---
title: Is an Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy degree worth the debt?
cip: 0302
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is an Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **31** colleges (31 of 31 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $32,505 ($33,281 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $23,032 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.74× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $28,938–$38,996 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bachelor's | $32,505 | $23,032 | 0.74× | 31 | 31/31 |
| Master's | $45,074 | $34,582 | 0.67× | 11 | 11/11 |

## Where an Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $62,018 | — |
| Pennsylvania State University-World Campus (PA) | $62,018 | — |
| Metropolitan State University of Denver (CO) | $46,567 | — |
| Michigan State University (MI) | $41,632 | $20,500 |
| University of Rhode Island (RI) | $41,342 | $21,750 |
| California State University-Channel Islands (CA) | $41,104 | $19,209 |
| University of New Hampshire-Main Campus (NH) | $40,705 | $27,000 |
| West Virginia University (WV) | $39,614 | $22,239 |
| North Dakota State University-Main Campus (ND) | $38,378 | $25,125 |
| Texas State University (TX) | $36,583 | — |
| SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (NY) | $35,553 | — |
| Glenville State University (WV) | $35,469 | $24,125 |
| Kansas State University (KS) | $34,223 | — |
| Western Carolina University (NC) | $33,891 | $18,500 |
| Unity Environmental University (ME) | $32,677 | $26,944 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/environmental-natural-resources-management-and-policy.jsonld` · `/education/fields/environmental-natural-resources-management-and-policy.json`