BS Environmental Science does not lead to a board exam. There is no PRC licence for environmental scientists, and - this catches people out - the environmental planner licence that does exist is not reachable on this degree alone. Both of those facts are worth settling before you enrol, because the degree is often marketed as if a professional licence sits at the end of it.
What the programme does offer is a genuinely interdisciplinary science training with an unusual feature: a required course on the Environmental Impact Assessment system, which is the regulatory process most environmental work in the Philippines revolves around.
The order that governs the degree
The standard is CHED Memorandum Order No. 35, series of 2005, "Minimum Policies and Standards for Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (BS ES)," adopted under Republic Act No. 7722 "for the purpose of rationalizing the Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science."
Be aware of its age. CMO 35 builds its general education requirement on CHED Memorandum Circular No. 4, series of 1997 - the 51-unit general education curriculum that predates K to 12 and the current 36-unit general education curriculum. Unlike chemistry, biology, marine biology and statistics, all of which had their standards reissued in 2017, environmental science was not part of that round.
The Second Congressional Commission on Education has reported that CHED takes an average of 11 years to review and update programme standards, and that technical panels went unreconstituted for seven years, with 89 of 91 panels reconstituted as of October 2025. So the delay here is structural rather than specific to environmental science.
What to do with that. Treat the science, environmental science and management components of CMO 35 as the reliable description of the degree, and treat the general education and the 138-unit total as historical. Ask each school for its current programme of study.
What the degree is
CMO 35 describes environmental science as having three characteristics: its primary objective is to use the various sciences in the study of the environment; it is based in the sciences but its approach is interdisciplinary, employing the scientific method as its principal framework and applying whichever science the problem requires; and it recognises "the very important role that human society has in the environment."
The order also draws a boundary that resolves a common confusion. BS Environmental Science is science-based, drawing on "biology, chemistry, physics, earth and marine sciences, and mathematics," with social science training added so graduates understand the role of ethics, society and culture. It is described as distinct from programmes in environmental studies (social science-based), environmental management and environmental education. If a programme you are looking at is called environmental studies or environmental management, it is a different degree with different content - read the curriculum, not the brochure.
The objectives are that graduates should be equipped with sufficient knowledge of the scientific theories and techniques needed to monitor and understand environmental quality; able to integrate and apply the various disciplines toward understanding environmental problems; knowledgeable about local, regional and global environmental issues; and able to employ a rational, structured approach to solving environmental problems.
The 138-unit outline
| Component | Units |
|---|---|
| General Education (1997 curriculum) | 39 |
| Core Science | 52 |
| Environmental Science, including Environmental Monitoring | 26 |
| Environmental Studies / Environmental Management | 12 |
| The EIA System | 3 |
| Thesis or Special Project plus OJT | 6 |
| Total minimum units | 138 |
There is an accounting quirk in the order worth explaining, because it looks like a contradiction. The text says the core science component has "a minimum of forty-six (46) units" and the environmental science component "a minimum of 20 units," while the outline table shows 52 and 26. The difference is 12 units of natural science and mathematics that are counted toward the 51-unit general education requirement but taught inside the core science and environmental science blocks - the order marks them in parentheses. Add the 39 shown against general education to those 12 and you get the 51-unit requirement. The totals are consistent once you follow that.
Core science (52 units) is prescribed by discipline: Biology 15, Chemistry 15, Earth Science 5, Mathematics 12 and Physics 5. The specific courses named are Biology I and II and Ecology; General Chemistry I and II and Analytical Chemistry; Basic Earth Science; Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus and Statistics; and General Physics (Mechanics).
The order adds two sensible instructions: because BS ES is a science programme, lecture courses under the core science component must be offered with laboratory courses; and for biology, schools are recommended to offer a combined general biology course rather than separate zoology and botany courses. The basic earth science course is meant to focus on the fundamentals of land-water-air interactions.
Environmental science (26 units) sits on top of the core science courses as prerequisites. CHED does not prescribe a fixed list here - it lets schools choose based on their faculty, facilities and chosen area of concentration, and suggests themes: agriculture, fisheries, analytical sciences, systematics and biodiversity, atmospheric sciences, geophysical sciences, aquatic studies (freshwater, marine, estuarine), and computers for modelling and bioinformatics. One course is mandatory - a 5-unit integrative Environmental Monitoring course with lecture and laboratory.
This is the most important thing to check when comparing schools. Because CHED leaves the environmental science courses open, two BS ES programmes can look very different. Ask which environmental science courses actually ran in the last two years and who taught them.
Environmental studies and management (12 units) covers the social side: population and demography, ethics, business, economics, law and policy, advocacy and communication, education and entrepreneurship, plus management, planning and administration.
The EIA System (3 units) is a required integrative course. CHED describes the Environmental Impact Assessment System as "one of the most important tools where environmental considerations are integrated into the planning of projects that may affect the environment," and the course as studying the application of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities in development projects.
That single course is the most job-relevant thing in the curriculum. Environmental compliance work in the Philippines runs through the EIA system, and a graduate who understands it is immediately useful to a consultancy or a company's environment unit.
Thesis or special project plus OJT (6 units). Schools choose the mode: a 6-unit thesis, or a 3-unit special project plus 3 units of OJT or practicum. Given there is no licensure examination, this is the graduate's main verifiable output - treat the choice as consequential rather than administrative.
Why there is no licence
The PRC regulates a profession only where a statute or commission resolution creates a board. Chemistry has one under Republic Act No. 10657; forestry under Republic Act No. 10690; geology under Republic Act No. 10166; fisheries under Republic Act No. 11398. There is no board for environmental scientists.
The environmental planner trap. There is an environmental planner licensure examination, under Republic Act No. 10587, and it is frequently and wrongly presented as the natural board exam for environmental science graduates. It is not. The PRC's own qualification table for the environmental planner examination requires one of: a graduate degree in environmental planning, urban and regional planning, city planning, town and country planning or human settlements planning or its equivalent; a post-graduate diploma in those fields with at least one year of on-the-job training as required under RA 10587; or a bachelor's degree in those planning fields.
A BS Environmental Science degree is not on that list. If licensed environmental planning is your goal, you would need to add a qualifying planning credential on top - which is a legitimate path, but it is a graduate-level plan, not something the bachelor's degree delivers by itself.
Adjacent licensed routes that people sometimes weigh against this degree include sanitary engineering and forestry, both of which do carry PRC licences on the strength of the bachelor's degree. Our courses with board exams guide lays out which degrees lead where.
Where graduates work
CMO 35 says BS ES graduates "can be employed at the entry-level of science positions" and lists the work areas: air and water quality management, energy and resource management, planning and design, waste management and environmental assessment. The specific roles named are environmental impact assessors, environmental officers, conservation and resource management staff, project planning and assessment personnel, and programme, project or technical personnel in private companies, non-government organisations and government agencies. The order also encourages graduates to pursue graduate education for further specialisation.
In practice the employers are the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its bureaus, local government environment and natural resources offices, water districts and utilities, mining, energy and manufacturing companies with compliance obligations, environmental consultancies preparing impact statements and monitoring reports, conservation NGOs, and research institutions.
The "pollution control officer" function that many companies are required to designate is one of the most common early roles for environmental science graduates. It is an accredited function under environmental regulation rather than a PRC profession, so the requirements come from the environmental regulator rather than the PRC - check the current accreditation rules directly with DENR rather than relying on secondhand summaries.
CMO 35 also names the allied fields: the biological sciences, earth sciences and physical sciences most closely, plus mathematics for modelling and statistics, and agriculture, fisheries, forestry, energy and resource management, information systems, environmental design and planning, and environmental engineering and sanitation. Our BS Biology guide covers the closest neighbour.
Choosing a school
Because CHED leaves so much of this curriculum open, the school matters more here than in a tightly prescribed programme. Four things to check:
- Which environmental science courses actually run. The 26-unit block is school-defined. A programme with an atmospheric or aquatic concentration is a different degree from one with an analytical-chemistry concentration.
- Laboratories. The order requires laboratory courses alongside the core science lectures and mandates a 5-unit Environmental Monitoring course with laboratory. Confirm the equipment exists and undergraduates use it.
- Field access. Environmental monitoring that never leaves the campus is not monitoring.
- Where the OJT goes. A placement with DENR, a water district, a consultancy or a company's environment unit is the closest thing this degree has to a hiring pipeline.
Confirm too that the programme has CHED authority to operate - our guide on how to verify school legitimacy covers the checks. We do not publish a national tuition figure for BS Environmental Science; it is offered by both state and private universities with very different costs, and laboratory fees are frequently assessed separately from tuition.
The short version
BS Environmental Science is governed by CHED Memorandum Order No. 35, series of 2005 - a 138-unit outline built on a pre-K-12 general education structure, so current programmes differ in total units. The parts that still describe the degree are 52 units of core science across biology, chemistry, earth science, mathematics and physics; 26 units of school-defined environmental science including a mandatory 5-unit Environmental Monitoring course; 12 units of environmental studies and management; a required 3-unit course on the EIA System; and a 6-unit thesis or special project with OJT. There is no PRC board exam, and the environmental planner licence under RA 10587 is not open on this degree alone. The EIA course, the monitoring laboratory and the OJT placement are what make a graduate employable.
Sources
- CHED Memorandum Order No. 35, s. 2005 - Minimum Policies and Standards for Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (Central Mindanao University mirror of the signed CMO)
- Professional Regulation Commission - Table of Qualification and Documentary Requirements to Accompany an Application to Take a Licensure Examination (environmental planner qualifications and full board roster)
- CHED - CMO No. 60, s. 2017, Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Environmental Planning (BSEP) Program
- EDCOM 2 - CHED curriculum updates take 11 years on average
- CHED - 2017 CHED Memorandum Orders index (showing which science PSGs were reissued)
