Environmental Engineering
Detroit Mercy's Environmental Engineering program focuses on advanced study in environmental engineering, including
- water and wastewater treatment.
- physical and chemical processes.
- biological unit operations.
- hazardous waste treatment.
- pollution prevention and other environmental topics.
You'll learn about physical, chemical and biological processes used to protect the environment and public health and become a leader in engineering or research. Graduates go on to work as consulting engineers, in industry or government, or as researchers at universities and laboratories.
Undergraduate Degrees
- 5-Year Bachelor in Civil Engineering / Master in Environmental Engineering
- 5-year B.S. in Biology / Master in Environmental Engineering
- 5-year B.S. in Biochemistry / Master in Environmental Engineering
- 5-year B.S. in Chemistry / Master in Environmental Engineering
- 5-year B.A. in Chemistry / Master in Environmental Engineering
Graduate Programs
- Master of Environmental Engineering
- Doctor of Philosophy degree with a major in Civil and Environmental Engineering
PAID Co-op Experiences
Average salary for an Environmental Engineer in Detroit is $90,276/year.
ZipRecruiter, 2025
The average pay range for an Environmental Engineer varies greatly, which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.
ZipRecruiter, 2025
Explore 5-Year Degrees
Earn Your Bachelor’s / Master’s Faster
Detroit Mercy offers combined Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in Environmental Engineering for well-prepared high school students entering as freshmen.
Benefits of the 5-Year Accelerated Program:
- Some senior-year courses count for both your bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
- Take certain graduate courses at the undergraduate tuition rate.
- Some undergraduate financial aid can continue into your graduate year.
- If you meet admission requirements and keep your GPA, you could earn both degrees in just five years.
Find Admission and Degree Requirements for:
- 5-Year Bachelor in Civil Engineering / Master in Environmental Engineering
- 5-year B.S. in Biology / Master in Environmental Engineering
- 5-year B.S. in Biochemistry / Master in Environmental Engineering
- 5-year B.S. in Chemistry / Master in Environmental Engineering
- 5-year B.A. in Chemistry / Master in Environmental Engineering
Explore Graduate Degrees
Master of Environmental Engineering
Focus on protecting the environment
The program's focus is on applying engineering to clean up of water and land pollutants.
If you are a new master’s student or a Detroit Mercy undergraduate who didn’t join the 5-year Bachelor/Master program, you can still apply to the graduate program.
Doctor of Philosophy degree with a major in Civil and Environmental Engineering
This doctorate program requires 81 or more credit hours beyond your bachelor’s degree, including 30 hours dedicated to your dissertation.
Civil Engineering doctoral students take two qualifying exams:
- Math qualifier. You must take and pass this with a grade of 70% within two tries to remain in the program. You should try it in your first term or year in the doctoral program. You must complete this before taking dissertation credit (CIVE 7990). View sample and past exams.
- Departmental qualifier. (also called discipline specific qualifier). You must take and pass this with a grade of 70% to remain in the program. Talk to your doctoral advisor to arrange an offering of the departmental qualifier for you.
Learn more about Dissertation / Thesis Requirements.
Why UDM?
Hands-On Projects with Real Clients
At Detroit Mercy, you’ll tackle real engineering problems through your senior capstone project. For example, one project helped a local church improve its water treatment system.
All Classes Taught by Professors
You’ll get personalized attention from experienced faculty who are well-connected with industry. All classes are taught by professors — never graduate students — so you get the guidance you need to reach your full potential.
A Broad, Well-Rounded Education
Detroit Mercy combines global thinking with practical problem-solving in areas like infrastructure, the environment and facilities. You’ll also gain important soft skills — such as teamwork, communication, ethics and decision-making — that employers value in future leaders.
"You’ll hear many engineers say that everything that they learned means nothing when they get out in the field. However, at the company I work for, I use what I learned here every single day."
Clifford Austin III '02
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Compare Civil and Environmental Engineering
Environmental Engineering students study how to design pollution control systems and determine how to clean up environmental problems. Alternatively, Civil Engineers learn about diverse areas of engineering. They design dams, roads, buildings and transit systems, in addition to traditional environmental areas, such as water treatment facilities or landfills.
Environmental Engineers can sometimes become very specialized. At Detroit Mercy, Environmental Engineering students take many courses in Civil Engineering so that they have a very diverse background. This provides you more possibilities for career placement after graduation compared to other environmental engineering programs. If an environmental student wants to deeply specialize, then they can take graduate level courses in specific areas, such as water or ground/land pollution.
Not sure which path to follow? That's OK — the curriculum is similar during your freshman year. Your academic advisor can help you make that decision after you've taken some courses. Even seniors working on their final project can focus on a speciality or the whole scope.
Learn more about Civil Engineering.
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Accreditation
Bachelor of Architectural Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org.