Which Indiana environmental science and conservation program has the lowest debt?

Purdue reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $38,989.

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

The median across 5 Indiana environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs is $34,000 in the first year after graduating and $50,837 five years after.

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

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

5 Indiana programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

5 programs report first-year pay
5 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 Indiana environmental science and conservation bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,000 in their first year, $24 more than the national median. Purdue Global reports the highest first-year pay ($48,361), and Purdue the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$34,000National $33,976

Median pay after 5 years$50,837National $54,967

Median federal debt$23,250National $23,078

Debt-to-earnings79%National 67%

All 5 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	Purdue GlobalWest Lafayette · public	$48,361	$44,408	$55,306	114%
2	PurdueWest Lafayette · public	$38,989	Not reported	$19,500	50%
3	Ball StateMuncie · public	$34,000	$57,266	$27,000	79%
4	IU IndianapolisIndianapolis · public	$32,469	Not reported	$29,076	90%
5	IU BloomingtonBloomington · public	$31,655	Not reported	$19,500	62%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Indiana environmental science and conservation program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Indiana medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Purdue Global$48,361
Purdue$38,989
Ball State$34,000
IU Indianapolis$32,469
IU Bloomington$31,655

Lowest median debt

Purdue$19,500
IU Bloomington$19,500
Ball State$27,000
IU Indianapolis$29,076
Purdue Global$55,306

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

$78,770

Median pay in Indiana. 5,120 people work in this job in Indiana. 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%: $47,650Top 10%: $134,820

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

$64,700

Median pay in Indiana. 1,290 people work in this job in Indiana. 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%: $46,830Top 10%: $124,380

Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health

$49,020

Median pay in Indiana. 780 people work in this job in Indiana. 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%: $36,180Top 10%: $73,190

Forest and Conservation Technicians

$48,660

Median pay in Indiana. 150 people work in this job in Indiana. 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%: $34,190Top 10%: $74,010

Common questions

Purdue Global in West Lafayette reports the highest median first-year pay, $48,361. Its median federal debt is $55,306.

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 Indiana 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