2023 Best Natural Resources & Conservation Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in Virginia

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, veterans have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Most Veteran Friendly in Virginia for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Doctorate” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

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 Virginia, there were 873 natural resources and conservation graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,358 and $23,435 respectively.

This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Virginia for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Doctorate” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in natural resources and conservation. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality natural resources and conservation programs as well as strong veteran support.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as veteran satisfaction, veteran affordability, and overall quality of the natural resources and conservation program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 “Most Veteran Friendly in Virginia for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Doctorate” 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 Virginia for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Doctorate

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in Virginia for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Doctorate”.

Top 2 Best Natural Resources & Conservation Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in Virginia

1

Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia

119 GI Bill® Students**

#1 in overall quality

YES Student Veterans Organization

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Virginia Tech. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Virginia for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Doctorate list. This large school is located in Blacksburg, Virginia, and it awarded 12 doctorate’s natural resources and conservation degrees in 2020-2021.

Virginia Tech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Doctor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list.Of the 37,024 students enrolled at Virginia Tech, 119 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 108 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $12,314. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. 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%.

Full Virginia Tech Veteran Student Life Report

2

George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia

2,334 GI Bill® Students**

#2 in overall quality

$10,710 Average GI Bill® Award

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Mason University. The school came in at #2 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Virginia for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Doctorate. Located in Fairfax, Virginia, this large public school awarded 7 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s natural resources and conservation students in 2020-2021.

GMU also made our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Doctor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #2.Among the 38,541 students enrolled at GMU, 2,334 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1,583 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $10,710. On top of their other funding sources, 42 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

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%. 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 GMU]](/colleges/george-mason-university/student-life/veterans/)

• Best Natural Resources & Conservation Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the Southeast Region
• Best Natural Resources & Conservation Doctor’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 Lynn Betts.