College Rankings

Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools

The top 25 of 254 U.S. colleges offering an undergraduate Natural Resources & Conservation degree, ranked by early-career earnings and return on investment — using each school's real, aid-adjusted net price rather than sticker tuition.

Is Natural Resources & Conservation worth it?

Yes, but this is a field where you must ruthlessly protect your margins. You are not going into investment banking; you are likely heading into federal land management, state regulatory agencies, or environmental consulting. Because entry-level salaries in conservation are famously modest, the value here is overwhelmingly found at low-cost public universities with deep, localized ties to regional employers. If you pay a premium private-school sticker price for this degree, you will likely struggle to outrun your student debt. But if you leverage in-state tuition at a land-grant or state-system school, this degree reliably pays for itself and opens the door to a highly stable, outdoors-adjacent career with excellent government benefits.

Filter by state

#	School	State	Score	Median earnings	Net price / yr	10-yr net ROI
1	University of California-Berkeley	CA	61	$47,338	$13,481†	+$419K
2	University of Maryland Global Campus	MD	58	$55,545	$22,063†	+$467K
3	Massachusetts Maritime Academy	MA	53	$50,931	$21,582†	+$423K
4	University of North Georgia	GA	52	$44,124	$9,823†	+$402K
5	University of California-Davis	CA	52	$38,954	$14,741†	+$331K
6	University of California-San Diego	CA	52	$37,524	$12,470†	+$325K
7	California State University-Sacramento	CA	52	$37,308	$9,338†	+$336K
8	University of Houston-Clear Lake	TX	51	$41,368	$15,563†	+$351K
9	Sonoma State University	CA	50	$40,759	$12,885†	+$356K
10	Purdue University Global	IN	49	$48,361	$7,770†	+$453K
11	Rutgers University-Newark	NJ	49	$43,223	$19,703†	+$353K
12	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	49	$41,152	$15,678†	+$349K
13	California State University-Long Beach	CA	48	$33,870	$10,440†	+$297K
14	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	48	$31,944	$12,548†	+$269K
15	Arizona State University Campus Immersion	AZ	47	$40,476	$14,967†	+$345K
16	Metropolitan State University of Denver	CO	46	$44,236	$15,327†	+$381K
17	Saint Cloud State University	MN	46	$43,555	$13,529†	+$381K
18	Colgate University	NY	46	$41,870	$28,786	+$304K
19	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus	WA	46	$35,867	$10,163†	+$318K
20	University of Redlands	CA	45	$46,164	$30,031	+$342K
21	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	45	$43,223	$24,406†	+$335K
22	University of Florida	FL	45	$34,454	$6,541†	+$318K
23	Northeastern University	MA	44	$51,137	$30,915	+$388K
24	American University	DC	44	$46,780	$41,943	+$300K
25	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	OK	44	$42,057	$15,300†	+$359K
26	Rhode Island College	RI	44	$40,752	$9,478†	+$370K
27	University of Delaware	DE	44	$38,908	$17,799†	+$318K
28	University of West Florida	FL	44	$37,214	$9,364†	+$335K
29	University of Nevada-Reno	NV	44	$36,481	$15,927†	+$301K
30	University of California-Irvine	CA	44	$36,304	$14,251†	+$306K
31	University of Washington-Bothell Campus	WA	44	$35,867	$12,319†	+$309K
32	CUNY Queens College	NY	44	$27,677	$4,195†	+$260K
33	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	43	$39,545	$17,339†	+$326K
34	University of Minnesota-Crookston	MN	43	$37,453	$12,212†	+$326K
35	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	43	$33,759	$16,109†	+$273K
36	Bentley University	MA	42	$68,600	$37,930	+$534K
37	George Washington University	DC	42	$51,201	$36,586	+$366K
38	Occidental College	CA	42	$49,529	$38,263	+$342K
39	Hobart William Smith Colleges	NY	42	$43,671	$31,563	+$310K
40	George Mason University	VA	42	$43,038	$17,915†	+$359K
41	University of Maine	ME	42	$39,297	$17,510†	+$323K
42	California State University-East Bay	CA	42	$38,876	$9,320†	+$351K
43	Stephen F Austin State University	TX	42	$37,637	$14,260†	+$319K
44	Michigan State University	MI	42	$37,170	$19,680†	+$293K
45	Texas A&M University-College Station	TX	42	$36,266	$21,315†	+$277K
46	University of South Florida	FL	42	$36,048	$9,812†	+$321K
47	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	42	$35,867	$14,091†	+$302K
48	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	42	$33,976	$11,655†	+$293K
49	Oakland University	MI	42	$31,201	$9,120†	+$276K
50	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	41	$41,790	$21,565†	+$332K
51	Northern Kentucky University	KY	41	$36,894	$8,191†	+$336K
52	University of Massachusetts-Lowell	MA	40	$45,215	$17,163†	+$383K
53	University of Rhode Island	RI	40	$40,067	$21,440†	+$315K
54	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus	OR	40	$39,479	$18,048†	+$323K
55	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	40	$39,361	$24,953†	+$294K
56	Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania	PA	40	$39,068	$23,726†	+$296K
57	University of North Carolina at Pembroke	NC	40	$38,400	$10,260†	+$343K
58	Iowa State University	IA	40	$37,890	$18,589†	+$305K
59	Florida International University	FL	40	$36,007	$9,288†	+$323K
60	Towson University	MD	40	$34,345	$17,413†	+$274K
61	San Diego State University	CA	40	$34,090	$15,364†	+$279K
62	Ball State University	IN	40	$34,000	$14,940†	+$280K
63	California State University-Chico	CA	40	$33,758	$14,480†	+$280K
64	Villanova University	PA	39	$56,549	$43,756	+$390K
65	University of Massachusetts-Boston	MA	39	$41,547	$17,707†	+$345K
66	Oregon State University	OR	39	$39,479	$19,604†	+$316K
67	California State University-San Marcos	CA	39	$37,364	$10,229†	+$333K
68	University of California-Riverside	CA	39	$30,521	$14,304†	+$248K
69	San Francisco State University	CA	39	$28,749	$12,278†	+$238K
70	Kansas State University	KS	38	$44,486	$19,406†	+$367K
71	Santa Clara University	CA	38	$42,576	$50,062	+$226K
72	Cornell University	NY	38	$41,621	$28,690	+$301K
73	University of Maryland-Baltimore County	MD	38	$36,804	$16,467†	+$302K
74	Westfield State University	MA	38	$35,809	$16,721†	+$291K
75	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater	WI	38	$35,693	$14,158†	+$300K
76	Miami University-Hamilton	OH	38	$34,708	$11,286†	+$302K
77	University of Nebraska at Omaha	NE	38	$32,284	$13,441†	+$269K
78	University at Albany	NY	38	$31,835	$17,167†	+$250K
79	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	38	$31,369	$14,355†	+$256K
80	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	38	$29,264	$13,138†	+$240K
81	Kutztown University of Pennsylvania	PA	37	$40,477	$21,331†	+$319K
82	Eastern Washington University	WA	37	$39,671	$13,886†	+$341K
83	Gustavus Adolphus College	MN	37	$38,024	$22,900	+$289K
84	Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi	TX	37	$37,497	$15,225†	+$314K
85	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona	PA	37	$37,330	$22,213†	+$284K
86	Montana State University	MT	37	$36,745	$22,499†	+$277K
87	Northern Illinois University	IL	37	$36,409	$13,391†	+$311K
88	University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	37	$35,081	$22,811†	+$260K
89	University of Wisconsin-River Falls	WI	37	$33,408	$14,054†	+$278K
90	University of Michigan-Flint	MI	37	$33,156	$7,007†	+$304K
91	Portland State University	OR	37	$31,512	$9,552†	+$277K
92	Boston College	MA	36	$49,111	$41,704	+$324K
93	Dartmouth College	NH	36	$47,671	$29,519	+$359K
94	Middlebury College	VT	36	$46,758	$31,483	+$342K
95	Roger Williams University	RI	36	$39,869	$37,999	+$247K
96	Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	36	$38,989	$14,600†	+$331K
97	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College	PA	36	$37,330	$24,558†	+$275K
98	University of Kentucky	KY	36	$36,117	$18,851†	+$286K
99	University of Minnesota-Duluth	MN	36	$33,565	$18,743†	+$261K
100	California State University-Monterey Bay	CA	36	$30,712	$13,663†	+$252K
101	Shepherd University	WV	36	$29,921	$11,363†	+$254K
102	State University of New York at Plattsburgh	NY	36	$28,447	$17,156†	+$216K
103	Bucknell University	PA	35	$46,698	$40,766	+$304K
104	Saint Johns University	MN	35	$44,047	$25,672	+$338K
105	William Paterson University of New Jersey	NJ	35	$40,613	$18,745†	+$331K
106	Bemidji State University	MN	35	$39,195	$15,261†	+$331K
107	The University of the South	TN	35	$35,204	$27,872	+$241K
108	Cleveland State University	OH	35	$34,835	$14,764†	+$289K
109	University of Wyoming	WY	35	$32,362	$13,599†	+$269K
110	University of Wisconsin-Green Bay	WI	35	$32,205	$13,369†	+$269K
111	Northeastern Illinois University	IL	35	$30,490	$14,109†	+$248K
112	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus	CT	35	$26,899	$10,875†	+$225K
113	University of San Francisco	CA	34	$38,949	$41,431	+$224K
114	Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania	PA	34	$38,183	$15,699†	+$319K
115	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus	NH	34	$37,286	$23,805†	+$278K
116	University of Central Florida	FL	34	$33,700	$10,411†	+$295K
117	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	34	$33,132	$16,778†	+$264K
118	Plymouth State University	NH	34	$31,836	$19,216†	+$241K
119	Florida State University	FL	34	$30,146	$11,297†	+$256K
120	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	34	$29,152	$17,890†	+$220K
121	Southern New Hampshire University	NH	33	$43,868	$36,708	+$292K
122	Barnard College	NY	33	$42,622	$28,800	+$311K
123	Longwood University	VA	33	$39,391	$19,066†	+$318K
124	Bridgewater College	VA	33	$38,838	$17,800	+$317K
125	Keene State College	NH	33	$36,423	$17,887†	+$293K
126	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	WI	33	$33,262	$15,014†	+$273K
127	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt	CA	33	$29,917	$13,171†	+$246K
128	Duke University	NC	33	$28,121	$29,612	+$163K
129	Emory University	GA	33	$21,227	$22,585	+$122K
130	Vermont State University	VT	32	$39,997	$18,212†	+$327K
131	Roanoke College	VA	32	$39,588	$24,503	+$298K
132	Bates College	ME	32	$38,437	$29,351	+$267K
133	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	PA	32	$37,330	$32,875†	+$242K
134	Florida Gulf Coast University	FL	32	$34,875	$12,568†	+$298K
135	Kent State University at Stark	OH	32	$34,020	$10,897†	+$297K
136	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	NC	32	$32,948	$17,303†	+$260K
137	California State University-Channel Islands	CA	32	$31,938	$9,849†	+$280K
138	The University of Texas at El Paso	TX	32	$31,207	$9,403†	+$274K
139	Northern Arizona University	AZ	32	$31,097	$14,158†	+$254K
140	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	32	$30,747	$25,346†	+$206K
141	The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	32	$26,931	$10,836†	+$226K
142	University of Connecticut-Avery Point	CT	32	$26,899	$13,807†	+$214K
143	Tufts University	MA	31	$40,044	$39,998	+$240K
144	Delaware Valley University	PA	31	$39,903	$28,278	+$286K
145	Texas Tech University	TX	31	$36,601	$19,070†	+$290K
146	Pennsylvania Western University	PA	31	$36,345	$18,256†	+$290K
147	Eastern Michigan University	MI	31	$35,656	$15,407†	+$295K
148	University of Southern Maine	ME	31	$34,465	$13,596†	+$290K
149	Upper Iowa University	IA	31	$34,347	$20,942	+$260K
150	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	NE	31	$33,514	$17,747†	+$264K
151	University of Arkansas	AR	31	$33,091	$18,209†	+$258K
152	University of Denver	CO	30	$39,017	$36,131	+$246K
153	University of Rochester	NY	30	$38,762	$29,278	+$271K
154	Wellesley College	MA	30	$37,724	$25,496	+$275K
155	Denison University	OH	30	$36,236	$40,007	+$202K
156	Framingham State University	MA	30	$35,032	$16,114†	+$286K
157	Indiana University-Indianapolis	IN	30	$32,469	$11,668†	+$278K
158	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	30	$28,824	$17,354†	+$219K
159	Willamette University	OR	30	$28,697	$25,121	+$186K
160	Colby College	ME	30	$28,216	$17,180	+$213K
161	Georgia College & State University	GA	29	$35,952	$20,686†	+$277K
162	University of Iowa	IA	29	$35,650	$22,531†	+$266K
163	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	29	$35,385	$17,447†	+$284K
164	Clark University	MA	29	$34,500	$28,714	+$230K
165	Stockton University	NJ	29	$33,224	$20,670†	+$250K
166	University of Toledo	OH	29	$32,706	$17,249†	+$258K
167	Temple University	PA	29	$31,817	$28,198†	+$205K
168	Western Washington University	WA	29	$30,899	$21,193†	+$224K
169	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	29	$29,690	$22,383†	+$207K
170	Rowan University	NJ	29	$29,306	$22,408†	+$203K
171	Binghamton University	NY	29	$28,155	$21,620†	+$195K
172	University of Connecticut-Stamford	CT	29	$26,899	$16,798†	+$202K
173	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus	CT	29	$26,899	$16,403†	+$203K
174	Stony Brook University	NY	29	$24,336	$18,784†	+$168K
175	Franklin and Marshall College	PA	28	$36,536	$36,425	+$220K
176	University of Kansas	KS	28	$34,374	$18,059†	+$272K
177	Colorado State University-Fort Collins	CO	28	$34,346	$21,279†	+$258K
178	Grand Valley State University	MI	28	$32,118	$16,317†	+$256K
179	Texas State University	TX	28	$29,414	$16,805†	+$227K
180	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	28	$27,339	$39,949	+$114K
181	Augustana College	IL	27	$35,669	$22,736	+$266K
182	University of Portland	OR	27	$35,349	$28,210	+$241K
183	University of New England	ME	27	$34,434	$38,107	+$192K
184	Virginia Commonwealth University	VA	27	$32,038	$23,433†	+$227K
185	Drexel University	PA	27	$30,835	$38,509	+$154K
186	University of Arizona	AZ	27	$30,645	$16,674†	+$240K
187	Salisbury University	MD	27	$28,026	$17,743†	+$209K
188	Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	26	$31,655	$16,264†	+$251K
189	St. John's University-New York	NY	26	$29,513	$29,999	+$175K
190	The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga	TN	26	$28,188	$14,265†	+$225K
191	Miami University-Oxford	OH	25	$34,708	$28,384†	+$234K
192	Stonehill College	MA	25	$33,692	$33,016	+$205K
193	Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science	NY	25	$33,398	$26,683	+$227K
194	St Lawrence University	NY	25	$33,270	$28,651	+$218K
195	Yale University	CT	25	$32,909	$23,777	+$234K
196	SUNY Brockport	NY	25	$31,223	$16,353†	+$247K
197	University of Idaho	ID	25	$31,028	$14,831†	+$251K
198	Utah State University	UT	25	$30,249	$14,936†	+$243K
199	University of North Carolina Asheville	NC	25	$25,758	$12,250†	+$209K
200	University of Wisconsin-Stout	WI	24	$31,128	$17,490†	+$241K
201	Wofford College	SC	24	$30,824	$18,732	+$233K
202	Southern Oregon University	OR	24	$30,632	$16,732†	+$239K
203	Allegheny College	PA	24	$30,552	$22,940	+$214K
204	Central Michigan University	MI	24	$28,430	$17,597†	+$214K
205	Dickinson College	PA	24	$27,663	$37,607	+$126K
206	University of Vermont	VT	24	$26,871	$19,343†	+$191K
207	Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	24	$22,629	$18,173†	+$154K
208	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	OH	23	$34,417	$25,648†	+$242K
209	Kent State University at Kent	OH	23	$34,020	$20,787†	+$257K
210	Saint Michael's College	VT	23	$33,658	$25,239	+$236K
211	Loyola University Chicago	IL	23	$30,797	$36,079	+$164K
212	University of Oregon	OR	23	$30,200	$22,182†	+$213K
213	Central Washington University	WA	23	$29,725	$18,476†	+$223K
214	Northern Michigan University	MI	23	$26,266	$14,085†	+$206K
215	Western Colorado University	CO	23	$26,123	$16,425†	+$196K
216	University of St Thomas	MN	22	$30,520	$29,155	+$189K
217	St Olaf College	MN	22	$29,921	$23,874	+$204K
218	University of North Carolina Wilmington	NC	22	$28,935	$20,109†	+$209K
219	Boise State University	ID	22	$28,211	$21,610†	+$196K
220	SUNY College at Potsdam	NY	22	$27,586	$13,624†	+$221K
221	University of Connecticut	CT	22	$26,899	$25,097†	+$169K
222	Clemson University	SC	22	$25,115	$22,253†	+$162K
223	Juniata College	PA	21	$33,069	$23,988	+$235K
224	Macalester College	MN	21	$29,559	$32,149	+$167K
225	Gettysburg College	PA	21	$29,428	$31,490	+$168K
226	Knox College	IL	21	$28,757	$24,595	+$189K
227	Appalachian State University	NC	21	$27,631	$16,836†	+$209K
228	The University of Montana	MT	21	$27,552	$16,784†	+$208K
229	University of Central Arkansas	AR	21	$27,118	$16,511†	+$205K
230	Baylor University	TX	20	$31,707	$41,104	+$153K
231	Gonzaga University	WA	20	$28,763	$35,119	+$147K
232	Flagler College	FL	20	$28,175	$30,525	+$160K
233	University of Missouri-Columbia	MO	20	$27,429	$20,268†	+$193K
234	Catawba College	NC	20	$27,389	$17,879	+$202K
235	Mount Holyoke College	MA	20	$22,791	$26,441	+$122K
236	Fort Lewis College	CO	20	$22,541	$17,296†	+$156K
237	Lake Forest College	IL	19	$26,998	$28,673	+$155K
238	DePaul University	IL	19	$26,381	$30,902	+$140K
239	King's College	PA	19	$22,080	$23,093	+$128K
240	Carthage College	WI	18	$25,553	$26,565	+$149K
241	Stetson University	FL	18	$23,790	$19,372	+$160K
242	Washington College	MD	18	$22,324	$27,898	+$112K
243	Brandeis University	MA	17	$28,027	$35,736	+$137K
244	University of Puget Sound	WA	17	$23,437	$38,394	+$81K
245	Nova Southeastern University	FL	17	$22,098	$30,371	+$99K
246	Western Michigan University	MI	17	$21,919	$15,273†	+$158K
247	Pitzer College	CA	16	$21,570	$34,191	+$79K
248	Luther College	IA	16	$19,239	$23,097	+$100K
249	Colorado College	CO	16	$17,372	$33,375	+$40K
250	Canisius University	NY	16	$15,681	$17,940	+$85K
251	Ithaca College	NY	15	$26,032	$33,926	+$125K
252	Eckerd College	FL	14	$25,709	$38,071	+$105K
253	Smith College	MA	13	$21,648	$27,579	+$106K
254	Rollins College	FL	12	$22,352	$34,732	+$85K

Top 10 programs by 10-year net ROI

How to read this: Median earnings = typical pay one year after graduation. Net price = average annual cost after grant aid, incl. living costs — not sticker tuition. 10-yr net ROI = ten years of earnings minus four years of net price. Score = the CollegeRanked Score (0–100) that sets the order — it blends ROI with longer-run earnings, job demand and automation resilience, so a school can outrank one with a slightly higher 10-yr ROI. † = public university — net price shown is the in-state cost; out-of-state students pay more. See the full methodology.

Why these schools rank where they do

The University of California, Berkeley claims the #1 spot because its Rausser College of Natural Resources operates at the exact intersection of Silicon Valley's booming climate-tech sector and California's massive environmental regulatory apparatus. Berkeley grads aren't just becoming park rangers; they are stepping into high-paying roles as sustainability analysts, corporate ESG consultants, and policymakers enforcing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). That same California regulatory machine explains why UC Davis, UC San Diego (home to the legendary Scripps Institution of Oceanography), and Sacramento State all dominate the top of this list. Sac State, in particular, feeds directly into the state capital's web of environmental agencies.

The most surprising trend on this list is the dominance of online and adult-focused programs like University of Maryland Global Campus (#2) and Purdue University Global (#10). These schools aren't out-competing traditional universities on elite research; rather, they serve older, working adults—often military veterans or federal technicians already employed by the EPA, the Bureau of Land Management, or the National Park Service. For these students, checking the "bachelor's degree" box instantly unlocks higher federal pay grades, heavily skewing these schools' outcomes upward.

Specialization also pays off handsomely. Massachusetts Maritime Academy (#3) thrives by steering its environmental protection grads into the highly lucrative maritime shipping and offshore wind industries. Meanwhile, the University of Redlands (#20) punches far above its weight for one specific, geographic reason: the city of Redlands is the global headquarters of Esri, the company that invented modern GIS mapping software. The university has deep integration with Esri, making its graduates highly sought-after for spatial analysis and conservation mapping roles nationwide.

What is Natural Resources & Conservation?

This field is the science and policy of managing the earth's assets—water, forests, wildlife, and energy—to balance human development with ecological health. Day-to-day, graduates are out in the field taking soil and water samples, sitting at dual monitors analyzing geographic information systems (GIS) data, or writing dense environmental impact reports for government agencies and private developers.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to work outside in the dirt?

Not unless you want to. While early-career roles often involve fieldwork—hiking through wetlands, surveying wildlife, or taking water samples—a massive portion of this industry takes place in an office. Much of modern conservation relies on GIS mapping, data analysis, and regulatory compliance. If you prefer air conditioning to mosquito repellant, focus your electives on data science, policy, and spatial analysis.

Should I go into government work or private consulting?

This is the defining career choice for most graduates. Government work (with agencies like the Forest Service, state Departments of Environmental Quality, or local water boards) offers incredible job security, strict 40-hour workweeks, and pensions, but salaries are strictly capped by public pay scales. Private environmental consulting firms—which help construction, energy, and tech companies navigate environmental laws—usually pay noticeably better, but the work is tied to billable hours and corporate client demands.

Do I need a master's degree?

For most entry-level field, technician, and consulting roles, a bachelor's degree is the standard requirement. It is highly recommended that you enter the workforce immediately to gain practical experience and figure out which sub-field (e.g., hydrology, wildlife biology, or policy) you actually enjoy. If you eventually want to direct large-scale research projects or move into upper agency management, a master's will be necessary—but you should find an employer willing to help pay for it.