---
title: Is an Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering degree worth the debt?
cip: 1414
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

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

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **43** colleges (43 of 43 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $56,501 ($53,150 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $21,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.37× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $54,827–$58,517 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bachelor's | $56,501 | $21,500 | 0.37× | 43 | 43/43 |
| Master's | $69,584 | $20,916 | 0.27× | 6 | 6/6 |

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

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| University of Cincinnati-Main Campus (OH) | $64,034 | — |
| Purdue University-Main Campus (IN) | $62,853 | $16,316 |
| Cornell University (NY) | $61,768 | $13,176 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus (GA) | $60,224 | $25,102 |
| University of Georgia (GA) | $60,173 | $20,399 |
| University of Nevada-Reno (NV) | $59,975 | $24,357 |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $59,486 | $20,500 |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA) | $59,196 | — |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus (OH) | $58,700 | $18,295 |
| University of Connecticut (CT) | $58,517 | $21,500 |
| University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus (CT) | $58,517 | $21,500 |
| University of Connecticut-Avery Point (CT) | $58,517 | $21,500 |
| University of Connecticut-Stamford (CT) | $58,517 | $21,500 |
| University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus (CT) | $58,517 | $21,500 |
| Clarkson University (NY) | $58,378 | $27,000 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/environmental-environmental-health-engineering.jsonld` · `/education/fields/environmental-environmental-health-engineering.json`