Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering at Clemson University

Clemson's Environmental Engineering program starts graduates near $68,400—solidly above the national median for this major and matching South Carolina's figures (though only two SC schools offer this degree, making state comparisons less meaningful). With just under $20,500 in typical debt, graduates owe roughly four months of salary, a manageable starting point that beats the national debt median for this field.

The concern here is stagnation: earnings essentially flatline between year one and year four. Most engineering graduates see meaningful salary growth during those early career years, yet these alumni are earning the same after four years as they did fresh out of school. This could reflect the program's small size—fewer than 30 graduates in the data—which makes it hard to know whether this represents a real pattern or just statistical noise from tracking a handful of people.

Given the small sample caveat, focus on the strong fundamentals: solid starting salary, reasonable debt, and Clemson's established engineering reputation. The lack of earnings growth warrants a closer look at where recent graduates actually land and whether they're advancing in their careers, but the initial financial picture is sound enough that this shouldn't be an immediate dealbreaker—especially if your child is genuinely drawn to environmental engineering work.