Natural Resource Management

Types of Degrees Natural Resource Management Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many natural resource management graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	826
Graduate Certificate	228
Doctor’s Degree	19

What Natural Resource Management Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to resource management were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Resource Management Majors

Resource Management majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Resource Management Majors

When studying resource management, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Resource Management Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a resource management student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Natural Resource Management Major?

People with a resource management degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Foresters	4.9%	$61,410
Forestry & Conservation Science Professors	4.5%	$86,900
Park Naturalists	6.3%	$61,310
Range Managers	6.3%	$61,310
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Soil and Water Conservationists	6.3%	$61,310
Wind Energy Project Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Natural Resource Management?

This major is dominated by women with about 62% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of resource management majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	15
Black or African American	36
Hispanic or Latino	97
White	525
International Students	52
Other Races/Ethnicities	101

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Resource Management. About 6.3% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• Mexico
• Canada
• Iran
• South Korea

How Much Do Natural Resource Management Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

The U.S. Department of Education found that students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree in natural resource management made a median starting salary of $45,074 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $40,824 (25th percentile) and $47,759 (75th percentile).

Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a resource management degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Resource Management majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $53,240 to $80,310 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Natural Resource Management

Some careers associated with resource management require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for resource management careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	2.5%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	18.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	9.6%
Some College Courses	11.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	35.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.6%
Master’s Degree	3.9%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.2%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.8%
Doctoral Degree	5.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	2.7%

Online Natural Resource Management Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 172 schools offered some type of natural resource management program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	14	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	39	2
Bachelor’s Degree	40	8
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	69	7
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	18	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Natural Resource Management Worth It?

The median salary for a resource management grad is $64,140 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 61% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $484,800 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Natural Resource Management

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to resource management.

Major	Number of Grads
Natural Resources Conservation	3,724
Forestry	486
Wildlife Management	323
Fisheries Sciences	106
Natural Resources Conservation (Other)	32

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Brian M. Powell under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.