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Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region

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2023 Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

28 Colleges
$33,047 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$35,301 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Natural Resources & Conservation School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, natural resources and conservation was ranked #24 in the country. In fact 5,744 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 28 schools in the Far Western US Region to see which ones offered the best value programs for natural resources and conservation students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Colleges.

Top 10 Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools

$18,856 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found California State University - Fullerton to be the best value school for natural resources and conservation students who want to pursue a degree in the Far Western US Region . Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Fullerton.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Cal State Fullerton are $18,856 a year.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means San Jose State University is a great value for natural resources and conservation students. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the city of San Jose.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at San Jose State are $19,732 a year.

San Jose State also claimed a spot on our Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - Berkeley is a great value for natural resources and conservation students. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Berkeley are $43,980 per year.

UC Berkeley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region list.

Full Natural Resources & Conservation at University of California - Berkeley Report

#4

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of San Francisco is a great value for natural resources and conservation students. Located in the large city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at USFCA are $53,472 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, USFCA also did well on our Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Natural Resources & Conservation at University of San Francisco Report

Out of the 28 schools in the Far Western US Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 5 spot on the list. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCLA are $43,012 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UCLA also is in the top 10% of our Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking.

Full Natural Resources & Conservation at University of California - Los Angeles Report

With a ranking of #6, University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well on this year’s best value schools for natural resources and conservation students. UCSB is a very large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCSB are $44,171 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCSB also did well on our Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Natural Resources & Conservation at University of California - Santa Barbara Report

$27,733 Average Tuition & Fees

Washington State University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value natural resources and conservation programs. Wazzu is a very large public school located in the distant town of Pullman.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Wazzu are $27,733 a year.

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#8

Oregon State University

Corvallis, OR
$31,579 Average Tuition & Fees

Oregon State University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region list. Oregon State is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Corvallis.

Oregon State undergraduate students pay an average of $31,579 in tuition and fees each year.

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With a ranking of #9, University of Washington - Seattle Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for natural resources and conservation students. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a very large student population.

UW Seattle undergraduate students pay an average of $39,906 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UW Seattle is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in the Far Western US Region list.

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$24,827 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Nevada - Reno landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value natural resources and conservation programs. Located in the large city of Reno, UNR is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UNR are $24,827 a year.

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Best Natural Resources & Conservation Colleges by State

Explore the best natural resources and conservation colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US region.

State Degrees Awarded
California 512
Washington 130
Oregon 297
Nevada 5
Hawaii 36
Alaska 22

Natural Resources & Conservation Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Natural Resources Conservation 3,724
Natural Resource Management 1,073
Forestry 486
Wildlife Management 323
Fisheries Sciences 106
Natural Resources Conservation (Other) 32

Majors Similar to Natural Resources & Conservation

Related Major Annual Graduates
Engineering 61,791
Computer & Information Sciences 60,971
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 28,851
Mathematics & Statistics 15,127
Physical Sciences 12,705

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Lynn Betts.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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