2023 Best Environmental Studies Colleges for Veterans in Colorado

With all of the options veterans have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Ecosystem Studies” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2020-2021, 9,899 people earned their degree in environmental studies, making the major the 87th most popular in the United States.

Across Colorado, there were 392 environmental studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Ecosystem Studies” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in environmental studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality environmental studies programs as well as strong veteran support.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the environmental studies program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran population. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Environmental Studies Schools

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 “Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Ecosystem Studies” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Ecosystem Studies

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Ecosystem Studies”.

Top 3 Best Environmental Studies Colleges for Veterans in Colorado

1

University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, Colorado

1,379 GI Bill® Students**

YES Student Veterans Organization

$12,889 Average GI Bill® Award

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Colorado Boulder. The school came in at #1 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Ecosystem Studies. University of Colorado Boulder is a large school located in Boulder, Colorado that handed out 268 ’s ecosystem studies degrees in 2020-2021.

CU - Boulder not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Of the 37,437 students enrolled at University of Colorado Boulder, 1,379 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 968 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $12,889. To help with additional expenses, 46 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. University of Colorado Boulder offers 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 85%.

Full University of Colorado Boulder Veteran Student Life Report

2

Fort Lewis College
Durango, Colorado

101 GI Bill® Students**

$4,268 Average GI Bill® Award

$38,083 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Ecosystem Studies that were part of this year’s ranking, Fort Lewis College landed the #2 spot on the list. Durango, Colorado is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s ecosystem studies degrees to 30 students in 2020-2021.

FLC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.According to our most recent data, Fort Lewis College supports 3,469 students, and 101 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 53 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $4,268. During this same period, 6 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

Full FLC Veteran Student Life Report

3

Western Colorado University
Gunnison, Colorado

75 GI Bill® Students**

$7,543 Average GI Bill® Award

$45,755 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Ecosystem Studies that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Colorado University landed the #3 spot on the list. Western is a small school located in Gunnison, Colorado that handed out 62 ’s ecosystem studies degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our colorado vets studying ecosystem studies list, Western has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 3,203 students enrolled at Western, 75 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 46 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $7,543. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Western does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

Full Western Colorado University Veteran Student Life Report

• Best Environmental Studies Colleges for Veterans in the Rocky Mountains Region
• Best Environmental Studies 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 Lynn Betts.