2023 Best Value Colleges for Natural Resources & Conservation (Income $0-$30k) in Indiana

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 30,503 people earned their degree in natural resources and conservation, making the major the 25th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, natural resources and conservation graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $35,158 and had an average of $23,267 in loans still to pay off.

Across Indiana, there were 449 natural resources and conservation graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,197 and $20,854 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in natural resources and conservation. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great natural resources and conservation programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the natural resources and conservation program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Natural Resources & Conservation 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 “Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

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.

Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Natural Resources & Conservation (Income $0-$30k) in Indiana

1

Indiana University - Bloomington
Bloomington, Indiana

#1 in overall quality

$5,752 Average Net Price

$44,025 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Indiana University - Bloomington. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana For Those Making $0-$30k. IU Bloomington is a large public school situated in Bloomington, Indiana. It awarded 107 ’s natural resources and conservation degrees in 2020-2021.

IU Bloomington also took the #1 spot in our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana” ranking. It costs about $5,752 for indiana natural resources & conservation students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Indiana University - Bloomington.

With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Indiana University - Bloomington Natural Resources & Conservation Report

2

Purdue University - Main Campus
West Lafayette, Indiana

#2 in overall quality

$5,995 Average Net Price

$53,430 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Purdue University - Main Campus. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana For Those Making $0-$30k. Purdue is a large school located in West Lafayette, Indiana that handed out 124 ’s natural resources and conservation degrees in 2020-2021.

Purdue also made our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $5,995 for indiana natural resources & conservation students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Purdue.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.

Full Purdue Natural Resources & Conservation Report

3

Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana

#3 in overall quality

$8,273 Average Net Price

$42,329 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Ball State University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Muncie, Indiana, this large public school handed out 33 degrees to qualified ’s natural resources and conservation students in 2020-2021.

Ball State also made our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for Ball State University is $8,273 for Indiana Natural Resources & Conservation students whose families make $0-$30k.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Ball State University Natural Resources & Conservation Report

4

Vincennes University
Vincennes, Indiana

#5 in overall quality

$9,228 Average Net Price

$37,687 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Vincennes University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana For Those Making $0-$30k list. Vincennes University is a fairly large school located in Vincennes, Indiana that handed out 31 ’s natural resources and conservation degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our indiana natural resources & conservation students whose families make $0-$30k list, Vincennes University has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Indiana” ranking. It costs about $9,228 for indiana natural resources & conservation students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Vincennes University.

Read full report on Natural Resources & Conservation at Vincennes University

• Best Value Colleges for Natural Resources & Conservation (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Colleges for Natural Resources & Conservation (Income $0-$30k)

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).
• 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

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• 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.