Best colleges for Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering in California
Program-level earnings — not school prestige — rank these. Among the California programs in the federal field-of-study file, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo leads: its Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering graduates earn a median $102,702 four years after finishing, against the field's $81,171 national median. (Scorecard field-of-study, 2026.)
| # | College | Grad earnings, 4 yrs | Vs field median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | $102,702 | +$21,531 |
| 2 | San Diego State University | $88,417 | +$7,246 |
| 3 | University of California-Riverside | $84,300 | +$3,129 |
How big is the earnings gap between California Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering programs?
$18,402 separates the top and bottom of this list — $102,702 at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo against $84,300 at University of California-Riverside, four years after finishing. Same field, same state, same federal measure: where you study moves pay by that much.
Do California Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering graduates earn more than the national median?
The state's strongest program pays $21,531 above the $81,171 national median for the field. Program-level medians come from federal tax records of graduates who received aid, so they track actual pay rather than advertised salaries.