School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering • Bowling Green, KY • Campus • $409/Credit (In-State, incl. fees)
Western Kentucky University offers one construction management program: the B.S. in Construction Management.
Program Pathways Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.S. | $49.1K in-state / $108.0K out-of-state | 4 years (8 semesters) | 120 |
Tuition estimates use WKU’s 2026-27 full-time rate, which includes mandatory student fees; college fees are listed separately.
- Why choose it: WKU’s B.S. reserves 12 credits for technical electives drawn from a list of about three dozen courses across surveying, GIS, business analytics, finance and risk, entrepreneurship, and project management, and freshmen from all seven border states can qualify for in-state tuition through the Border State Scholarship.
- Trade-off: The dedicated construction management core is thin: three required management courses (estimating and bidding, scheduling, and a construction management survey), no required contracts or safety course, and a 1-credit internship. ACCE lists the program as an applicant, not accredited.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Credentials Offered | B.S. in Construction Management |
| Format | Campus |
| Campus Location | Bowling Green main campus |
| Credit Hours | 120 (71-72 in the major, plus 10-11 support) |
| Internship | Required: SEAS 398 Internship I, 1 credit |
| Programmatic Accreditation | None; ACCE applicant per ACCE’s 2025 annual report |
| Math | Trigonometry (or College Algebra and Trigonometry, or Calculus I) and Introductory Statistics |
| Software Taught | Building Information Modeling offered as an elective (AS 351); other software not clearly stated |
| Capstone | CM 490 Senior Research for Construction Management |
| Tuition | $6,138/semester resident, $13,500 non-resident, $7,068 TIP rate (12-18 credits, mandatory fees included) |
B.S. in Construction Management
The estimated tuition for the B.S. in Construction Management at Western Kentucky University is approximately $49,104 (120 credits at $409.20/credit).
The program can generally be completed in about 4 years (8 semesters).
The B.S. in Construction Management is offered by WKU’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and shares several courses with its civil engineering program. WKU publishes a Finish in Four plan totaling 120 credits.
Curriculum
- Technical core (9 courses, 28 credits): CM 261 Construction Methods and Materials, CM 282 Building Structures, AS 163 Architectural Drafting, AS 305 Building Codes, CE 160/161 Principles of Surveying with lab (4), CE 316 Equipment and Methods, CE 370/371 Materials of Construction with lab, CE 410/411 Soil Mechanics with lab (or CM 346 Applied Soil Mechanics and Foundations), SEAS 325 Survey of Building Systems
- Construction management (3 courses, 9 credits): CM 363 Construction Estimating and Bidding, CM 462 Construction Scheduling, CE 303 Construction Management
- Business (5 courses, 15 credits): ACCT 110 Accounting for Decision Makers (or FIN 161), ECON 202 or 203, MGT 200 Legal Environment of Business, MGT 210 Organization and Management, MKT 220 Basic Marketing Concepts
- Capstone and field: CM 490 Senior Research for Construction Management, SEAS 398 Internship I (1)
- Technical electives (12 credits): choices include AS 351 Building Information Modeling, CE 378 Route Surveying, CE 380 Boundary Surveying, MFGE 310 Safety in Industry, MFGE 390 or ETM 390 project management, MGT 301 Business Law, FIN 350 Risk Management and Insurance, GIS courses, business analytics courses, entrepreneurship, and personal selling
- Math and science: MATH 117 Trigonometry (or MATH 118 or MATH 136 Calculus I), MATH 183 Introductory Statistics, a chemistry course with lab, and GEOL 111 The Earth
The required core leans technical and civil-engineering flavored: surveying, materials testing, soil mechanics, and equipment come from CE courses, and technical credits outnumber dedicated construction management credits about three to one (28 vs. 9). Business courses close part of the gap, and the 12 elective credits decide the rest. A student can use them for BIM, safety, business law, and project management to build a fuller management profile, or spend them on GIS and analytics.
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- Construction contracts, construction law, and construction safety are not required courses. MGT 301 Business Law and MFGE 310 Safety in Industry are electives, not construction-specific.
- The capstone is a senior research course rather than an industry project, matching WKU’s description of the program’s “emphasis on applied research opportunities.”
- The catalog lists Mi S. An as program coordinator, while WKU’s construction management web page lists the civil engineering program coordinator as the contact.
Internship and Field Experience
- Required: SEAS 398 Internship I, 1 credit, scheduled in the final spring of the Finish in Four plan
- SEAS 367 Supervised Work Experience in Industry can count as a technical elective
- Hours, pay, and placement support: not clearly stated
- WKU describes a project-based curriculum with small class sizes
A single required credit sets a low floor for field experience, so students who want contractor experience before graduating should plan at least one full summer placement on their own and consider adding SEAS 367 as an elective.
Admissions
No separate program admission gate is listed; students declare the major through standard WKU admission.
- Border State Scholarship: first-time, full-time freshmen from Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia can receive a scholarship that keeps tuition at the in-state rate (application package due by December 31 for 2026-27)
- Tuition Incentive Program: other non-residents with a 3.0 high school GPA or another WKU scholarship can qualify for the TIP rate, renewable with a 2.5 GPA
Tuition
WKU charges a flat full-time rate for 12-18 credits in 2026-27: $6,138 per semester for residents, $7,068 at the Tuition Incentive Program (TIP) rate, and $13,500 for other non-residents. The full-time rate includes mandatory student fees (athletic $218, student centers $62, union renovation $70, parking structure $30 per semester).
| Rate (2026-27) | Full-Time Semester | Per Credit (part-time) | 8 Semesters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resident (and Border State Scholarship recipients, effectively) | $6,138 | $511.50 | $49,104 |
| Tuition Incentive Program | $7,068 | $589 | $56,544 |
| Non-resident | $13,500 | $1,125 | $108,000 |
Be aware that:
- WKU adds college fees per credit hour on almost every course (effective fall 2025): $15 for Ogden College prefixes such as CM, CE, AS, SEAS, MATH, CHEM, and GEOL, and $20 for business prefixes such as ACCT, ECON, MGT, and MKT. Across 120 credits that is roughly $1,900-$2,400 (derived), not included above.
- The Border State Scholarship and TIP are scholarships that bring charges down to the in-state or TIP rate; both require full-time enrollment and they cannot be combined with each other.
- Credits above 18 in a semester are charged at the per-credit rate.
- Rates are subject to approval by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and WKU’s Board of Regents.
For Kentucky residents and eligible border-state freshmen, a realistic total is about $51,000 to $51,500 once college fees are added. The full non-resident rate is more than double that, so students from outside the border states should confirm TIP eligibility before comparing WKU with other programs. See WKU’s 2026-27 tuition schedule for current rates.
Why Choose This Construction Management Program?
A fit for south-central Kentucky and Tennessee-border students who want a civil-engineering-flavored construction degree they can shape through electives.
What it gains. The 12 elective credits and surveying-and-materials core let students lean toward land and site work (route and boundary surveying, GIS), business (finance, risk, law), or BIM. Border State freshmen get in-state pricing, which puts WKU within about $3,000 of the in-state totals at EKU, Murray State, and NKU.
What it gives up. Compared with the ACCE-accredited programs at Eastern Kentucky University and Northern Kentucky University, WKU requires fewer dedicated management courses, no contracts or safety course, and much less field experience (1 credit vs. NKU’s 600 co-op hours). Murray State also requires two estimating courses where WKU requires one.
What it does not solve. Students who need programmatic accreditation today, a structured co-op, or an online or evening format will not find it here. WKU’s ACCE application may change the accreditation picture, but there is no published decision date.
Accreditation and Credentials
Western Kentucky University is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which supports credit transfer and federal financial aid eligibility.
The B.S. in Construction Management does not hold programmatic accreditation. ACCE’s 2025 annual report lists WKU’s B.S. in Construction Management among applicant programs, and it does not appear on ACCE’s baccalaureate accredited list (Rev. 2024.03.13). WKU does not name embedded industry certifications for the major, and no Kentucky contractor-licensing credit for the degree is stated.