Which environmental engineering bachelor's program pays the most?

Cal Poly SLO in California reports the highest first-year pay of the 43 programs ranked here, $82,197. Its median federal debt is $20,500.

How much debt do environmental engineering bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $24,418 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 39% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Environmental Engineering (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

43 programs report first-year pay
1 state ranking
Bachelor's in Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median environmental engineering bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $63,697 in their first year and $80,259 five years after. California is the only state with enough programs to rank, with a median of $59,309. The median program leaves its graduates with $24,418 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$63,697Across 43 programs

Median pay after 5 years$80,259Across 31 programs

Median federal debt$24,418Across 38 programs

Debt-to-earnings39%Across 38 programs

All 43 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo, CA · public	$82,197	$74,239	$86,311	$20,500	25%
2	Texas TechLubbock, TX · public	$76,708	$79,034	Not reported	$19,750	26%
3	PurdueWest Lafayette, IN · public	$71,861	$76,998	Not reported	$16,316	23%
4	Georgia TechAtlanta, GA · public	$70,008	$72,703	$86,952	$27,250	39%
5	Cornell UniversityIthaca, NY · private nonprofit	$69,558	Not adjusted	$87,212	$13,102	19%
6	UW-PlattevillePlatteville, WI · public	$69,490	$73,851	$74,875	$20,457	29%
7	Colorado School of MinesGolden, CO · public	$69,102	Not adjusted	$83,766	$23,500	34%
8	Clemson UniversityClemson, SC · public	$68,363	Not adjusted	$78,185	$20,500	30%
9	Oregon StateCorvallis, OR · public	$68,223	Not adjusted	$81,214	Not reported	Not reported
10	Ohio StateColumbus, OH · public	$67,938	$73,230	$84,092	$24,850	37%
11	Clarkson UniversityPotsdam, NY · private nonprofit	$67,308	$62,368	$73,390	$27,000	40%
12	NC StateRaleigh, NC · public	$67,251	$71,296	Not reported	$26,004	39%
13	San Diego StateSan Diego, CA · public	$66,482	$60,045	Not reported	$19,089	29%
14	Colorado StateFort Collins, CO · public	$66,109	$64,151	$77,901	$27,500	42%
15	University of DelawareNewark, DE · public	$65,634	Not adjusted	$82,285	$26,950	41%
16	University of Nevada-RenoReno, NV · public	$65,194	Not adjusted	Not reported	$25,060	38%
17	UConnStorrs, CT · public	$64,950	$62,687	Not reported	$21,738	33%
18	Drexel UniversityPhiladelphia, PA · private nonprofit	$64,712	Not adjusted	$78,581	$30,983	48%
19	Notre DameNotre Dame, IN · private nonprofit	$64,675	Not adjusted	Not reported	$25,000	39%
20	FIUMiami, FL · public	$64,541	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
21	Michigan TechHoughton, MI · public	$64,453	$66,987	$77,977	$26,545	41%
22	University of VermontBurlington, VT · public	$63,697	Not adjusted	$71,254	$21,000	33%
23	CU BoulderBoulder, CO · public	$63,049	$61,182	$84,918	$20,836	33%
24	City College of New YorkNew York, NY · public	$62,945	$58,325	$81,630	Not reported	Not reported
25	Northern Arizona UniversityFlagstaff, AZ · public	$62,936	Not adjusted	$70,453	$27,000	43%
26	University of GeorgiaAthens, GA · public	$62,915	Not adjusted	Not reported	$22,143	35%
27	University of FloridaGainesville, FL · public	$62,480	$60,417	$74,218	$23,000	37%
28	University of New HampshireDurham, NH · public	$62,190	Not adjusted	$80,259	$27,000	43%
29	Kennesaw StateKennesaw, GA · public	$61,701	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
30	Penn StateUniversity Park, PA · public	$61,414	$62,942	$85,308	$27,000	44%
31	Florida Gulf Coast UniversityFort Myers, FL · public	$60,797	$58,790	$79,256	$19,929	33%
32	Wilkes UniversityWilkes-Barre, PA · private nonprofit	$60,098	$61,593	$69,726	$27,000	45%
33	UC RiversideRiverside, CA · public	$59,309	$53,567	$81,979	$18,068	30%
34	LSUBaton Rouge, LA · public	$59,237	Not adjusted	$66,219	$24,486	41%
35	University of MichiganAnn Arbor, MI · public	$57,824	$60,097	$88,990	$19,028	33%
36	Missouri S&TRolla, MO · public	$57,679	Not adjusted	$76,698	$27,000	47%
37	University at BuffaloBuffalo, NY · public	$57,098	$52,907	$74,767	$27,000	47%
38	UCFOrlando, FL · public	$56,443	$54,580	Not reported	$24,596	44%
39	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata, CA · public	$55,589	$50,207	$81,168	$24,350	44%
40	University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN · public	$53,447	Not adjusted	Not reported	$27,000	51%
41	ASUTempe, AZ · public	$53,013	$52,657	$70,312	$19,103	36%
42	Syracuse UniversitySyracuse, NY · private nonprofit	$49,297	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
43	UC MercedMerced, CA · public	$47,028	$42,475	$83,194	$21,665	46%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 25 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 18, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

5 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Environmental Engineering (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's environmental engineering bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
California	5	$59,309	$20,500

Programs in 22 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

UC Riverside, CA$18,068
San Diego State, CA$19,089
Cal Poly SLO, CA$20,500
UC Merced, CA$21,665
Cal Poly Humboldt, CA$24,350

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 5 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to environmental engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$171,270

Median pay in the US. 220,260 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $120,810Top 10%: $262,760

Environmental Engineers

$107,110

Median pay in the US. 38,340 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $69,990Top 10%: $162,220

Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors

$115,160

Median pay in the US. 21,450 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $68,420Top 10%: $171,250

Common questions

The median environmental engineering bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $63,697 in their first year and $80,259 five years after.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024