College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is an Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 43 colleges (43 of 43 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$56,501

Graduates only, early career.$53,150 two years out.

Median federal debt

$21,500

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.37×

37% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is well under a single year's early-career pay.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering report early-career pay between $54,827 and $58,517 — a spread of $3,690 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $54,827 median $56,501 75th pct $58,517

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Bachelor's 43 colleges $56,501 $21,500 0.37×

Master's 6 colleges $69,584 $20,916 0.27×

Where an Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

The 15 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

University of Cincinnati-Main Campus OH $64,034 —

Purdue University-Main Campus IN $62,853 $16,316 debt

Cornell University NY $61,768 $13,176 debt

Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA $60,224 $25,102 debt

University of Georgia GA $60,173 $20,399 debt

University of Nevada-Reno NV $59,975 $24,357 debt

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $59,486 $20,500 debt

Worcester Polytechnic Institute MA $59,196 —

Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $58,700 $18,295 debt

University of Connecticut CT $58,517 $21,500 debt

University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus CT $58,517 $21,500 debt

University of Connecticut-Avery Point CT $58,517 $21,500 debt

University of Connecticut-Stamford CT $58,517 $21,500 debt

University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus CT $58,517 $21,500 debt

Clarkson University NY $58,378 $27,000 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard