Majors

Best Colleges for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, by Earnings

191 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, about 4,460 degrees a year. Across the 55 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $49,758 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	University of Maryland	MD	$65,639	101	44.8%
2	New York University	NY	$65,406	42	7.7%
3	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	CA	$63,525	26	75.2%
4	Connecticut College	CT	$62,925	27	37%
5	Princeton University	NJ	$62,344	37	4.6%
6	University of California-Davis	CA	$62,011	44	41.8%
7	Brigham Young University	UT	$61,078	140	67.8%
8	Boston University	MA	$57,967	39	11.1%
9	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$55,588	38	46.3%
10	Michigan State University	MI	$55,159	35	84.8%
11	University of South Carolina	SC	$55,093	46	60.2%
12	Colorado State University	CO	$54,370	88	88.5%
13	Stony Brook University	NY	$53,747	76	49%
14	University of Dayton	OH	$53,448	21	65.5%
15	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	$53,429	194	78.1%
16	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	$53,126	49	75%
17	University of Connecticut	CT	$52,766	42	52.4%
18	University of California-San Diego	CA	$52,701	127	26.7%
19	University of Michigan	MI	$52,390	30	15.6%
20	University of Delaware	DE	$52,110	20	70.6%
21	Roger Williams University	RI	$51,857	26	87.7%
22	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$51,559	47	9%
23	University of North Texas	TX	$51,368	57	72.2%
24	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	$50,694	83	33%
25	University of Minnesota	MN	$50,106	29	79.8%
26	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry	NY	$50,010	93	63.3%
27	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	$49,821	153	65.8%
28	Utah State University	UT	$49,758	59	92.5%
29	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$49,602	74	45.2%
30	University of Georgia	GA	$49,436	64	37.7%
31	Eckerd College	FL	$48,631	84	75.8%
32	University of New England	ME	$48,592	35	91.6%
33	University of Rhode Island	RI	$48,446	45	72.2%
34	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$47,553	14	58.1%
35	University of Idaho	ID	$47,372	15	75.5%
36	University of Hawaii at Manoa	HI	$46,500	59	86.6%
37	Texas A&M University	TX	$46,453	114	57.4%
38	Bemidji State University	MN	$45,822	8	56%
39	Coastal Carolina University	SC	$45,323	141	75.3%
40	Nova Southeastern University	FL	$45,287	41	73.2%
41	University of New Haven	CT	$45,115	13	60.4%
42	Stockton University	NJ	$44,981	35	88.9%
43	Unity Environmental University	ME	$44,652	82
44	Saint Cloud State University	MN	$44,386	21	94.8%
45	State University of New York at Plattsburgh	NY	$44,153	6	78.4%
46	The University of Tampa	FL	$43,683	65	40.3%
47	Florida Southern College	FL	$43,549	30	64.4%
48	University of Miami	FL	$42,932	51	18.9%
49	College of Charleston	SC	$42,466	33	60%
50	St Lawrence University	NY	$41,638	9	54.3%
51	University of North Carolina Wilmington	NC	$39,812	91	64.2%
52	University of Hawaii at Hilo	HI	$39,528	46	60.6%
53	Iowa State University	IA	$39,143	102	88.7%
54	University of Southern Mississippi	MS	$36,771	25	99.1%
55	University of Puerto Rico-Humacao	PR	$31,382	16	54.8%

136 more colleges award this degree but have no earnings figure, usually because the program is small.

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Frequently asked questions

Which college has the highest-paid Ecology and Evolutionary Biology graduates?

University of Maryland ($65,639), New York University ($65,406), California State Polytechnic University-Pomona ($63,525), Connecticut College ($62,925), Princeton University ($62,344) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Ecology and Evolutionary Biology majors make?

The median across 55 colleges is $49,758 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $31,382 to $65,639.

Which colleges have the biggest Ecology and Evolutionary Biology programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: University of Colorado Boulder (194), University of California-Santa Cruz (153), Coastal Carolina University (141), Brigham Young University (140), University of California-San Diego (127).

Does a higher-earning program mean a better program?

Not on its own. Earnings reflect where graduates live, what jobs they take, and who enrolled in the first place, as well as the teaching. The figures cover only graduates who received federal financial aid, and small programs are left out, so a college missing from this list may still have a strong department.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Data by Field of Study (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release, federal program category "Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.