Program ranking · CIP 03.xx family bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Environmental Science

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings inside the CIP 03 environmental science family. For each school we take its highest published bachelor's CIP median with at least 25 completers - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$86,357
Highest environmental science earnings: 100
Colleges ranked: $55,435
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $55,435 median earnings for Environmental Science bachelor's (CIP 03.xx family) completers. North Carolina State University at Raleigh leads at $86,357.

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

$86,357
#1 - North Carolina State: $55,435
#100 - the cutoff to make this list: 25+
completers required per school: 100+
schools with a published CIP-03 median

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

North Carolina State Uni…

$86,357
Boston College

$82,861
Columbia Southern Univer…

$81,292
California State Polytec…

$79,849
University of Southern C…

$78,731
University of California…

$78,624
Tufts University

$77,753
California Polytechnic S…

$77,419
University of Maryland G…

$77,259
University of California…

$75,927
West Virginia University

$75,022
Massachusetts Maritime A…

$74,393
Duke University

$73,435
Santa Clara University

$72,889
Fordham University

$71,430

What this shows Environmental-field pay varies by whether graduates enter policy, field science, or graduate study - the listed CIP is the one that produced each school's highest published completer median.

The full top 100

#	School Name	State	Top environmental science CIP	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
1	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	NC	Forestry	$86,357	$21,750	81
2	Boston College	MA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$82,861	$17,200	34
3	Columbia Southern University	AL	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$81,292	$22,078	62
4	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt	CA	Forestry	$79,849	$21,000	34
5	University of Southern California	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$78,731	$9,125	65
6	University of California-Berkeley	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$78,624	$12,817	430
7	Tufts University	MA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$77,753	$18,050	46
8	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	Forestry	$77,419	$17,333	39
9	University of Maryland Global Campus	MD	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$77,259	$20,327	58
10	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$75,927	$17,806	107
11	West Virginia University	WV	Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy	$75,022	$22,239	26
12	Massachusetts Maritime Academy	MA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$74,393	$26,000	32
13	Duke University	NC	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$73,435	$11,875	36
14	Santa Clara University	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$72,889	$24,500	41
15	Fordham University	NY	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$71,430	$23,250	25
16	Colgate University	NY	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$70,760	$17,000	37
17	Northeastern University	MA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$70,272	$22,973	64
18	Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$69,768	$19,500	35
19	California State University-Chico	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$69,531	$20,500	25
20	University of California-San Diego	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$69,061	$18,000	80
21	Michigan State University	MI	Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy	$68,913	$20,500	29
22	Cornell University	NY	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$68,088	$15,500	101
23	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$67,805	$23,250	58
24	California State University-Sacramento	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$67,795	$20,000	69
25	Villanova University	PA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$67,060	-	27
26	Dartmouth College	NH	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$67,020	$15,078	32
27	George Washington University	DC	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$66,178	$19,500	34
28	University of California-Davis	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$65,983	$15,000	227
29	CUNY Queens College	NY	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$65,863	-	44
30	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$65,714	$15,500	123
31	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry	NY	Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy	$65,604	-	36
32	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$65,337	$12,000	124
33	University of California-Riverside	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$64,944	$16,250	42
34	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	OK	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$64,798	$24,125	43
35	Emory University	GA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$64,795	$23,172	41
36	University of Idaho	ID	Forestry	$64,392	$16,500	38
37	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	Forestry	$64,204	$20,663	87
38	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater	WI	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$63,936	$20,733	25
39	Clemson University	SC	Forestry	$63,764	$22,875	32
40	American University	DC	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$63,711	$26,125	33
41	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$63,628	$16,200	318
42	Seattle University	WA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$63,465	$19,500	28
43	Rollins College	FL	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$63,363	-	27
44	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$63,337	$19,750	214
45	Metropolitan State University of Denver	CO	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$63,175	$18,630	25
46	California State University-Long Beach	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$63,040	$14,000	41
47	Colorado State University-Fort Collins	CO	Forestry	$62,919	$22,073	30
48	University of Florida	FL	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$62,683	$20,200	45
49	Gettysburg College	PA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$62,604	$24,889	29
50	San Francisco State University	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$62,116	$14,087	49
51	Hobart William Smith Colleges	NY	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$61,905	$27,000	54
52	University of Massachusetts-Boston	MA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$61,382	$20,412	66
53	George Mason University	VA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$60,874	$22,483	45
54	Temple University	PA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$60,864	$20,500	65
55	Arizona State University Campus Immersion	AZ	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$60,369	$18,463	113
56	Arizona State University Digital Immersion	AZ	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$60,369	$18,463	67
57	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	PA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$60,193	$26,000	35
58	Oakland University	MI	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$59,922	$19,187	28
59	University of California-Irvine	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$59,908	$12,477	51
60	Baylor University	TX	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$59,701	$25,500	29
61	University of Delaware	DE	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$59,620	$25,000	52
62	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$59,329	$19,607	52
63	University of Iowa	IA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$59,071	$23,875	70
64	Portland State University	OR	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,961	$25,000	48
65	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	Forestry	$58,651	$19,500	46
66	University of San Diego	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,517	$23,000	53
67	Mississippi State University	MS	Forestry	$58,499	$19,000	26
68	Drexel University	PA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,495	$29,898	30
69	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,475	$14,000	79
70	Stockton University	NJ	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,319	$18,915	65
71	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,229	$15,932	184
72	University of Washington-Bothell Campus	WA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,229	$15,932	29
73	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus	WA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,229	$15,932	29
74	San Diego State University	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,215	$12,726	119
75	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,119	$20,650	170
76	Keene State College	NH	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,065	$22,194	26
77	Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$58,005	$18,250	26
78	Loyola University Chicago	IL	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$57,790	$22,808	49
79	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus	NH	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$57,747	$26,250	54
80	Texas A&M University-College Station	TX	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$57,722	$19,487	282
81	Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College	GA	Forestry	$57,678	$20,065	26
82	American Public University System	WV	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$57,618	$24,306	304
83	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	Forestry	$57,436	$25,548	25
84	The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$57,431	$21,908	79
85	Towson University	MD	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$57,388	$18,000	52
86	University of Connecticut	CT	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$57,384	$20,500	81
87	University of Redlands	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$57,319	$25,943	43
88	University of Minnesota-Duluth	MN	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$56,728	$24,699	29
89	St. Mary's College of Maryland	MD	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$56,619	$19,000	33
90	California State University-San Marcos	CA	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$55,903	$13,273	50
91	Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$55,861	$18,425	46
92	Oregon State University	OR	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$55,805	$20,500	121
93	Stephen F Austin State University	TX	Forestry	$55,786	$21,597	36
94	Southern New Hampshire University	NH	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$55,733	$20,649	388
95	University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point	WI	Forestry	$55,724	$21,393	55
96	Colby College	ME	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$55,719	$19,313	52
97	Texas State University	TX	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$55,595	$23,200	77
98	Binghamton University	NY	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$55,579	$15,353	57
99	University of Nevada-Reno	NV	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$55,528	$14,000	43
100	The University of Arizona Global Campus	AZ	Natural Resources Conservation and Research	$55,435	$41,000	33

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by the highest College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings among bachelor's CIP 03.xx environmental science programs at that school. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts, then CIP code. The winning CIP title appears in the table. 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. Environmental science spans several CIP codes in the Scorecard - this ranking uses each school's highest-earning bachelor's program inside the CIP 03 natural resources and conservation family (environmental policy, conservation, forestry, and related). The winning CIP is shown per school.

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.