2024 Best Environmental Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California

If you plan on getting your master's degree in environmental engineering, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #133 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Environmental Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 72 master's degrees in environmental engineering to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on environmental engineering students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of environmental engineering students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for environmental engineering to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized environmental engineering related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for environmental engineering students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Environmental Engineering Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Environmental Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Environmental Engineering in California

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for environmental engineering students seeking a a master's degree.

Top California Schools for a Master's in Environmental Engineering

1

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

29 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in environmental engineering has to look into University of Southern California. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in environmental engineering from University of Southern California

2

California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA

28 Annual Graduates

$80,029 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in environmental engineering needs to check out California State University - Fullerton. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the environmental engineering program make about $80,029 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in environmental engineering from California State University - Fullerton

3

University of California - Riverside
Riverside, CA

4 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in environmental engineering needs to check out University of California - Riverside. Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in environmental engineering from University of California - Riverside

Best Environmental Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Environmental Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	183	2
Oregon	158	10
Nevada	105	5
Alaska	52	1

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Environmental Engineering Related Rankings by Major

One of 41 majors within the Engineering area of study, Environmental Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Environmental Engineering Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Environmental Engineering	72

Majors Similar to Environmental Engineering

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering	1,849
Computer Engineering	1,115
Mechanical Engineering	984
Civil Engineering	915
Biomedical Engineering	502
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	303
Systems Engineering	278
General Engineering	261
Materials Engineering	222
Operations Research	202

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alesia Goosic. More about our data sources and methodologies.