2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Middle Atlantic Region for Conservation Biology for a Master’s

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for veterans. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in the Middle Atlantic Region for Conservation Biology for a Master’s” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Conservation Biology is the 694th most popular major in the country with 309 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across the Middle Atlantic region, there were 116 conservation biology graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in the Middle Atlantic Region for Conservation Biology for a Master’s” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in conservation biology. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great conservation biology programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the conservation biology program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran satisfaction. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The conservation biology school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Most Veteran Friendly in the Middle Atlantic Region for Conservation Biology for a Master’s”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Most Veteran Friendly in the Middle Atlantic Region for Conservation Biology for a Master’s

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in the Middle Atlantic Region for Conservation Biology for a Master’s”.

Top 2 Best Conservation Biology Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the Middle Atlantic Region

1

Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, New York

739 GI Bill® Students**

#1 in overall quality

YES Student Veterans Organization

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia University in the City of New York. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Middle Atlantic Region for Conservation Biology for a Master’s list. This large school is located in New York, New York, and it awarded 9 masters’s conservation biology degrees in 2020-2021.

Columbia did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Conservation Biology Master’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list.Our most recent data shows that 739 of the 30,135 students enrolled at Columbia were GI Bill® students, of which 467 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $22,069. On top of their other funding sources, 328 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

[Read full report on veteran student life at Columbia University in the City of New York]](/colleges/columbia-university-in-the-city-of-new-york/student-life/veterans/)

2

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Syracuse, New York

42 GI Bill® Students**

#2 in overall quality

$4,672 Average GI Bill® Award

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. The school came in at #2 for the Most Veteran Friendly in the Middle Atlantic Region for Conservation Biology for a Master’s. This small school is located in Syracuse, New York, and it awarded 19 masters’s conservation biology degrees in 2020-2021.

ESF did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Conservation Biology Master’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list.Of the 2,127 students enrolled at ESF, 42 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 16 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $4,672. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. ESF does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

[Read full report on veteran student life at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry]](/colleges/suny-college-of-environmental-science-and-forestry/student-life/veterans/)

• Best Conservation Biology Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Ernst Haeckel.