The study reported in this article investigated the relationship between higher education and environmental sustainability with control variables including foreign direct investment, electricity consumption, population, and gross domestic product from 30 provinces in China during the 2000–2018 period. The data were analyzed with cross-sectional dependency tests, panel unit-root tests, Kao cointegration tests, fully modified ordinary least squares, and dynamic ordinary least squares. Some of the main results are presented as follows. First, the results showed that higher education and foreign direct investment play a vital role in mitigating CO₂ emissions, thereby confirming both the education-CO₂ led hypothesis and the pollution halo hypothesis, respectively. Second, the estimates suggested that an increase in electricity consumption, population, and gross domestic product significantly contributed to enhancements in CO₂ emissions. Based on the current estimated results, this research proposes important policies to help policymakers and governments in mitigating CO₂ emissions.