Bates College Environmental Science and Conservation (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Natural Resources Conservation and Research
- Private nonprofit college
- Lewiston, ME
- About 49 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Bates College environmental science and conservation graduates earn about what environmental science and conservation graduates earn nationally, $38,437 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $9,614 in federal loans, less than at more than 99% of environmental science and conservation programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying environmental science and conservation degrees in Maine.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Maine and national columns are the medians across all environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Bates College graduates earn about the national figure and about the same as the Maine median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Maine environmental science and conservation program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Maine medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 47% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $102 a month, or 3.2% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the Lewiston area are about 5% below the national average, so a $38,437 salary here buys what about $40,573 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to environmental science and conservation, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Compliance Officers
$83,740Median pay in Maine. 1,790 people work in this job in Maine. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
$66,480Median pay in Maine. 530 people work in this job in Maine. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health
$51,820Median pay in Maine. 150 people work in this job in Maine. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.
Forest and Conservation Technicians
$54,560Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.
About Bates College
Environmental Science and Conservation ranks 7th of 8 bachelor's programs at Bates College by first-year earnings. The top three are Economics ($71,187), Experimental Psychology ($47,376), and Sociology ($42,170).
Other environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs near Lewiston
Common questions
The median graduate earns $38,437 one year after graduating and $56,602 five years after. The median across environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs in Maine is $34,465.
The median federal loan balance is $9,614, which ranks the lowest of 5 environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs in Maine. That works out to about $102 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 25% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Maine comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the environmental science and conservation program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024