The comparative study on the curriculum system of civil engineering specialty at home and abroad is of great reference value for the adjustment and optimization of the existing curriculum. Three famous civil engineering schools, namely Tongji University, University of Illinois and Imperial College London, were selected as the research objects, and the curriculum system of civil engineering major in our university was compared. Comparative analysis includes cultivation objectives, course setting, basic credit requirements, course structure, composition and proportion of specialized courses, core courses and so on. The research shows that the cultivation goal of Imperial College London is more specific to reflect the graduation requirements of students" abilities, which is worth learning from. Compared with foreign universities, civil engineering majors in domestic universities require more total credits and more courses. On the premise of meeting the requirements of Engineering Education Certification Standard, it is the key points of the course setting adjustment and course construction of our university to properly reduce the total credit requirement, brief the course scale, adjust the course structure, strengthen the construction of the core professional courses, and incorporate some postgraduate courses into the curriculum system.