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

The median across 7 Virginia environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs is $39,391 in the first year after graduating and $58,888 five years after.

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

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

UVA reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,952, with first-year pay of $41,790.

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

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

7 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 Virginia environmental science and conservation bachelor's program pays its graduates $39,391 in their first year, $5,415 more than the national median. George Mason reports the highest first-year pay ($43,038), and UVA the lowest median debt ($13,952).

Median first-year pay$39,391National $33,976

Median pay after 5 years$58,888National $54,967

Median federal debt$23,500National $23,078

Debt-to-earnings67%National 67%

All 7 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	George MasonFairfax · public	$43,038	$54,409	$23,021	53%
2	UVACharlottesville · public	$41,790	$58,888	$13,952	33%
3	Roanoke CollegeSalem · private nonprofit	$39,588	Not reported	$27,000	68%
4	Longwood UniversityFarmville · public	$39,391	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Virginia TechBlacksburg · public	$39,361	$65,308	$26,408	67%
6	Bridgewater CollegeBridgewater · private nonprofit	$38,838	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
7	VCURichmond · public	$32,038	$53,220	$23,500	73%

Longwood University and Bridgewater College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

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

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

George Mason$43,038
UVA$41,790
Roanoke College$39,588
Longwood University$39,391
Virginia Tech$39,361

Lowest median debt

UVA$13,952
George Mason$23,021
VCU$23,500
Virginia Tech$26,408
Roanoke College$27,000

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

$80,380

Median pay in Virginia. 15,190 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $48,640Top 10%: $133,620

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

$82,230

Median pay in Virginia. 2,850 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $57,720Top 10%: $135,580

Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health

$49,430

Median pay in Virginia. 1,450 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $37,840Top 10%: $77,300

Forest and Conservation Technicians

$49,960

Median pay in Virginia. 380 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $38,660Top 10%: $75,130

Common questions

George Mason in Fairfax reports the highest median first-year pay, $43,038. Its median federal debt is $23,021.

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 Virginia 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