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Studies & Degrees in Construction

Construction studies cover how buildings, roads, bridges and other structures are planned, priced, built and maintained. The field has two sides. One is the trade side: masonry, concrete, carpentry, finishes and site safety. The other is the technical and management side: reading and drawing plans, estimating costs, scheduling work, controlling quality and running a site. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics sums up the manager's role as planning, coordinating, budgeting and supervising construction projects from start to finish.

Vocational courses teach a trade through workshop practice. College and university programmes add subjects that the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists as typical of construction-related degrees: project control and management, design, construction methods and materials, and cost estimation.

Qualifications and levels

  • Vocational training in Spain. Construction belongs to the professional family Edificación y Obra Civil of Spanish vocational training (FP). According to TodoFP, the portal of the Spanish Ministry of Education, the family runs from a basic qualification in building renovation and maintenance to intermediate and higher cycles. The intermediate cycle Técnico en Construcción lasts 2,000 hours and prepares for masonry and concrete work in building and civil engineering. The higher cycles Técnico Superior en Proyectos de Edificación and Técnico Superior en Proyectos de Obra Civil also last 2,000 hours each; a third higher cycle covers the organisation and control of works.
  • Certificates and associate degrees in the United States. Community and technical colleges offer one-year certificates and two-year associate degrees. At City College at MSU Billings a student can leave after two semesters with a Certificate of Applied Science in Construction Technology or continue to an Associate of Applied Science in Construction Management.
  • Bachelor's degrees. In Spain an official bachelor's degree (grado) has 240 ECTS credits. The Grado en Edificación of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) has 240 credits and trains graduates to work as technical architects (Arquitectura Técnica), who direct the execution of building works. In the United Kingdom, the Construction Project Management BSc(Hons) of the University of Brighton takes three years full-time, or four with a placement year, and is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Building, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers. In New Zealand, the Bachelor of Construction of Massey University takes three years full-time (360 credits) and has three majors: construction management, design management and quantity surveying.
  • Master's degrees. Official master's degrees in Spain have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits. In the United States, the M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management of the University of Florida offers a Master of Construction Management of 30 credits without a thesis and a Master of Science in Construction Management with a thesis, and states that either can be completed in three semesters.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 49 active schools for construction. Most are in the United States (28), followed by Spain (7), the United Kingdom (4) and New Zealand (2); Italy, Estonia, Ireland, Russia, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador have one each. The US list mixes universities such as the University of Florida, The Ohio State University and The University of Texas at Austin with two-year colleges such as Piedmont Technical College, Augusta Technical College and College of Lake County. In Spain it includes the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, La Salle – Universidad Ramon Llull in Barcelona, the Universidad de Extremadura, CCC Centro de Estudios and Bureau Veritas Business School. Elsewhere it includes the universities of Brighton, Wolverhampton and Northampton, Massey University, and the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María in Chile.

Courses are taught in the language of the country. Building rules, professional titles and licences are national, so a qualification that gives access to a regulated profession in one country does not automatically do so in another. Ask each school what recognition its qualification has and whether it is accredited by a professional body.

Careers

Graduates of trade courses work as bricklayers, formworkers, tilers or team leaders. Technicians with a higher vocational qualification work as building draughtspeople, assistants in technical offices, planners or cost controllers; TodoFP names architecture and engineering studios, consultancies, property developers, construction companies and public administrations as their employers. University graduates become site managers, construction managers, quantity surveyors, estimators or technical architects.

In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that construction managers typically need a bachelor's degree, that some earn an associate degree in construction management or construction technology, and that some states require a licence. It projects employment of construction managers to grow 9 percent from 2025 to 2035, with about 49,700 openings each year.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a university degree to work in construction?

No. Trades are learned through vocational training, such as the 2,000-hour intermediate cycle Técnico en Construcción in Spain. Management posts are different: according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction managers typically need a bachelor's degree.

How long does it take to study construction?

Spanish vocational cycles in this family last 2,000 hours. A bachelor's degree takes three years full-time at the University of Brighton or Massey University and has 240 ECTS credits in Spain, as in the Grado en Edificación of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Is a construction qualification valid in other countries?

Not automatically. Professional titles and licences are regulated nationally, and in the United States some states require construction managers to be licensed. Ask the school and the authority of the country where you want to work.