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Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

17 Colleges
$17,792 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$36,789 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Natural Resources & Conservation School for You

Natural Resources & Conservation is the #23 most popular major in California with 512 degrees and certificates awarded 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 17 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for natural resources and conservation students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 California

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

Top 10 Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools

$6,976 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 California. Cal State Fullerton is a very large public school located in the suburb of Fullerton.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State Fullerton are $6,976 per year.

Read full report on Natural Resources & Conservation at California State University - Fullerton

$7,852 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in California list. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the large city of San Jose.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $7,852 per year.

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

Read full report on Natural Resources & Conservation at San Jose State University

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

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 medium-sized city of Berkeley.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Berkeley are $14,226 a year.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in California list.

Read full report on Natural Resources & Conservation at University of California - Berkeley

$13,258 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best natural resources and conservation schools in California. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

UCLA undergraduate students pay an average of $13,258 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UCLA excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in California list.

Read full report on Natural Resources & Conservation at University of California - Los Angeles

$14,417 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - Santa Barbara helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best natural resources and conservation schools in California. UCSB is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCSB are $14,417 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UCSB is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in California list.

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

$13,775 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Irvine landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value natural resources and conservation programs. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Irvine are $13,775 per year.

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

$14,645 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Davis came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in California ranking. UC Davis is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Davis.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Davis are $14,645 a year.

Read full report on Natural Resources & Conservation at University of California - Davis

$7,218 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Monterey Bay came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in California ranking. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Seaside, CSUMB is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSUMB are $7,218 a year.

Read More…

$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

Humboldt State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for natural resources and conservation students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the remote town of Arcata, Humboldt State University is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Humboldt State University undergraduate students pay an average of $7,864 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #9, California State University - Chico did quite well on this year’s best value schools for natural resources and conservation students. Chico State is a large public school located in the city of Chico.

Chico State undergraduate students pay an average of $7,864 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

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

Explore all the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
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 17 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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