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Environmental Engineering Major

Environmental Engineering

1,799 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
746 Master's Degrees Annually
#136 in Popularity

Types of Degrees Environmental Engineering Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many environmental engineering graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree 1,910
Master’s Degree 830
Doctor’s Degree 172
Graduate Certificate 48
Basic Certificate 47
Associate Degree 5

What Environmental Engineering Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, environmental engineering majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Environmental Engineering Majors

Environmental Engineering majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

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  • Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
  • Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
  • Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Environmental Engineering Majors

When studying environmental engineering, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

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  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Environmental Engineering Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a environmental engineering student include the following:

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  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Environmental Engineering Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with environmental engineering:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Architectural and Engineering Managers 5.5% $140,760
Engineering Professors 14.7% $101,720
Environmental Engineers 8.4% $87,620
Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers 8.5% $89,130
Industrial Safety and Health Engineers 8.5% $89,130
Product Safety Engineers 8.5% $89,130
Water/Wastewater Engineers 8.4% $87,620

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering?

1,910 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
57% Percent Women
32% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 1,799 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering in 2021, making it rank #136 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 57% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of environmental engineering majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 165
Black or African American 38
Hispanic or Latino 297
White 1,176
International Students 93
Other Races/Ethnicities 141

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Environmental Engineering, too. About 4.9% of those with this major are international students.

Some degrees associated with environmental engineering may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to environmental engineering have obtained the following education levels.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 1.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) 1.5%
Some College Courses 2.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 2.9%
Bachelor’s Degree 57.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. 7.2%
Master’s Degree 19.7%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. 2.5%
Doctoral Degree 5.3%
Post-Doctoral Training 1.4%

Online Environmental Engineering Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 1 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 5 0
Bachelor’s Degree 13 2
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 91 8
Post-Master’s 3 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 47 1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to environmental engineering.

Major Number of Grads
Mechanical Engineering 43,522
Electrical Engineering 27,809
Civil Engineering 20,728
Computer Engineering 18,973
Biomedical Engineering 14,006
General Engineering 12,241
Chemical Engineering 11,830
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 9,220
Industrial Engineering 8,722
Systems Engineering 4,148
Materials Engineering 3,397
Other Engineering 3,221
Electrical and Computer Engineering. 1,988
Operations Research 1,907
Robotics Engineering 1,759
Engineering Science 1,338
Agricultural Engineering 1,328
Construction Engineering 1,284
Architectural Engineering 1,090
Engineering Physics 1,047
Manufacturing Engineering 942
Petroleum Engineering 941
Nuclear Engineering 885
Biological Engineering 411
Marine Engineering 390
Geoscience Engineering 315
Mining Engineering 300
Textile Engineering 292
Polymer & Plastics Engineering 290
Ocean Engineering 290
Engineering Mechanics 209
Metallurgical Engineering 195
Energy Systems Engineering 187
Biochemical Engineering 141
Surveying Engineering 123
Ceramic Engineering 60
Forest Engineering 57
Paper Science & Engineering 48
Electromechanical Engineering 47
Engineering Chemistry 27

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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