PlainCollege

Program ranking · CIP 01.09 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Animal Science

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Animal Science (CIP 01.09) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

$61,176
Highest animal science earnings
69
Colleges ranked
$36,769
#69 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $36,769 median earnings for Animal Science bachelor's (CIP 01.09) completers. University of Georgia leads at $61,176.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$61,176
#1 - University of Georgia
$36,769
#69 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
100
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Top 15 animal science programs by median completer earnings

Animal Science bachelor's (CIP 01.09) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Animal-science pay tracks ag-industry and vet-prep pipelines - debt still matters when medians sit below clinical health fields.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study As of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 69

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 University of Georgia GA $61,176 $18,250 88
2 University of Wisconsin-Madison WI $57,605 $25,000 46
3 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $57,324 $17,592 375
4 University of Maryland-College Park MD $56,248 $21,500 68
5 University of Arkansas AR $56,136 $21,616 88
6 Texas Tech University TX $55,753 $20,000 199
7 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $54,805 $20,500 165
8 Michigan State University MI $54,751 $25,023 126
9 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $54,509 $24,250 74
10 Purdue University-Main Campus IN $54,089 $19,500 146
11 Oklahoma State University-Main Campus OK $53,971 $18,750 200
12 Colorado State University-Fort Collins CO $53,934 $21,500 88
13 University of Kentucky KY $53,918 $20,800 40
14 South Dakota State University SD $53,784 $21,349 117
15 California State University-Fresno CA $53,579 $17,500 88
16 University of Wisconsin-Platteville WI $53,530 $18,748 47
17 North Carolina State University at Raleigh NC $53,226 $20,921 213
18 Auburn University AL $53,117 $19,500 100
19 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona CA $53,017 $15,167 139
20 Cornell University NY $52,967 $12,730 75
21 Mississippi State University MS $52,755 $19,719 74
22 West Virginia University WV $52,548 $19,500 69
23 Iowa State University IA $51,644 $20,500 241
24 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $51,271 $19,000 104
25 Texas State University TX $51,157 $20,875 64
26 North Dakota State University-Main Campus ND $50,975 $21,439 51
27 Kansas State University KS $50,941 $20,500 238
28 University of Maine ME $50,825 $25,000 39
29 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $50,769 $21,500 148
30 SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill NY $50,491 $20,000 66
31 University of Rhode Island RI $50,203 $19,613 75
32 University of Delaware DE $49,999 $22,683 27
33 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA $49,772 $25,000 95
34 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville TN $49,656 $20,265 101
35 Sam Houston State University TX $49,636 $19,750 123
36 Delaware Valley University PA $49,225 $25,569 71
37 University of Nebraska-Lincoln NE $49,193 $20,645 99
38 University of Wyoming WY $49,092 $17,750 50
39 University of Wisconsin-River Falls WI $48,680 $21,224 184
40 California State University-Chico CA $48,474 $17,606 67
41 University of Vermont VT $48,468 $23,250 73
42 University of California-Davis CA $48,441 $13,000 368
43 North Carolina A & T State University NC $48,155 $27,156 83
44 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $48,026 $19,000 131
45 University of Missouri-Columbia MO $47,983 $19,500 81
46 Clemson University SC $47,853 $21,500 107
47 University of Florida FL $47,724 $15,000 146
48 University of Connecticut CT $47,577 $22,500 69
49 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA $47,224 $22,250 164
50 The University of Findlay OH $46,977 $26,000 32
51 Montana State University MT $46,313 $23,149 41
52 Oregon State University OR $45,959 $21,391 63
53 Angelo State University TX $45,758 $18,625 43
54 University of Arizona AZ $45,548 $18,527 25
55 Texas A&M University-Kingsville TX $44,214 $22,400 42
56 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College LA $43,797 $22,750 105
57 Tarleton State University TX $43,185 $20,810 121
58 University of Hawaii at Manoa HI $42,671 $23,027 27
59 Middle Tennessee State University TN $41,965 $18,166 44
60 Southern Illinois University-Carbondale IL $41,932 $21,936 27
61 Missouri State University-Springfield MO $41,658 $19,593 59
62 Washington State University WA $41,634 $18,000 107
63 East Texas A&M University TX $41,105 $19,000 42
64 University of Idaho ID $40,935 $25,000 49
65 Tuskegee University AL $39,949 $27,000 53
66 Utah State University UT $39,041 $15,549 64
67 University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez PR $37,629 $7,125 128
68 New Mexico State University-Main Campus NM $36,858 $18,489 67
69 Louisiana Tech University LA $36,769 $24,800 33

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Animal Science (CIP 01.09) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Animal Science (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Animal Sciences (CIP 01.09) bachelor's programs only - zoology/animal biology (CIP 26.07) and wildlife biology (CIP 03.06) are ranked separately when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.