Which New York environmental science and conservation program has the lowest debt?

Stony Brook University reports the lowest median federal debt, $16,277, with first-year pay of $24,336.

How much do environmental science and conservation graduates earn in New York?

The median across 17 New York environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs is $31,223 in the first year after graduating and $59,786 five years after.

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

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

17 New York programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

17 programs report first-year pay
14 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 New York environmental science and conservation bachelor's program pays its graduates $31,223 in their first year, $2,753 less than the national median. Hobart William Smith Colleges reports the highest first-year pay ($43,671), and Stony Brook University the lowest median debt ($16,277).

Median first-year pay$31,223National $33,976

Median pay after 5 years$59,786National $54,967

Median federal debt$23,375National $23,078

Debt-to-earnings70%National 67%

All 17 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	Hobart William Smith CollegesGeneva · private nonprofit	$43,671	$70,359	$27,000	62%
2	Barnard CollegeNew York · private nonprofit	$42,622	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Colgate UniversityHamilton · private nonprofit	$41,870	$78,918	$17,000	41%
4	Cornell UniversityIthaca · private nonprofit	$41,621	$61,505	$16,500	40%
5	University of RochesterRochester · private nonprofit	$38,762	Not reported	$19,625	51%
6	Paul Smiths College of Arts and SciencePaul Smiths · private nonprofit	$33,398	Not reported	$25,089	75%
7	St Lawrence UniversityCanton · private nonprofit	$33,270	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	University at AlbanyAlbany · public	$31,835	$61,851	$22,801	72%
9	SUNY BrockportBrockport · public	$31,223	Not reported	$23,500	75%
10	St. John's UniversityQueens · private nonprofit	$29,513	$60,826	$26,000	88%
11	SUNY PlattsburghPlattsburgh · public	$28,447	$64,446	$19,500	69%
12	Binghamton UniversityVestal · public	$28,155	$59,013	$18,269	65%
13	Queens CollegeQueens · public	$27,677	$67,283	Not reported	Not reported
14	SUNY College at PotsdamPotsdam · public	$27,586	$38,661	$26,000	94%
15	Ithaca CollegeIthaca · private nonprofit	$26,032	$46,567	$26,000	100%
16	Stony Brook UniversityStony Brook · public	$24,336	$59,487	$16,277	67%
17	Canisius UniversityBuffalo · private nonprofit	$15,681	Not reported	$26,000	166%

Barnard College, St Lawrence University, and Queens College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 14 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

$90,080

Median pay in New York. 23,500 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $53,330Top 10%: $142,370

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

$82,160

Median pay in New York. 3,700 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $58,240Top 10%: $139,490

Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health

$62,400

Median pay in New York. 1,960 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $40,020Top 10%: $107,600

Forest and Conservation Technicians

$58,030

Median pay in New York. 190 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $39,040Top 10%: $78,370

Common questions

Hobart William Smith Colleges in Geneva reports the highest median first-year pay, $43,671. 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 New York 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