Stephen F. Austin Environmental Science and Conservation (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Natural Resources Conservation and Research
- Public university
- Nacogdoches, TX
- About 15 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Stephen F. Austin environmental science and conservation graduates earn about what environmental science and conservation graduates earn nationally, $37,637 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $24,617 in federal loans, close to the national median of $23,078. It is one of the higher-paying environmental science and conservation degrees in Texas.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Stephen F. Austin graduates earn about the national figure and about $2,786 more than the Texas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas environmental science and conservation program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas 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 46% 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 $261 a month, or 8.3% 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
95% of graduates (19 of 20) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Texas outside metro areas are about 12% below the national average, so a $37,637 salary here buys what about $42,850 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
$75,370Median pay in Texas. 42,900 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$92,000Median pay in Texas. 5,630 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$50,710Median pay in Texas. 3,350 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$52,200Median pay in Texas. 600 people work in this job in Texas. 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 Stephen F. Austin
Environmental Science and Conservation ranks 19th of 38 bachelor's programs at Stephen F. Austin by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($74,683), Mathematics ($52,774), and Engineering Physics ($52,715).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,637 one year after graduating and $55,132 five years after. The median across environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs in Texas is $36,266.
The median federal loan balance is $24,617, which ranks 5th lowest of 7 environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs in Texas. That works out to about $261 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 65% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%.
Most do. 95% (19 of 20) were working in Texas 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 Texas 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