Our graduates enjoy more than a 97% placement rate in large and small engineering consulting firms, mining, engineering testing and construction companies, and governmental agencies throughout the US and the world. Many of our graduates become entrepreneurs and start their own companies or go on to engineering, medical, law, or other graduate programs.
Average starting salary: $52,355
Companies hiring recent graduates:
Cloud Peak Energy, Kiewit Underground, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Baker Concrete, Burns and McDonnell, US Army Corps of Engineers, Dow Chemical, Lafarge, NASA, and URS, as well as the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the South Dakota Department of Transportation, GeoMega Engineering, US Air Force, LyondellBasell, US Geological Survey, Kennecott Copper, Barrick Gold, Black Hills Corporation, HDR Engineering, HR Green Engineering.
"One of the best things about the School of Mines is the "smart" culture. I enjoy school and studying and I fit right in. Even as an undergraduate, I was able to participate in one of the largest research projects at SDSM&T and travel to international conferences. The School of Mines is a great combination of a small school atmosphere with endless opportunities to get involved and succeed."
Tony Kulesa (pictured right)
BS in civil engineering from SDSM&T in 2012 and
currently enrolled in civil engineering master's program