Ohio State Environmental Science and Conservation (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Natural Resources Conservation and Research
- Public university
- Columbus, OH
- About 143 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Ohio State environmental science and conservation graduates earn more than graduates of most environmental science and conservation programs nationally, $39,545 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $21,438 in federal loans, close to the national median of $23,078. It is one of the higher-paying environmental science and conservation degrees in Ohio.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Ohio and national columns are the medians across all environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Ohio State graduates earn more than the national figure and about $9,505 more than the Ohio median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Ohio environmental science and conservation program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Ohio 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.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $2,094 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $227 a month, or 6.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 39 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $24,503.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
73% of graduates (107 of 147) were working in Ohio one year after graduating. Prices in the Columbus area are about 5% below the national average, so a $39,545 salary here buys what about $41,422 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
$75,030Median pay in Ohio. 11,240 people work in this job in Ohio. 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
$78,540Median pay in Ohio. 2,460 people work in this job in Ohio. 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
$56,070Median pay in Ohio. 770 people work in this job in Ohio. 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
$48,840Median pay in Ohio. 230 people work in this job in Ohio. 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 Ohio State
Environmental Science and Conservation ranks 59th of 98 bachelor's programs at Ohio State by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($83,342), Applied Mathematics ($82,523), and Computer and Information Science ($82,448).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,545 one year after graduating and $58,110 five years after. The median across environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs in Ohio is $34,708.
The median federal loan balance is $21,438, which ranks 2nd lowest of 6 environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs in Ohio. That works out to about $227 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 54% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less.
Most do. 73% (107 of 147) were working in Ohio one year after graduating.
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 Ohio 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