Environmental Psychology Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Environmental Psychology maps to BLS occupations averaging about $94,452, with roughly 254,360 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $10,934; common paths include Teachers and Instructors, All Other and Genetic Counselors.
Key Statistics
Environmental Psychology: what the data shows
Common questions about environmental psychology degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a environmental psychology degree?
A Environmental Psychology program is classified under NCES CIP 42.2808 in the Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology field family (42.28).
A program that focuses on the study of behavioral interactions between human beings and the environment in individual and group contexts, and ways to improve them. Includes instruction in contextual theory; statistics; physiological, social, and psychological responses to natural and technological hazards and disease; environmental perception and cognition; loneliness and stress; and psychological aspects of environmental design and planning
IPEDS counted 1 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of environmental psychology degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 42.28 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Applied Behavior Analysis (CIP 42.2814)
- Applied Psychology (CIP 42.2813)
- Clinical Child Psychology (CIP 42.2807)
- Clinical Psychology (CIP 42.2801)
- Community Psychology (CIP 42.2802)
- Counseling Psychology (CIP 42.2803)
- Educational Psychology (CIP 42.2806)
- Family Psychology (CIP 42.2811)
- Forensic Psychology (CIP 42.2812)
- Geropsychology (CIP 42.2809)
- Health/Medical Psychology (CIP 42.2810)
- Industrial and Organizational Psychology (CIP 42.2804)
- Performance and Sport Psychology (CIP 42.2815)
- School Psychology (CIP 42.2805)
- Somatic Psychology (CIP 42.2816)
- Transpersonal/Spiritual Psychology (CIP 42.2817)
How long does it take to get a environmental psychology degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 42.2808 in our file:
- 1 Bachelor's (9.1% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 10 Doctorate (90.9% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Teachers and Instructors, All Other (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a environmental psychology degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Environmental Psychology to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers and Instructors, All Other | 125,010 | $64,690 |
| Genetic Counselors | 3,510 | $98,910 |
| Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors | — | — |
| Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | 11,430 | $84,290 |
| Mental Health Counselors | — | — |
| Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education | 114,410 | $61,430 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a environmental psychology degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology bachelor's program family: median debt $40,066, median earnings $50,523 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.16.
About 5.6% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $10,934 and median net price is $19,058.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Environmental Psychology and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$10,934 Median In-State Public
$37,710 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Environmental Psychology majors are, on average, $10,934 for in-state public colleges, and $37,710 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Environmental Psychology programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Environmental Psychology from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Environmental Psychology.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 2 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 3 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 4 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Environmental Psychology programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Modesto Junior College | CA | $1,282 |
| 2 | Kairos University | SD | $3,600 |
| 3 | Sinclair Community College | OH | $3,675 |
| 4 | East Mississippi Community College | MS | $4,095 |
| 5 | College of Southern Nevada | NV | $4,358 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Environmental Psychology programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M University-Central Texas | TX | $1,300 |
| 2 | Modesto Junior College | CA | $2,818 |
| 3 | CUNY Hunter College | NY | $2,984 |
| 4 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College | NY | $3,033 |
| 5 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College | NY | $3,033 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Environmental Psychology programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Environmental Psychology programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Environmental Psychology is in WA (1 completions). That state represents about 100.0% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is WA (0.00% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| WA | 1 | 100.0% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 42.28 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Applied Behavior Analysis CIP 42.2814
- Applied Psychology CIP 42.2813
- Clinical Child Psychology CIP 42.2807
- Clinical Psychology CIP 42.2801
- Community Psychology CIP 42.2802
- Counseling Psychology CIP 42.2803
- Educational Psychology CIP 42.2806
- Family Psychology CIP 42.2811
- Forensic Psychology CIP 42.2812
- Geropsychology CIP 42.2809
- Health/Medical Psychology CIP 42.2810
- Industrial and Organizational Psychology CIP 42.2804
- Performance and Sport Psychology CIP 42.2815
- School Psychology CIP 42.2805
- Somatic Psychology CIP 42.2816
- Transpersonal/Spiritual Psychology CIP 42.2817
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 42.2808 in the survey year used in our extract (11 total across levels below).
- 1 Bachelor's (9.1% of IPEDS total)
- 10 Doctorate (90.9% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $94,452. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Environmental Psychology graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers and Instructors, All Other | $92,692 | 125,010 |
| Genetic Counselors | $143,815 | 3,510 |
| Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors | — | — |
| Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | $129,630 | 11,430 |
| Mental Health Counselors | — | — |
| Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education | $91,347 | 114,410 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology CIP family (15 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Environmental Psychology graduate.
- $40,066 median federal loan debt among completers
- $50,523 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.16 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 5.6% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$94,452 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Environmental Psychology majors is $94,452.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Environmental Psychology majors.
Occupations by Share
254,360 2023 Workforce
The number of Environmental Psychology graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Environmental Psychology by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Environmental Psychology in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Environmental Psychology.
Age distribution for Environmental Psychology degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
1 Total Degrees Awarded
1 Female (100.00%)
Gender distribution of Environmental Psychology degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
1 White (100.00%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Environmental Psychology degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Environmental Psychology are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Environmental Psychology.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Environmental Psychology field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Environmental Psychology majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Environmental Psychology majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Environmental Psychology majors.
About
A program that focuses on the study of behavioral interactions between human beings and the environment in individual and group contexts, and ways to improve them. Includes instruction in contextual theory; statistics; physiological, social, and psychological responses to natural and technological hazards and disease; environmental perception and cognition; loneliness and stress; and psychological aspects of environmental design and planning
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Environmental Psychology.
CIP Code
42.2808 - Environmental Psychology
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $40,066 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $50,523, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.16. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Environmental Psychology graduate.
Women earned 72.7% of 11 Environmental Psychology completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $94,452. The largest mapped role by headcount is Teachers and Instructors, All Other (125,010 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $10,934 in-state at public colleges and $37,710 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.