Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering at University of Colorado Boulder

CU Boulder's environmental engineering program trails Colorado School of Mines by about $6,000 in starting salary, and lands squarely in the middle of both state and national rankings at the 40th percentile. With first-year earnings around $63,000 and debt under $21,000, the return on investment is solid—that 0.33 debt-to-earnings ratio means graduates owe just one-third of their first year's salary. Among Colorado's four environmental engineering programs, this sits between the premium Mines option and lower-tier alternatives.

The concerning element here is that both earnings and debt trail typical benchmarks. Graduates earn about $3,000 less than the Colorado median and $1,600 less than the national average, while 72% of programs nationwide produce graduates with less debt. The 17% earnings growth over four years is respectable but not exceptional for an engineering field. This means students at CU Boulder are paying slightly more and earning slightly less than they would at a typical environmental engineering program.

For families choosing between Colorado schools, this makes sense if your child strongly prefers Boulder's campus and broader university experience over Mines' intense engineering focus. The career outcomes aren't dramatically different, and the manageable debt means graduates won't struggle with payments. Just know you're not getting the state's best value in this particular major—you're getting CU Boulder's brand and college experience at a slightly higher cost with moderately lower returns than peer programs.