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2024 Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in California

30 Colleges in California
3,504 Conservation Degrees Awarded
$38,140 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in natural resources conservation is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #49 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 30 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 3,504 degrees in natural resources conservation to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Natural Resources Conservation School

Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in California The conservation program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Natural Resources Conservation rankings. We derive our Best Overall Natural Resources Conservation School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Natural Resources Conservation Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Conservation
Master's Degrees in Conservation
Doctor's Degrees in Conservation

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Natural Resources Conservation in California

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the conservation degree levels they offer.

10 Top California Schools in Conservation

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
604 Conservation Degrees Awarded
$51,358 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in natural resources conservation needs to check out University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were about 604 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Natural Resources Conservation degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley earn a boost of about $13,219 over the typical earnings of natural resources conservation majors.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from University of California - Berkeley

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
269 Conservation Degrees Awarded
$34,746 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Davis is a good choice for students interested in a degree in natural resources conservation. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #52 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.

There were about 269 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the conservation program make around $34,746 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from University of California - Davis

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
101 Conservation Degrees Awarded
21.8% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Los Angeles is a great choice for students interested in a degree in natural resources conservation. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 101 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the conservation program make an average of $36,898 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from University of California - Los Angeles

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
470 Conservation Degrees Awarded
6.8% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Santa Barbara is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in natural resources conservation. Located in the suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were roughly 470 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year. Those natural resources conservation students who get their degree from University of California - Santa Barbara make $4,361 more than the average conservation graduate.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from University of California - Santa Barbara

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
56 Conservation Degrees Awarded
$34,369 Median Starting Salary

UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were about 56 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the conservation program report average early career income of $34,369.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from University of California - Irvine

6
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
46 Conservation Degrees Awarded
10.9% Growth in Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #50 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SCU is a great university overall.

There were about 46 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent data year. After graduating, conservation degree recipients generally make about $33,333 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from Santa Clara University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
220 Conservation Degrees Awarded
$28,054 Median Starting Salary

UC Santa Cruz is a large public university located in the city of Santa Cruz. A Best Colleges rank of #102 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.

There were roughly 220 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year. After graduating, conservation degree recipients typically earn about $28,054 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from University of California - Santa Cruz

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
109 Conservation Degrees Awarded
10.1% Growth in Graduates

SDSU is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 109 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent data year. After graduating, conservation degree recipients generally make about $33,271 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from San Diego State University

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
83 Conservation Degrees Awarded
20.5% Growth in Graduates

UCSD is a very large public university located in the city of La Jolla. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were roughly 83 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, conservation degree recipients usually earn about $29,140 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from University of California - San Diego

10
USFCA crest
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
66 Conservation Degrees Awarded
$44,089 Median Starting Salary

USFCA is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #164 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USFCA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 66 natural resources conservation students who graduated with this degree at USFCA in the most recent data year. Natural Resources Conservation degree recipients from University of San Francisco earn a boost of around $5,949 above the average income of natural resources conservation graduates.

More information about a degree in natural resources conservation from University of San Francisco

Best Natural Resources Conservation Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Natural Resources Conservation Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 714
Oregon 266 483
Nevada 192 52
Hawaii 164 77
Alaska 119 32

View All Rankings >

One of 5 majors within the Natural Resources & Conservation area of study, Natural Resources Conservation has other similar majors worth exploring.

Conservation Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Environmental Studies 1,729
Environmental Science 1,329
Natural Resources/Conservation, General 349
Natural Resources Conservation & Research, Other 97

View All Conservation Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Forestry 212
Wildlife Management 188
Natural Resource Management 128
Fisheries Sciences 14

View All Conservation Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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