Ranked No. 1 for\u202fBest Online Master’s in Civil Engineering Programs\u202fby U.S. News and World Report\u202fin 2026,\u202fthe program offered Barkhouse an opportunity he could not find locally: a quality\u202fonline\u202fadvanced engineering education at a\u202freasonable\u202fprice.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
Learn more about Purdue’s online master’s in civil engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The more he considered his lack of education options, the greater his concern grew. By 2019, Barkhouse had been out of school for 13 years and changed companies,\u202froles\u202fand outlooks.\u202fHis then-new company, CBCL Limited, an engineering design firm\u202fbased in\u202fHalifax, Nova Scotia,\u202fplaced a strong focus on technical\u202fexpertise\u202fand hired\u202fadditional\u202fstaff with specialized skills.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u202f\u201cWe brought in a lot of really high-quality junior people, and I was really enjoying mentoring them,\u201d Barkhouse said.\u202f\u201cThen COVID happened and obviously we started thinking about things beyond your day-to-day.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n He wondered\u202fif\u202fhis skills and knowledge base were as competitive as they once were. When\u202fhe\u202flaunched\u202fhis career as a civil\u202fengineer\u202fin 2006,\u202fhe\u202fwas\u202fconvinced\u202fthat he knew everything\u202fhe needed to know.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think it was an attitude thing,\u201d Barkhouse said.\u202f\u201cI felt like I was smart. I knew what I was doing. I\u202fdidn’t\u202fneed to check off a box to\u202fvalidate\u202fthat at the time. I wanted to get my hands dirty and get to work.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n But time passed.\u202fNew technologies\u202fand techniques\u202femerged.\u202fAnd his\u202fnew\u202fteam\u202fmembers had\u202fmore education.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor me,\u202fto\u202fhave\u202fthe role that I want and provide that mentorship,\u202fI\u202fneeded\u202fthat credibility.\u202fAnd\u202fI really wanted to make sure my career took\u202fthe direction as a technical lead within our group.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, it occurred to him that maybe his future could be found online. At first, it looked like a dead end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u202fhave a few good Canadian schools for engineering, but they\u202fdon’t\u202foffer\u202fcivil engineering online,\u201d Barkhouse said. \u201cSo,\u202fI said,\u202f\u2018I’m not\u202fgoing to\u202fsit around and wait another 20 years for that to happen.\u2019\u201d\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u202fexpanded his search to the United States, where\u202fhe found several online programs. But he\u202fdidn\u2019t\u202frecognize\u202fmany of the\u202funiversities.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was a little bit nervous about the credibility of the programs,\u201d Barkhouse said.\u202f\u201cI didn’t want to go to a school that I’ve never heard of or that people might not recognize or respect. \u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u202fschools\u202fhe found with\u202fgood\u202freputations\u202fwere too expensive, he said.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe only school I found that had both a reasonable price point and\u202fwas\u202fa good,\u202freputable school was Purdue,\u201d\u202fBarkhouse said.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The civil engineering program opened doors Barkhouse never expected. He explored courses in aerospace and astronautics.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u202f\u201cI can say I got an A in rocket science,\u201d Barkhouse said, \u201cwhich I think was really cool because you’re doing a civil engineering degree, but yet you have access to a world-class aerospace department.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u202fmore demanding\u202fMultidisciplinary Design Optimization\u202fcourse\u202fchallenged him with its use of math, computer\u202fprogramming\u202fand reasoning skills.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was hard,\u201d he said. \u201cIt really changed the way I think about design and the way I think about\u202foptioneering\u202f\u2014 all the different variables\u202favailable and how they\u202fplay with each other.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n He used the skills he learned in that course to create a tool used by his company to help with the optioneering process. That tool combines\u202fbridge designs\u202fwith\u202fbackground calculations to\u202fcreate\u202fcode-compliant\u202foptions\u202ffor the client\u202fimmediately.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI didn’t know this field existed; it’s outside of civil engineering,\u201d Barkhouse said.\u202f\u201cIt\u2019s\u202flearning something from a different discipline, what are they doing over there in that world,\u202fand\u202fapplying\u202fit to our\u202fparticular corner\u202fof the engineering field.\u202fIt’s\u202fpretty exciting\u202fand\u202fpretty cool.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the online modality offered the flexibility his career and personal life needed.\u202f\u202fFor Barkhouse, who has three children under 13, that meant being able to study around his work schedules and family responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was stressful at times,\u201d Barkhouse said. \u201cI learned to be very regimented and stick to the plan. The effort happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the experience was challenging, Barkhouse completed his degree in December\u202f2025.\u202f\u202fHe has no regrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you’re on the fence about whether you should do something like this, I feel like yes, you should.\u201d Barkhouse said.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI always said,\u202f\u2018I’m doing this as an older person.\u2019\u202f\u202fBut now that\u202fit’s\u202fdone,\u202fI’ve\u202fbrought myself to that\u202fsame\u202flevel\u202fas anyone\u202felse\u202fwho’s\u202fdone it at any other time. Instantly, you’re\u202fnot just someone with 20 years of experience.\u202fYou’re\u202fnot just someone with a masters,\u202fbut\u202fall of a\u202fsudden,\u202fyou’re\u202fsomeone with\u202f20 years of experience and a\u202fmaster\u2019s\u202fat the same time.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information about Purdue\u2019s online\u202fMaster of Science in Civil Engineering,\u202fvisit the program\u2019s\u202fwebsite.\u202f<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As part of his job, Todd Barkhouse finds defects in bridges and their designs. So, it wasn\u2019t difficult for him to spot the weakness in his plan to earn a master\u2019s degree in civil engineering: geography. Barkhouse lives in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":7327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"area-of-study":[11],"person":[74],"class_list":["post-10251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-success","area-of-study-engineering","person-students"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cons-Mgmt-1.jpeg",1800,1200,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cons-Mgmt-1.jpeg",1800,1200,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cons-Mgmt-1.jpeg",1800,1200,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cons-Mgmt-1-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cons-Mgmt-1-300x200.jpeg",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cons-Mgmt-1-1024x683.jpeg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cons-Mgmt-1-1536x1024.jpeg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cons-Mgmt-1.jpeg",1800,1200,false],"rt_custom":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cons-Mgmt-1.jpeg",1800,1200,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Marcia Sweet","author_link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/author\/sweet10\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Student Success<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"As part of his job, Todd Barkhouse finds defects in bridges and their designs. So, it wasn\u2019t difficult for him to spot the weakness in his plan to earn a master\u2019s degree in civil engineering: geography. 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