Best Environmental Scientist programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment
Conduct research or perform investigation for the purpose of identifying, abating, or eliminating sources of pollutants or hazards that affect either the environment or public health.
44 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,540 people a year. The job pays a median of $100,640 in Massachusetts across about 2,930 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
6 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Massachusetts page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sustainability Studiesmain feeder CIP 30.3301In Massachusetts → | 497 | 32.3% | 5 | $37,223 | $20,968 |
| 2 | CIP 03.0104In Massachusetts → | 488 | 31.7% | 28 | $34,020 | $23,032 |
| 3 | CIP 03.0103In Massachusetts → | 444 | 28.8% | 20 | $34,020 | $23,032 |
| 4 | CIP 51.2202In Massachusetts → | 51 | 3.3% | 4 | $36,762 | $25,076 |
| 5 | CIP 30.4401In Massachusetts → | 36 | 2.3% | 2 | — | — |
| 6 | Marine Sciencesmain feeder CIP 30.3201In Massachusetts → | 24 | 1.6% | 4 | $27,337 | $22,400 |
Top 25 schools in Massachusetts
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 15 of the 44 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 549 | Sustainability Studies | — | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 2 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 160 | Environmental Science | $51,137 | 91% | $18,925 | 5% |
| 3 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 4 feeder programs | 121 | Environmental Science | $29,690 | 83% | — | 60% |
| 4 | University of Massachusetts - Boston Boston, MA Public · 4 feeder programs | 85 | Environmental Science | $41,547 | 49% | — | 84% |
| 5 | Clark University Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 69 | Environmental Science | $34,500 | 77% | $23,332 | 40% |
| 6 | Tufts University Medford, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 66 | Environmental Studies | $40,044 | 94% | $23,570 | 11% |
| 7 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 61 | Environmental Health | — | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 8 | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 37 | Environmental Studies | $49,111 | 91% | $21,126 | 16% |
| 9 | University of Massachusetts - Lowell Lowell, MA Public · 3 feeder programs | 35 | Environmental Science | $45,215 | 65% | — | 83% |
| 10 | Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Environmental Studies | $22,791 | 84% | $26,083 | 36% |
| 11 | Smith College Northampton, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Environmental Studies | $21,648 | 89% | $17,183 | 21% |
| 12 | Westfield State University Westfield, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Environmental Science | $35,809 | 54% | — | 81% |
| 13 | Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buzzards Bay, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Environmental Science | $50,931 | 74% | — | 95% |
| 14 | Stonehill College Easton, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 22 | Environmental Science | $33,692 | 76% | $24,000 | 66% |
| 15 | Brandeis University Waltham, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Environmental Studies | $28,027 | 86% | $25,074 | 40% |
| 16 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Environmental Studies | $37,724 | 92% | $19,292 | 14% |
| 17 | Williams College Williamstown, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Environmental Studies | — | 94% | $10,747 | 8% |
| 18 | Amherst College Amherst, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Environmental Studies | — | 94% | $16,081 | 9% |
| 19 | University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth North Dartmouth, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Marine Sciences | — | 52% | — | 91% |
| 20 | Worcester State University Worcester, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Environmental Science | — | 61% | — | 88% |
| 21 | Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Norton, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Environmental Science | — | 73% | $26,445 | 68% |
| 22 | Endicott College Beverly, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Environmental Science | — | 76% | $34,195 | 71% |
| 23 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Sustainability Studies | — | 90% | $32,926 | 60% |
| 24 | Merrimack College North Andover, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 9 | Environmental Science | — | 70% | $33,877 | 70% |
| 25 | North Shore Community College Danvers, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Environmental Studies | — | 18% | — | — |
All 44 schools in Massachusetts
Every school in Massachusetts with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | Cambridge | Private not-for-profit | 549 | 3 |
| Northeastern University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 160 | 2 |
| University of Massachusetts - Amherst | Amherst | Public | 121 | 4 |
| University of Massachusetts - Boston | Boston | Public | 85 | 4 |
| Clark University | Worcester | Private not-for-profit | 69 | 2 |
| Tufts University | Medford | Private not-for-profit | 66 | 2 |
| Boston University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 61 | 2 |
| Boston College | Chestnut Hill | Private not-for-profit | 37 | 2 |
| University of Massachusetts - Lowell | Lowell | Public | 35 | 3 |
| Mount Holyoke College | South Hadley | Private not-for-profit | 29 | 1 |
| Smith College | Northampton | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 1 |
| Westfield State University | Westfield | Public | 23 | 1 |
| Massachusetts Maritime Academy | Buzzards Bay | Public | 22 | 1 |
| Stonehill College | Easton | Private not-for-profit | 22 | 2 |
| Brandeis University | Waltham | Private not-for-profit | 21 | 1 |
What environmental scientists and specialists, including health earn in Massachusetts
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $82,220. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Massachusetts employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Massachusetts
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health page.
How to become a Environmental Scientist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Massachusetts
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 11 majors mapped to Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health11 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 03.0103Environmental Studies
- 03.0104Environmental Science
- 26.1004Toxicology
- 26.1005Molecular Toxicology
- 26.1006Environmental Toxicology
- 30.3201Marine Sciences
- 30.3301Sustainability Studies
- 30.4101Environmental Geosciences
- 30.4401Geography and Environmental Studies
- 40.0509Environmental Chemistry
- 51.2202Environmental Health
Common questions
Answers for people weighing environmental scientists and specialists, including health programs in Massachusetts.
What degree do you need to become an Environmental Scientist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Sustainability Studies, which awarded 497 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 32.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Environmental Scientist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Natural Resources Conservation and Research, Sustainability Studies, Public Health, Geography and Environmental Studies, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 1,540 people a year in Massachusetts.
How much do environmental scientists and specialists, including health earn in Massachusetts?+
The median is $100,640 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 22.4% above the U.S. median of $82,220. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for environmental scientists and specialists, including health growing?+
BLS projects a +4.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 8,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+
44 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 6 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do environmental scientists and specialists, including health work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Ecologist, Policy Analyst, Climate Analyst, Research Scientist, Restoration Ecologist, Environmental Scientist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-2041.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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