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School of CEEES | Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences

Environmental Engineering B.S.

Our complex world faces many challenges, including contaminated water supplies, hazardous wastes, increasing populations and limited resources. We need a highly trained workforce ready to tackle our environmental problems and design a healthier and more sustainable society. As an environmental engineer, you can help solve many of the environmental issues faced by society by using the principles of biology, chemistry, and the earth sciences.

Career Paths

  • Protect water quality by designing water and wastewater treatment systems
  • Look after public safety by managing solid, hazardous and radioactive wastes
  • Improve air quality by devising solutions to air pollution
  • Reduce human health risks by tracking contaminants as they move through the environment
  • Clean up toxic waste spills and restore historically contaminated sites
  • Design a more sustainable future by understanding our use of resources

Local, national, and international job opportunities in environmental engineering abound. Careers can be found with the federal and state governments, water utilities, engineering consulting firms, and industry. Environmental Engineering is continuously reported as one of the best jobs with great pay and growth prospects. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment for environmental engineers will grow “3.7 percent from 2020 to 2030.

Led by world-class faculty dedicated to providing the best possible educational experience, Clemson University’s undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering is the only degree program of its type in South Carolina. By receiving a degree in Environmental Engineering at Clemson, you will acquire the skills necessary to join this rapidly growing field and tackle some significant challenges facing society.

  • Environmental Engineering Curriculum

    First Semester Curriculum

    All General Engineering students take the same classes their first term, regardless of their intended major. Coursework will begin to specialize in subsequent terms. 

    Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the official Environmental Engineering B.S. curriculum in the Undergraduate Catalog.

    • CH 1010 - General Chemistry (4)
    • ENGL 1030 - Composition and Rhetoric (3)
    • ENGR 1020 - Engineering Disciplines and Skills (3)
    • MATH 1060 - Calculus of One Variable I (4)
    • General Education Requirement - (3)

    B.S. Environmental Engineering credit hours: 131

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    The following curriculum worksheet and Powerpoint flow chart are based on the catalog and can assist students and their advisors in course planning.

    Environmental Engineering Core Curriculum

    Basic Sciences - mathematics, physics and chemistry
    Engineering Sciences - statics, dynamics, fluid mechanics, and thermodynamics
    Environmental Engineering Analysis and Design 
    Applied Life Sciences - biology, microbiology, and organic chemistry and electives selected based on the student's interests.

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    For a description of departmental procedures and extracurricular opportunities, please view the program handbook.

    Handbook
  • Program Educational Objectives

    The Program Educational Objectives (PEOs) for the Environmental Engineering Program’s alumni’ career or postgraduate education:

    1. Our graduates will be advancing in careers utilizing the skills gained through their environmental engineering education.
    2. Our environmental engineering graduates will continue to learn and adapt to a changing world.

    The principal mission of the Environmental Engineering program is to educate and prepare students for future careers.

  • Accreditation and Student Outcomes

    The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the General Criteria and the Environmental Engineering and Similarly Named Engineering Programs Program Criteria.

    Clemson University Enrollment and Graduation Data

    Environmental Engineering Student Outcomes

    Upon completion of the Environmental Engineering program, graduates of the program will be prepared to enter the workforce confident that they have mastered the skills necessary to succeed.

    Graduates of the program will have:

    1. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
    2. an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
    3. an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
    4. an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
    5. an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
    6. an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
    7. an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
  • Applying to the B.S. Program

    Undergraduate Degree

    Students who wish to pursue the Environmental Engineering degree will apply to Clemson as first-year students if they do not have college credit or if they earned college credit prior to high school graduation. Program applicants will begin in the General Engineering group before declaring their intended major. To begin the EES program, students must have a cumulative grade-point average of 2.0 or higher.

    Combined B.S./M.S. Degree

    Environmental Engineering undergraduates at Clemson University may begin a Masters of Science (M.S.) degree in Environmental Engineering and Science while completing their Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree and use graduate courses to satisfy the requirements of both their undergraduate and graduate degrees. For all of the B.S./M.S. options we offer, please visit the B.S. to M.S. page.

    How to Apply

    Clemson University offers a Coalition Application, Clemson Application, and the Common Application. To learn more about the application process, deadlines, and requirements for applying to the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences College (CECAS), please review the First-Year Application Process.

    The GS6-Bachelor-to-Graduate Plan form will serve as your application to the graduate program – no additional application is required. However, while the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is not mandatory, some fellowship applications may require GRE scores.