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2024 Best Environmental Engineering Schools

111 Colleges in the United States
2,759 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
$57,215 Avg Early-Career Salary
Environmental Engineering is about average in terms of popularity for degree programs. That is, it ranks #173 out of the 395 majors across the country that we analyze each year. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.

College Factual looked at 111 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Environmental Engineering Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,759 degrees in environmental engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Environmental Engineering School

Best Environmental Engineering Schools Your choice of environmental engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for environmental engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Environmental Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Environmental Engineering
Bachelor's Degrees in Environmental Engineering
Master's Degrees in Environmental Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in Environmental Engineering

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 Schools list to help you make the college decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.


 

Best Schools for Environmental Engineering in the United States

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the environmental engineering degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

16 Top Schools in Environmental Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MA
45.0% Growth in Graduates

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a great choice for students interested in a degree in environmental engineering. Located in the city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.

There were about 20 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
71 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
$74,419 Median Starting Salary

Johns Hopkins University is a good option for students interested in a degree in environmental engineering. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Baltimore. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.

There were roughly 71 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent data year. Environmental Engineering degree recipients from Johns Hopkins University receive an earnings boost of about $17,204 above the typical earnings of environmental engineering graduates.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In NY
41 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded

It's difficult to beat Columbia University in the City of New York if you wish to pursue a degree in environmental engineering. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were about 41 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Columbia University in the City of New York

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
76 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
10.5% Growth in Graduates

It is difficult to beat Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus if you wish to pursue a degree in environmental engineering. Located in the city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #24 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.

There were approximately 76 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Those environmental engineering students who get their degree from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus earn $3,009 more than the average environmental engineering grad.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
48 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded

USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 48 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of Southern California

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
66 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
3.0% Growth in Graduates

Purdue is a fairly large public university located in the small city of West Lafayette. This university ranks 2nd out of 42 schools for overall quality in the state of Indiana.

There were approximately 66 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the environmental engineering program at Purdue University - Main Campus earn $5,638 above the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Purdue University - Main Campus

7
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, TX
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In TX

Rice is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Houston. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Rice is a great university overall.

There were roughly 1 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Rice in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Rice University

8
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
103 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
21.4% Growth in Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 77 colleges for overall quality in the state of Florida.

There were about 103 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent year we have data available. Environmental Engineering degree recipients from University of Florida earn a boost of around $5,812 above the average earnings of environmental engineering graduates.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of Florida

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In TX
54 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 115 colleges for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were about 54 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from The University of Texas at Austin

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
41 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
14.6% Growth in Graduates

Located in the suburb of Storrs, UCONN is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 28 schools for overall quality in the state of Connecticut.

There were roughly 41 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCONN in the most recent data year. After graduating, environmental engineering degree recipients generally earn about $58,517 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of Connecticut

11
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
41 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
$55,990 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Golden, Mines is a public school with a medium-sized student population. This school ranks 1st out of 33 schools for overall quality in the state of Colorado.

There were approximately 41 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Mines in the most recent data year. After graduating, environmental engineering degree recipients generally earn about $55,990 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Colorado School of Mines

12
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
76 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
27.6% Growth in Graduates

U-M is a very large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor. This university ranks 1st out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were approximately 76 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, environmental engineering degree recipients usually earn around $56,501 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

13
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
37 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
32.4% Growth in Graduates

Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Ithaca. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.

There were approximately 37 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the environmental engineering program at Cornell University make $4,553 more than the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Cornell University

14
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
37 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
$57,523 Median Starting Salary

Located in the remote town of Houghton, Michigan Tech is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were roughly 37 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the environmental engineering program make an average of $57,523 for their early career.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Michigan Technological University

15

UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the city of Irvine. This university ranks 15th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 30 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the environmental engineering program report average early career wages of $52,400.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of California - Irvine

16
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IL
41 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were roughly 41 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Environmental Engineering Schools award.

Rank College Location
17 Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN
18 University of California - Davis Davis, CA
19 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN
20 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA
21 Northwestern University Evanston, IL
22 Stanford University Stanford, CA
23 University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH
24 University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO
25 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA

Environmental Engineering by Region

View the Best Environmental Engineering Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Environmental Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

Environmental Engineering Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Environmental Engineering 2,759

View All Environmental Engineering Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 46,178
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Civil Engineering 21,388
Computer Engineering 17,987
Chemical Engineering 12,917
Biomedical Engineering 12,811
General Engineering 11,796
Industrial Engineering 9,072
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 8,001
Systems Engineering 3,904

View All Environmental Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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