Civil Engineering Education Must Look Beyond Placements and Paychecks

Civil engineering courses in India have come under the scanner time and again for dwindling enrolments, a trend offset by the growing popularity of electronics and IT streams. But do these claims truly indicate that the discipline has lost relevance, or is there a deeper shift in how students perceive civil engineering courses in India today? Ahmedabad- based CEPT University offers to explain.

“In a developing country like ours, there will always be significant opportunities for civil engineers. This is a field that can never truly go out of fashion,” says Prof Tushar Bose, who chairs the Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering at Ahmedabad-based CEPT University. The undergraduate course offered by the University is one of the oldest civil engineering programs in India, backed by a legacy spanning four decades. Also, the only one that follows a studio-based pedagogy, which prioritises experiential learning over traditional classroom instruction.

“If we look at engineering education over the last decade, there was indeed a period of fluctuation in enrolments across branches, including civil engineering. However, data over the past few admission cycles suggests that the situation has stabilised significantly. This reflects sustained interest among students who are making more conscious and informed choices. We see a similar pattern at CEPT University. Our civil engineering program has been running at full capacity over the last few years, with strong applicant demand each cycle. So, the narrative is no longer about decline—it is about stabilisation and recalibration of interest,” says Prof Bose.

Prof Aanal Shah, Dean, Faculty of Technology, CEPT University, stresses the need for focus on interdisciplinary education in order to achieve recalibration of interest among engineering aspirants. “We can no longer stay working in our own discipline when the world is moving towards interdisciplinary education. At CEPT, all undergraduate students from Architecture, Urban Design, Design and Technology study together in a Common Foundation program for one whole year. About 25 per cent of their curriculum is to be done through electives, which allows them to inculcate interdisciplinary skills, and over the years, this very approach has helped our students stand out from their competition.”

The Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering (BCE) program at CEPT University has been running at a deliberately capped full capacity of 40 students for the past several years. The University credits the studio-pedagogy for this year-on-year turnout. In CEPT’s BCE program, students are encouraged to identify societal issues and develop solutions in their studios. The teaching ecosystem includes both academic faculty and practitioners, ensuring that students are exposed to current industry realities. Partnerships with industry facilitate internships, site visits, expert sessions, exchange programs and active student chapters that bring practitioners onto campus.

This structure ensures that graduates are not siloed specialists, but professionals who can navigate the interconnected realities of modern infrastructure.

Elaborating on this unique structure, Prof Bose says, “Our approach to civil engineering education is closely tied to how the field itself is evolving. Civil engineering, today, operates at the intersection of technology, data, and systems thinking. Infrastructure development is increasingly driven by digital tools, simulation models, and integrated planning approaches. Civil engineers and their expertise are integral to urban infrastructure systems, water and environmental networks, climate-resilient planning, smart mobility and city-scale systems. It is, increasingly, transforming into a systems discipline—one that shapes how cities function and how societies evolve. Look at the Statue of Unity – a stellar engineering marvel that demonstrates this very transformation. From structural design to wind analysis and execution planning, such projects rely heavily on advanced modelling technologies—highlighting how deeply embedded technology has become in modern engineering practice.”

The gap between academic learning and industry practice has long been a concern in engineering education. CEPT addresses this through a deeply integrated model of engagement. Crucially, the program includes a four-month professional training component in the final year. This is not treated as an add-on, but as an integral part of the learning journey, which often serves as a direct pathway into employment.

“The education system should be such that it provides a platform to think and deliver. Our pedagogy allows them to open their minds, think out of the box and experiment with the thoughts, turning them into tangible systems. We have received more than 16 design registrations in the last three years, and our students have won multiple competitions. We are preparing engineers who can not only deal with the current problems but can also anticipate and solve the problems of the future,” said Prof Shah.

Another persistent misconception around civil engineering is that it offers limited career prospects. However, outcomes from institutions like CEPT suggest a far more diverse landscape.

Graduates are increasingly moving into roles in infrastructure and design consulting, technology-driven engineering roles, urban systems and planning organisations, entrepreneurial ventures in the built environment and even higher education at leading global universities.

In Prof Aanal Shah and Prof Tushar Bose’s words, civil engineering today is not stepping back but is moving forward into a more complex, technologically integrated, and interdisciplinary future. They believe that its relevance to national development remains unquestionable. What is changing is the way it is practised, taught, and understood.

At institutions like CEPT University, this transformation is already underway and is clearly visible in the classroom, in student work, and in the trajectories that graduates choose to pursue.

The question is no longer whether civil engineering is losing relevance. It is how quickly we recognise that it has already evolved.

About CEPT University

CEPT University advances excellence in education, research, and practice to shape creative leaders capable of addressing real-world challenges across products, projects, places, and processes. The University brings together the disciplines of architecture, planning, technology, design, and management in an integrated learning ecosystem.

Its studio-centred teaching programs foster critical thinking, professional judgment, and ethical responsibility, preparing graduates to engage meaningfully with complex spatial, social, and environmental contexts. CEPT’s research deepens understanding of human settlements and spatial systems, while its advisory projects translate knowledge into practice — contributing to more livable, inclusive, and sustainable habitats. Through education, research, and advisory work, CEPT seeks to enrich the quality of life in India’s cities and towns, while engaging with global discourses on human environments.