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If your goal in life is to safeguard the earth’s resources then getting an environmental engineering degree online is a great choice. This is a “green” discipline in that careers are devoted to matters such as managing environmental regulations and cleaning up hazardous materials. Using a blend of chemistry and knowledge of biology, the environmental engineer works to improve the environment by finding ways to prevent or correct ecological damage and to minimize environmental threats to human health.
Excellent Opportunities Everywhere You Look
Environmental engineering is an excellent choice of careers. Right now the number of positions is expected to grow by 31 percent during the ten year period ending 2018. But job growth could very well be stronger as the focus on environmental issues continues to grow. Federal and state governments are committed to developing and enforcing environmental laws, and that means you can expect new jobs at the government and private industry levels to emerge.
In addition, population growth is placing demands on the environment that are leading to increasing public health concerns. Job duties include the following as an example:
- Develop methods for controlling pollution
- Manage waste disposal
- Address public health concerns
- Prevent environmental problems or disasters
- Research and design hazardous-waste management procedures
- Research and design industrial wastewater treatment systems
- Work on environmental clean-up procedures at accident sites
As you can see, this is a truly exciting career field offering a wide range of career paths. When working on the environmental engineering degree, you can expect to take plenty of math and science courses. Thanks to online learning that can be done from a distance master of environmental engineering degrees can also be pursued. Technology has made it possible to earn degrees in your field of choice no matter where you live, and that’s great news for you and the environment!
Let’s Talk Money
It’s always nice when you can earn good money while also pursuing a chosen career. If you have a passion for protecting the environment then you will be happy to know that you can also make an excellent salary. This is true even if you have little experience.
Online environmental engineering degrees are valuable as you can see from the average annual pay rates for people already working in the field as published by PayScale.
| Under 1 year of experience |
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$42,000 to $56,000 |
| Experience over 1 year but less than 5 years |
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$47,000 to $59,000 |
| Experience of at least 5 years but less than 10 |
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$56,500 to $70,000 |
| Experience of at least 10 years but less than 20 |
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$68,700 to $90,000 |
| Experience of at least 20 years or more |
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$75,800 to $108,000 |
You can not only start your career at an excellent salary right out of college but you can also expect greater earnings as you get experience.
Who do environmental engineers typically work for? They work for:
- Federal, state and local governments
- Universities as researchers or in-house engineers
Private businesses concerned with limiting environmental impact of outputs (especially manufacturers)
- Non-profits dedicated to environmental protection
- Consultant
When you earn an environmental engineering bachelors degree online, you not only have career opportunities in the U.S. Issues like global warming and population growth has created a worldwide concern about environmental protection. If you desire to work overseas one day, this is an ideal degree to possess.
The annual salary for an environmental engineer varies from city to city and state to state. For example, you will likely earn more working in Los Angeles than in Chicago. According to PayScale, the pay range for employed environmental engineers in Los Angeles is $58,000 to $104,000. The pay range in Chicago is $48,000 to $67,000.
When looking at the average salary by state the ranges are fairly close. You can begin working at an average salary of $53,000 in California as opposed to $51,000 in New York on the other side of the country. In Texas starting average salaries are $57,000 compared to Florida’s $49,000.
What this information tells you is that the city of employment impacts pay much more than the state you work in.
Excellent Prospects
A degree in environmental engineering is an excellent choice if you have an interest in dealing with environmental topics of all kinds. You can choose to work on issues like:
- Water pollution
- Air pollution
- Public health protection
- Wildlife protection
- Recycling
- Water supplies
- Industrial facility designs (to protect the environmental)
- Hazardous waste transport and disposal
- Acid rain
In other words, you can specialize if you want and that could lead to even higher earnings. With advances in technology there are going to be new types of careers in environmental engineering developing all the time. This is a cutting-edge field of study and one that will pay you quite well.
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