Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Natural Resources Management and Policy

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

Schools Ranked

$35,215

Avg. Earnings

1.5 yrs

Best Payback

1,307

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	California State University-Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA · Public	$9,102	$58,673	1.5 yrs
2	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI · Public	$15,720	$44,384	6.7 yrs
3	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public	$18,131	$44,933	7.3 yrs
4	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	$14,679	$42,402	7.9 yrs
5	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH · Public	$20,896	$44,933	8.4 yrs
6	California State University-Channel Islands Camarillo, CA · Public	$16,151	$42,712	8.4 yrs
7	Baldwin Wallace University Berea, OH · Private	$22,997	$44,384	9.8 yrs
8	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	$17,340	$40,281	13.1 yrs
9	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$39,153	14.5 yrs
10	Marist University Poughkeepsie, NY · Private	$30,498	$41,565	18.6 yrs
11	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	$12,996	$36,848	28.1 yrs
12	Unity Environmental University New Gloucester, ME · Private	$24,829	$36,668	59.5 yrs
13	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public	$16,071	$35,954	67.4 yrs
14	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse, NY · Public	$21,638	$36,131	76.5 yrs
15	Glenville State University Glenville, WV · Public	$17,268	$35,416	166 yrs
16	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$33,993	N/A
17	Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science Paul Smiths, NY · Private	$20,778	$31,996	N/A
18	University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI · Public	$13,560	$31,640	N/A
19	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH · Public	$18,606	$28,598	N/A
20	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	$15,183	$31,038	N/A
21	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public	$21,716	$30,499	N/A
22	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public	$20,523	$30,499	N/A
23	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$29,141	N/A
24	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	$21,117	$33,281	N/A
25	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA · Public	$19,623	$23,803	N/A
26	Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC · Public	$14,701	$33,281	N/A
27	Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL · Public	$11,133	$24,421	N/A
28	The University of Tennessee-Martin Martin, TN · Public	$13,804	$31,314	N/A
29	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	$16,868	$30,409	N/A
30	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Arcata, CA · Public	$16,716	$29,374	N/A
31	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL · Private	$38,999	$25,194	N/A
32	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	$15,037	$19,592	N/A
33	Chapman University Orange, CA · Private	$38,525	$35,060	N/A

Top Earners in Natural Resources Management and Policy

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.