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Best Colleges for Natural Resources Conservation

50 Natural Resources Conservation programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Natural Resources Conservation, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $78,624. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$78,624	$12,817	430	94.9
2	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$78,731	$9,125	65	94.2
3	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$82,861	$17,200	34	89.8
4	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$75,927	$17,806	107	89.7
5	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Master's Degree	$107,038	—	69	88.6
6	Tufts University Medford, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$77,753	$18,050	46	88.6
7	Duke University Durham, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$73,435	$11,875	36	88.3
8	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Doctoral Degree	$100,702	—	45	86.7
9	University of Idaho Moscow, ID	Master's Degree	$92,396	—	49	86.1
10	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$83,305	—	70	85.6
11	University of Maryland Global Campus Adelphi, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$77,259	$20,327	58	85.5
12	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$68,088	$15,500	101	85.4
13	Columbia Southern University Orange Beach, AL	Bachelor's Degree	$81,292	$22,078	62	84.6
14	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$70,760	$17,000	37	84.5
15	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$65,983	$15,000	227	84.2
16	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$69,061	$18,000	80	84.1
17	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$65,337	$12,000	124	84.1
18	Webster University Saint Louis, MO	Master's Degree	$89,701	—	27	83.3
19	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$65,714	$15,500	123	83
20	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	Master's Degree	$91,697	—	19	81.9
21	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$67,020	$15,078	32	81.1
22	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,628	$16,200	318	80.9
23	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$69,077	$15,125	21	80.9
24	University of Houston-Clear Lake Houston, TX	Master's Degree	$94,092	—	12	80.5
25	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	Master's Degree	$83,567	—	17	80.2
26	College of Charleston Charleston, SC	Master's Degree	$79,857	—	21	79.8
27	Yale University New Haven, CT	Master's Degree	$100,347	$41,000	186	79.7
28	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$69,768	$19,500	35	79.6
29	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$67,795	$20,000	69	79.5
30	American University Washington, DC	Master's Degree	$104,878	$26,500	35	79.4
31	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Master's Degree	$87,988	$35,377	215	79
32	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$64,944	$16,250	42	78.9
33	Duke University Durham, NC	Master's Degree	$96,411	$48,310	110	78.7
34	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Master's Degree	$88,781	$32,485	79	78.4
35	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Arcata, CA	Master's Degree	$77,785	$24,185	36	78.2
36	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$88,015	—	0	78.1
37	Clark University Worcester, MA	Master's Degree	$75,449	—	22	77.9
38	Washington State University Pullman, WA	Master's Degree	$77,903	—	16	77.9
39	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO	Master's Degree	$77,438	—	18	77.8
40	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Master's Degree	$98,458	$62,424	65	77.8
41	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	Master's Degree	$70,041	—	50	77.6
42	University of Houston-Clear Lake Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$75,258	—	23	77.6
43	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$70,272	$22,973	64	77.5
44	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,040	$14,000	41	77.4
45	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$62,116	$14,087	49	77
46	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Master's Degree	$84,831	$41,000	87	77
47	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	Master's Degree	$69,954	$22,600	59	76.9
48	Brandeis University Waltham, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$73,936	—	24	76.9
49	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX	Master's Degree	$81,015	—	6	76.7
50	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY	Master's Degree	$77,033	—	13	76.3

🔍 Filter Natural Resources Conservation by state & degree level →

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Hidden Gems for Natural Resources Conservation

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Natural Resources Conservation — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	University of Idaho Moscow, ID Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$92,396	76%	86.1
2	Columbia Southern University Orange Beach, AL Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$81,292	—	84.6
3	Webster University Saint Louis, MO Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$89,701	86%	83.3
4	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$69,077	93%	80.9
5	University of Houston-Clear Lake Houston, TX Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$94,092	91%	80.5
6	College of Charleston Charleston, SC Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$79,857	60%	79.8
7	American University Washington, DC Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$104,878	62%	79.4
8	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Arcata, CA Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$77,785	98%	78.2
9	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$77,438	75%	77.8
10	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$77,033	97%	76.3
11	California State University-Chico Chico, CA Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$69,531	93%	75.9
12	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Strong Natural Resources Conservation outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$102,274	62%	75.3

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Natural Resources Conservation field (CIP 03.01) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Natural Resources Conservation programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Natural Resources Conservation program?+

By our outcome score, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 for Natural Resources Conservation, with median graduate earnings of $78,624.

How are these Natural Resources Conservation programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Natural Resources Conservation programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

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Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.