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

The median across 16 Massachusetts environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs is $36,767 in the first year after graduating and $55,523 five years after.

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

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

Boston College reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,200, with first-year pay of $49,111.

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

16 Massachusetts programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 13 of them also report federal debt.

16 programs report first-year pay
13 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 Massachusetts environmental science and conservation bachelor's program pays its graduates $36,767 in their first year, $2,791 more than the national median. Bentley University reports the highest first-year pay ($68,600), and Boston College the lowest median debt ($17,200).

Median first-year pay$36,767National $33,976

Median pay after 5 years$55,523National $54,967

Median federal debt$24,457National $23,078

Debt-to-earnings60%National 67%

All 16 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	Bentley UniversityWaltham · private nonprofit	$68,600	Not reported	$27,000	39%
2	Northeastern UniversityBoston · private nonprofit	$51,137	$65,367	$23,430	46%
3	Massachusetts Maritime AcademyBuzzards Bay · public	$50,931	$74,074	$26,000	51%
4	Boston CollegeChestnut Hill · private nonprofit	$49,111	Not reported	$17,200	35%
5	UMass LowellLowell · public	$45,215	Not reported	$27,000	60%
6	UMass BostonBoston · public	$41,547	$51,477	$21,386	51%
7	Tufts UniversityMedford · private nonprofit	$40,044	Not reported	$18,050	45%
8	Wellesley CollegeWellesley · private nonprofit	$37,724	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
9	Westfield StateWestfield · public	$35,809	$55,523	$23,913	67%
10	Framingham StateFramingham · public	$35,032	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
11	Clark UniversityWorcester · private nonprofit	$34,500	$55,687	$26,000	75%
12	Stonehill CollegeEaston · private nonprofit	$33,692	Not reported	$25,950	77%
13	UMass AmherstAmherst · public	$29,690	$57,260	$25,000	84%
14	Brandeis UniversityWaltham · private nonprofit	$28,027	$48,378	Not reported	Not reported
15	Mount Holyoke CollegeSouth Hadley · private nonprofit	$22,791	$54,485	$21,500	94%
16	Smith CollegeNorthampton · private nonprofit	$21,648	$42,367	$18,820	87%

Wellesley College, Framingham State, and Brandeis University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 13 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

$102,060

Median pay in Massachusetts. 13,190 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $63,340Top 10%: $161,920

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

$100,640

Median pay in Massachusetts. 2,930 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $63,460Top 10%: $139,310

Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health

$59,330

Median pay in Massachusetts. 330 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $43,990Top 10%: $81,340

Forest and Conservation Technicians

$56,480

Median pay in Massachusetts. 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%: $51,730Top 10%: $72,130

Common questions

Bentley University in Waltham reports the highest median first-year pay, $68,600. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

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 Massachusetts 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