Environmental Health

Types of Degrees Environmental Health Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many environmental health graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	694
Bachelor’s Degree	355
Graduate Certificate	149
Doctor’s Degree	82
Basic Certificate	33
Associate Degree	31

What Environmental Health Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to environmental health were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Environmental Health Majors

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

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Environmental Health Majors

environmental health majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Environmental Health Majors

Environmental Health majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Environmental Health Major?

People with a environmental health degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health	11.1%	$71,130
Epidemiologists	8.2%	$69,660
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Industrial Ecologists	11.1%	$71,130
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists	8.1%	$73,020
Occupational Health and Safety Technicians	9.9%	$50,780

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

The major attracts more women than men. About 58% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	28
Black or African American	25
Hispanic or Latino	64
White	197
International Students	16
Other Races/Ethnicities	25

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Environmental Health. About 4.5% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Environmental Health Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Environmental Health majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $74,940 to $77,580 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Environmental Health

Some careers associated with environmental health require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. 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 health have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	0.2%
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)	1.0%
Some College Courses	0.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	2.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	41.5%
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.	2.7%
Master’s Degree	35.4%
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.	0.7%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.2%
Doctoral Degree	11.2%
Post-Doctoral Training	4.4%

Online Environmental Health Programs

In 2020-2021, 101 schools offered a environmental health program of some type. 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	8	0
Bachelor’s Degree	12	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	54	6
Post-Master’s	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	32	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	0

Is a Degree in Environmental Health Worth It?

The median salary for a environmental health grad is $75,690 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 90% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $715,800 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Environmental Health

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

Major	Number of Grads
General Public Health	22,778
Public Health Education and Promotion	4,563
Other Public Health	3,432
Health Services Administration	3,119
Community Health and Preventive Medicine	2,272
International Public Health/International Health	1,599
Behavioral Aspects of Health	814
Health/Medical Physics	258
Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene	211
Maternal and Child Health	163
Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality	43

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.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Article 25 Flickr under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.