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

The median across 6 Washington environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs is $30,312 in the first year after graduating and $54,496 five years after.

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

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

University of Washington reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,184, with first-year pay of $35,867.

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

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

6 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 Washington environmental science and conservation bachelor's program pays its graduates $30,312 in their first year, $3,664 less than the national median. Eastern Washington University reports the highest first-year pay ($39,671), and University of Washington the lowest median debt ($17,184).

Median first-year pay$30,312National $33,976

Median pay after 5 years$54,496National $54,967

Median federal debt$20,552National $23,078

Debt-to-earnings67%National 67%

All 6 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	Eastern Washington UniversityCheney · public	$39,671	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2	University of WashingtonSeattle · public	$35,867	$57,124	$17,184	48%
3	Western Washington UniversityBellingham · public	$30,899	$54,496	$20,854	67%
4	Central Washington UniversityEllensburg · public	$29,725	$44,975	$20,000	67%
5	Gonzaga UniversitySpokane · private nonprofit	$28,763	Not reported	$24,118	84%
6	University of Puget SoundTacoma · private nonprofit	$23,437	Not reported	$24,623	105%

Eastern Washington University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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

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

Eastern Washington University$39,671
University of Washington$35,867
Western Washington University$30,899
Central Washington University$29,725
Gonzaga University$28,763

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

$88,790

Median pay in Washington. 11,130 people work in this job in Washington. 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%: $60,650Top 10%: $142,350

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

$98,300

Median pay in Washington. 4,470 people work in this job in Washington. 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%: $71,140Top 10%: $153,960

Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health

$67,160

Median pay in Washington. 850 people work in this job in Washington. 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%: $47,360Top 10%: $106,490

Forest and Conservation Technicians

$54,160

Median pay in Washington. 1,160 people work in this job in Washington. 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%: $44,950Top 10%: $82,530

Common questions

Eastern Washington University in Cheney reports the highest median first-year pay, $39,671.

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 Washington 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