---
title: Is a Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management degree worth the debt?
cip: 0306
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 a Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **37** colleges (37 of 37 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $26,124 ($25,774 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $21,750 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.83× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $24,047–$27,924 — 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 | $26,124 | $21,750 | 0.83× | 37 | 37/37 |

## Where a 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stephen F Austin State University (TX) | $39,602 | $26,500 |
| South Dakota State University (SD) | $33,041 | $20,250 |
| Utah State University (UT) | $32,995 | $19,133 |
| The University of Tennessee-Knoxville (TN) | $32,266 | $25,000 |
| University of Maine (ME) | $31,484 | $26,841 |
| Valley City State University (ND) | $31,083 | $24,250 |
| Bemidji State University (MN) | $29,521 | $18,750 |
| West Virginia University (WV) | $29,380 | $19,746 |
| Michigan State University (MI) | $28,901 | $28,332 |
| Mississippi State University (MS) | $27,924 | $21,625 |
| Missouri State University-Springfield (MO) | $27,811 | $20,750 |
| New Mexico State University-Main Campus (NM) | $27,369 | $16,449 |
| University of Nevada-Reno (NV) | $27,328 | $16,270 |
| Otterbein University (OH) | $26,871 | $25,850 |
| Tennessee Technological University (TN) | $26,665 | $11,000 |

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/wildlife-and-wildlands-science-and-management.jsonld` · `/education/fields/wildlife-and-wildlands-science-and-management.json`