By Julia Davis
November 19, 2025
CEE welcomes 223 juniors, up from 146, as outreach and industry demand draw more students to the department.
After years of steady outreach to help students understand what civil and environmental engineers do, CEE is welcoming one of its largest junior cohorts in recent memory. This fall, the department enrolled 223 juniors, up from 146 last year, with interest rising among direct-to-college students, current UW students who want to switch their majors to CEE and community college transfers.
The surge marks a turn after several years of lower enrollment and reflects department efforts to raise awareness of the field.
"There used to be a perception across campus that majoring in engineering was out of reach," says Brian Kinnear, CEE’s lead undergraduate academic adviser. "We’ve worked to shift that by increasing our collaboration with campus partners, showing up at public events and putting real stories about civil and environmental engineering in front of prospective students."
The department has taken a broad, intentional approach to raising its visibility through student outreach and campus partnerships.
"We’ve made conscious efforts to present civil and environmental engineering as an accessible major," Kinnear says. The message is simple: what civil and environmental engineers build touches daily life, and there are many ways to contribute.
Students are responding to something concrete and want to have a real-world impact by making things work for people: water systems, safer roads, reliable transit. We’ve been clear about that work and the need for more engineers in our region.”
The increase comes amid a larger, nationwide need for civil engineers. Public and private investment in transportation, water, energy and climate resilience continues to expand across the U.S., and employers are hiring accordingly. Civil engineering remains a reliable career path with steady demand in Washington and beyond, from local firms designing bridges and transit to agencies upgrading water systems to companies focused on clean energy and sustainable infrastructure. On campus, that demand shows up clearly: CEE’s annual career fair drew more than 100 employers this year and reached venue capacity.
“We rarely see students struggle to find employment opportunities,” Kinnear says. “The demand is there.”
Department Chair Bart Nijssen says the renewed interest aligns with both workforce needs and student priorities.
"Interest in careers in civil and environmental engineering is up across the country. Students are responding to something concrete and want to have a real-world impact by making things work for people: water systems, safer roads, reliable transit. We’ve been clear about that work and the need for more engineers in our region."
Growth brings some logistical puzzles, like finding larger classrooms and adjusting section sizes, but the department views them as the right kind of challenges.
"Everybody in the department is happy to help students reach their goals," Kinnear says. "It feels good to accommodate students who are putting in the effort and want to be here."
Kinnear says the surge stems from two forces: better awareness of the major and strong demand in the field. "We’ve made the work visible," he says, "and nationwide investment in infrastructure has made civil engineering a reliable, growing career path."