How much do environmental science and conservation graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 8 Illinois environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs is $30,644 in the first year after graduating and $53,725 five years after.

Environmental Science and Conservation (Bachelor's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: Which Illinois environmental science and conservation program has the lowest debt?

Northeastern Illinois University reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,927, with first-year pay of $30,490.

Q: How many environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

8 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

8 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Natural Resources Conservation and Research

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois environmental science and conservation bachelor's program pays its graduates $30,644 in their first year, $3,333 less than the national median. Northern Illinois University reports the highest first-year pay ($36,409), and Northeastern Illinois University the lowest median debt ($20,927).

Median first-year pay$30,644National $33,976

Median pay after 5 years$53,725National $54,967

Median federal debt$24,750National $23,078

Debt-to-earnings73%National 67%

All 8 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$36,409	$48,605	$26,625	73%
2	Augustana CollegeRock Island · private nonprofit	$35,669	$47,186	$26,000	73%
3	UIUCChampaign · public	$31,369	$58,105	$21,000	67%
4	Loyola ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$30,797	$56,939	$24,042	78%
5	Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicago · public	$30,490	$53,725	$20,927	69%
6	Knox CollegeGalesburg · private nonprofit	$28,757	$48,613	$26,000	90%
7	Lake Forest CollegeLake Forest · private nonprofit	$26,998	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	DePaul UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$26,381	$53,761	$24,750	94%

Lake Forest College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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 the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$80,550

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $50,040Top 10%: $132,290

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

$81,590

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $46,540Top 10%: $153,150

Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health

$59,930

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $40,970Top 10%: $99,680

Forest and Conservation Technicians

$52,790

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,950Top 10%: $74,390

Common questions

Northern Illinois University in Dekalb reports the highest median first-year pay, $36,409. Its median federal debt is $26,625.

Environmental Science and Conservation (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked247 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024