Northeastern Illinois University Environmental Science and Conservation (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Natural Resources Conservation and Research
- Public university
- Chicago, IL
- About 7 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Northeastern Illinois University environmental science and conservation graduates earn about what environmental science and conservation graduates earn nationally, $30,490 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $20,927 in federal loans, close to the national median of $23,078. Several Illinois programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Illinois and national columns are the medians across all environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Northeastern Illinois University graduates earn about the national figure and about the same as the Illinois median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois environmental science and conservation program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois 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 76% 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 $222 a month, or 8.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the Chicago area are about 4% above the national average, so a $30,490 salary here buys what about $29,432 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
$80,550Median pay in Illinois. 10,650 people work in this job in Illinois. 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
$81,590Median pay in Illinois. 1,550 people work in this job in Illinois. 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
$59,930Median pay in Illinois. 980 people work in this job in Illinois. 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
$52,790Median pay in Illinois. 820 people work in this job in Illinois. 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 Northeastern Illinois University
Environmental Science and Conservation ranks 21st of 22 bachelor's programs at Northeastern Illinois University by first-year earnings. The top three are Subject-Area Teacher Education ($63,615), Computer Science ($62,831), and Accounting ($50,475).
Other environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs near Chicago
Common questions
The median graduate earns $30,490 one year after graduating and $53,725 five years after. The median across environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs in Illinois is $30,644.
The median federal loan balance is $20,927, which ranks the lowest of 7 environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs in Illinois. That works out to about $222 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 69% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%. Compare the cost with other Illinois programs before deciding.
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 Illinois 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