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

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
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a wonderful option 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 fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.
There were approximately 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 TechnologyJohns Hopkins University is a wonderful choice for students pursuing 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 colleges nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.
There were about 71 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent year we have data available. Environmental Engineering degree recipients from Johns Hopkins University get an earnings boost of approximately $17,204 over the typical earnings of environmental engineering majors.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins UniversityDoctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
4th
Most Popular In NY
41
Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
It's hard to beat Columbia University in the City of New York if you want to pursue a degree in environmental engineering. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly 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 year we have data available.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Columbia University in the City of New YorkIt's hard to beat Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus if you want to pursue a degree in environmental engineering. Located in the large 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 schools 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 make $3,009 more than the average environmental engineering student.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main CampusDoctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In CA
48
Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 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 CaliforniaPurdue is a very large public university located in the small city of West Lafayette. This university ranks 2nd out of 42 colleges 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 year we have data available. Degree recipients from the environmental engineering major at Purdue University - Main Campus make $5,638 more than the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Purdue University - Main CampusDoctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
11th
Most Popular In TX
Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Houston. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Rice is a great university overall.
There were approximately 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 UniversityLocated in the city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 77 colleges for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were approximately 103 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent data year. Environmental Engineering degree recipients from University of Florida get an earnings boost of about $5,812 above the typical earnings of environmental engineering majors.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of FloridaMaster's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In TX
54
Environmental Engineering Degrees Awarded
Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.
There were approximately 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 AustinLocated 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 about 41 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCONN in the most recent data year. After graduation, environmental engineering degree recipients typically make around $58,517 in their early careers.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of ConnecticutLocated in the suburb of Golden, Mines is a public school with a medium-sized student population. This school ranks 1st out of 33 colleges 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 year we have data available. After graduating, environmental engineering degree recipients usually earn an average of $55,990 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Colorado School of MinesU-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 about 76 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, environmental engineering degree recipients typically make around $56,501 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of Michigan - Ann ArborCornell 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 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were roughly 37 environmental engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the environmental engineering major at Cornell University get $4,553 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Cornell UniversityLocated in the 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 around $57,523 in the first couple years of working.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from Michigan Technological UniversityUC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the city of Irvine. This university ranks 15th out of 168 colleges 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 income of $52,400.
More information about a degree in environmental engineering from University of California - Irvine