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2025 Best Environmental Engineering Schools

78 Colleges in the United States
2,859 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
$65,461 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.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 78 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for environmental engineering students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,859 degrees in environmental engineering annually.

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

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 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

15 Top Schools in Environmental Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in environmental engineering. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.

There were about 14 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent year we have data available.

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

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
69 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
$86,557 Median Starting Salary

Johns Hopkins University is a great option for students interested in a degree in environmental engineering. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Baltimore. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.

There were about 69 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent year we have data available. Those environmental engineering students who get their degree from Johns Hopkins University receive $21,096 more than the standard environmental engineering student.

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

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In NY
61 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 #15 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were about 61 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available.

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

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In TX
64 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded

It's difficult to beat The University of Texas at Austin if you want to pursue a degree in environmental engineering. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were roughly 64 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent year we have data available.

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

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
40 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 #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 40 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
79 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
3.8% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.

There were approximately 79 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent data year. Those environmental engineering students who get their degree from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus earn $4,547 more than the average environmental engineering graduate.

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

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In IL

Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were approximately 5 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Northwestern University

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
33 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 10th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 33 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year.

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

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$69,558 Median Starting Salary

Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Ithaca. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.

There were approximately 27 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Environmental Engineering degree recipients from Cornell University get an earnings boost of around $4,097 above the typical earnings of environmental engineering majors.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Cornell University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
45 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
$57,824 Median Starting Salary

U-M is a fairly large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.

There were roughly 45 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, environmental engineering degree recipients generally earn an average of $57,824 in their early careers.

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

11
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
79 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
$69,656 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 70 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.

There were about 79 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent data year. Environmental Engineering degree recipients from University of Florida receive an earnings boost of approximately $4,195 over the average earnings of environmental engineering majors.

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

12
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
43 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
4.7% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Golden, Mines is a public school with a medium-sized student population. This school ranks 1st out of 31 schools for overall quality in the state of Colorado.

There were approximately 43 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Mines in the most recent year we have data available. Environmental Engineering degree recipients from Colorado School of Mines earn a boost of approximately $3,641 over the average income of environmental engineering graduates.

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

13
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
82 Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
19.5% Growth in Graduates

Purdue is a fairly large public university located in the city of West Lafayette. This university ranks 3rd out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Indiana.

There were approximately 82 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent data year. Those environmental engineering students who get their degree from Purdue University - Main Campus earn $6,400 more than the typical environmental engineering student.

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

14
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In CA

UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were about 7 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available.

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

15
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In NY

RPI is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Troy. This school ranks 6th out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were approximately 12 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at RPI in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rest of the Top Best Environmental Engineering Schools

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
16 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
17 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
18 Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ
19 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA
20 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
21 Tufts University Medford, MA
22 University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH
23 University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO
24 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN
25 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
26 Clemson University Clemson, SC

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 2,859

View All Environmental Engineering Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 44,794
Electrical Engineering 26,528
Civil Engineering 20,655
Computer Engineering 16,954
Biomedical Engineering 13,222
Chemical Engineering 12,248
General Engineering 11,534
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 8,671
Industrial Engineering 8,087
Systems Engineering 3,802

View All Environmental Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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