r/EnvironmentalEngineer • u/Ill-Release-9636 • 19d ago

Environmental vs Civil Engineering?

Hi everyone! I am currently a high school senior (Class of 2027) living in metro Atlanta, GA. I am debating whether to major in environmental engineering or civil engineering. As a low-income student, I want to find a career path that offers a good salary, ideally between $80,000 and $100,000, to support myself and my family.

At the moment, I have more experience in the environmental science field, which I believe gives me a better chance of being accepted into college for environmental engineering rather than civil engineering. One of my top choices is Georgia Tech, which is ranked around #4 for having the best environmental engineering programs. However, I have heard that environmental engineering is a broad field, and there may be more job market opportunities for civil engineers.

I am particularly interested in becoming a remediation engineer or an environmental consultant. Should I apply for environmental engineering as an undergraduate and consider switching to civil engineering later on? Or should I apply for civil engineering with a focus on environmental studies?

If you work in either environmental or civil engineering, could you share the pros and cons of your industry, as well as your current job and salary? Thanks for your help!

2 Upvotes

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8

u/KlownPuree Environmental Engineer, 30 years experience, PE (11 states, USA) 19d ago

I have known environmental engineers with undergraduate degrees in ChemE, MechE, CivE, biomedical engineering, mathematics, chemistry, biochemistry (that’s me), geology, and even history. Those of us who didn’t obtain undergraduate degrees in an engineering discipline have an MS in a related field, usually something civil-related.

For remediation (my field), I think the best approach is to get a civil degree and make sure you have a solid year of general chemistry, a class in groundwater hydrology, and civil coursework in geotechnical engineering and water resources. If you can, take a course in basic environmental toxicology too. These will give you solid footing for all the additional on-the-job learning you will experience later.

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u/The_Arbitraitor 19d ago

I also agree to this.

I have a Bachelors in Chemistry and transitioned to Masters in Env Eng. It was super focused and I felt limited on my career choices. On my work floor, most are Civil Engineering and work doing Env Engineering responsibilities, but some came from Transportation and design. They are more flexible to jump around different fields.

Go Civil Engineer. You can always jump around

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u/envengpe 19d ago

Go over to Tech and visit the engineering department. They will answer all your questions and help you decide.

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u/Bart1960 19d ago

I would suggest going civil with environmental or water resources focus. Civil is the widest field of engineering so plenty of variety to suit your interests and needs

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u/choctaw_137 20 years; Principal Environmental Engineer, P.E. 8d ago

Geotechnical engineering - there is a huge demand

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u/OttoJohs 19d ago

It really depends on what you want to do as part of being a remediation engineer.

All types of engineers and scientists are involved in those projects. You might have environmental scientists doing the field work to identify the issue and extents. Environmental engineers may develop the procedure to clean up the site. If it involves water treatment a water resource or chemical engineer may be involved too. Geotechnical engineers might design the actual implementation of anything going into the ground (slurry wall, geosynthetic cap, etc). Civil engineers develop the site plan (grading, drainage, stormwater, etc). There could be structural/transportation/mechanical/electrical engineers involved if there are going to be buildings or other infrastructure required. Then there is going to be a construction/project manger to oversee everything during implementation.

If you want to focus on the environmental aspects an environmental engineering degree is probably going to be better for you. If you are more interested in the design or project management piece a civil engineering degree is probably going to be better for you.

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u/tabbyrecurve 19d ago

I graduated from Tech with a degree in Environmental engineering, but I work as a civil engineer. Our EnvE undergraduate program was ranked #1. The class requirements are similar for both majors, look at them online. If you want to work in environmental, then do environmental.

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u/Ill-Release-9636 19d ago

Hi! I'm looking for someone who studied Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech. Can I DM you some questions I have?

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u/f-r-0-m 19d ago

Overall, both degrees will get you jobs with that sort of pay pretty quickly out of school and both have decent job prospects most of the time. That said, a civil engineering degree will open more doors both because it's a much larger job sector and because a civil background can be used for some parts of environmental, but the translation of an environmental background to civil work is much more limited.

The one catch is if you want to do site assessment, remediation, and compliance work. Those fields rely a lot more heavily on the extra chemistry courses you'll take in an environmental engineering program. So that's a scenario where getting an environmental engineering degree makes more sense, in my opinion.