The 50 colleges that score highest for Ecology and environmental biology on public federal data: selectivity, graduate earnings, program size, academic strength and graduate depth. It is a starting point for your research, not a judgment of quality.
50 colleges · each name links to its page, with sources · data snapshot October 2, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026
How we rank programs · showing the top 50 of 50 core colleges ranked, those with enough graduates and earnings data · All top-programs lists
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| Rank | College | State | What we measured | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvard University | MA | Median earnings $117,816 (field-wide) · 76 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | Yale University | CT | Median earnings $92,646 (field-wide) · 23 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | University of California-Los Angeles | CA | Median earnings $51,559 · 51 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | Median earnings $52,390 · 53 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | Princeton University | NJ | Median earnings $62,344 · 34 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | University of California-San Diego | CA | Median earnings $52,701 · 146 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | WA | Median earnings $62,370 (field-wide) · 80 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | Washington University in St Louis | MO | Median earnings $68,359 (field-wide) · 18 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | Rice University | TX | Median earnings $89,718 (college-wide) · 13 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | University of California-Irvine | CA | Median earnings $56,273 (field-wide) · 15 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | New York University | NY | Median earnings $65,406 · 56 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | University of California-Davis | CA | Median earnings $62,011 · 30 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | Boston University | MA | Median earnings $57,967 · 43 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | University of Maryland-College Park | MD | Median earnings $65,639 · 112 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | University of California-Santa Barbara | CA | Median earnings $50,694 · 85 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | University of Miami | FL | Median earnings $42,932 · 54 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | Median earnings $46,453 · 126 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | University of Colorado Boulder | CO | Median earnings $53,429 · 175 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | PA | Median earnings $63,746 (field-wide) · 27 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | Median earnings $49,602 · 88 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | Stony Brook University | NY | Median earnings $53,747 · 67 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | Connecticut College | CT | Median earnings $62,925 · 25 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | Median earnings $47,553 · 13 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | Colorado College | CO | Median earnings $62,970 (field-wide) · 33 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | Median earnings $59,706 (field-wide) · 10 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | University of California-Santa Cruz | CA | Median earnings $49,821 · 166 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | Northeastern University | MA | Median earnings $80,080 (field-wide) · 22 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | MN | Median earnings $50,106 · 29 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | Indiana University-Bloomington | IN | Median earnings $67,332 (field-wide) · 37 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon | PR | Median earnings $36,882 (field-wide) · 14 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | University of Georgia | GA | Median earnings $49,436 · 44 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | The University of Tampa | FL | Median earnings $43,683 · 59 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | University of South Florida | FL | Median earnings $49,601 (field-wide) · 57 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | Michigan State University | MI | Median earnings $55,159 · 48 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | Brigham Young University | UT | Median earnings $61,078 · 150 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | University of Arizona | AZ | Median earnings $56,907 (field-wide) · 27 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | Auburn University | AL | Median earnings $70,945 (field-wide) · 10 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | University of Connecticut | CT | Median earnings $52,766 · 36 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | University of Kansas | KS | Median earnings $70,280 (field-wide) · 30 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | University of Puerto Rico-Humacao | PR | Median earnings $31,382 · 13 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus | CO | Median earnings $58,231 (field-wide) · 59 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | University of South Carolina-Columbia | SC | Median earnings $55,093 · 37 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | University of Oregon | OR | Median earnings $55,043 (field-wide) · 36 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | Colorado State University-Fort Collins | CO | Median earnings $54,370 · 92 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | California State University-Long Beach | CA | Median earnings $55,588 · 68 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | University of Delaware | DE | Median earnings $52,110 · 22 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | Utah State University | UT | Median earnings $49,758 · 59 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry | NY | Median earnings $50,010 · 118 graduates last year · 28% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | University of Dayton | OH | Median earnings $53,448 · 17 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | Warren Wilson College | NC | Median earnings $36,260 (college-wide) · 13 graduates last year · 8% of the school's degrees |
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