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Ecology & Evolution Degree

64 schools compared · Average earnings $29,876/yr

Students study how organisms interact with their environments, how species evolve and diversify, and how populations change over time through natural selection and other forces. Graduates typically pursue careers in conservation biology, environmental consulting, wildlife management, museum research, and academic ecology positions. This major is essential for addressing biodiversity loss, invasive species, and ecosystem management challenges.

What Ecology & Evolution Graduates Do

You’ll apply your understanding of life’s complex systems in high-impact careers, from labs to lecture halls. Many graduates become specialized teachers in medical or veterinary schools, training future doctors on the evolution of disease. Others enter medical research, spending their days designing experiments to test new drugs or using computational tools to trace a virus's genetic lineage.

An entry-level path often starts as a biological technician, where you'll be hands-on, preparing samples and collecting the data that fuels these projects. With experience and an advanced degree, you can progress to leading research as a medical scientist or eventually managing a lab’s entire budget and team as a natural sciences manager. While postsecondary teaching is a fast-growing field, roles like conservation scientist face more modest expansion.

AI will have a noticeable impact. With moderate exposure across these careers, expect tools to automate routine data analysis and sample processing. This shifts your focus from repetitive tasks to designing better experiments and interpreting the complex results AI generates. Your ability to adapt and ask the right questions will be your greatest asset.

Schools Offering

Avg Grad Earnings

$29,876/yr

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

29/100

AI Automation Risk

High

51% task exposure

Common Career Paths

Where Ecology & Evolution graduates typically work, ranked by salary. Salary ranges show 25th–75th percentile spread. This field has roughly 72,700 combined openings per year.

Career Path	Salary Range	Openings/yr	Growth	AI Risk
Natural sciences managers	$161,180 $114K$215K	8,500	+3.7%	50%
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary	$105,620 $74K$176K	27,400	+17.3%	48%
Statisticians	$103,300 $79K$138K	2,000	+8.5%	66%
Forestry and conservation science teachers, postsecondary	$100,830 $81K$125K	100	+4.0%	48%
Medical scientists, except epidemiologists	$100,590 $77K$134K	9,600	+8.7%	52%
Biological scientists, all other	$93,330 $68K$121K	4,800	+1.2%	49%
Life scientists, all other	$87,800 $66K$124K	400	+3.7%	0%
Environmental science teachers, postsecondary	$87,710 $64K$125K	700	+2.9%	52%
Epidemiologists	$83,980 $68K$106K	800	+16.2%	44%
Biological science teachers, postsecondary	$83,460 $64K$125K	5,400	+7.3%	47%
Zoologists and wildlife biologists	$72,860 $58K$91K	1,400	+1.6%	45%
Conservation scientists	$67,950 $53K$88K	2,500	+3.4%	52%
Biological technicians	$52,000 $45K–$66K	9,100	+3.5%	42%

Natural sciences managers

$161,180

$114K $215K

8,500 openings/yr +3.7% growth 50% AI risk

Health specialties teachers, postsecondary

$105,620

$74K $176K

27,400 openings/yr +17.3% growth 48% AI risk

Statisticians

$103,300

$79K $138K

2,000 openings/yr +8.5% growth 66% AI risk

Forestry and conservation science teachers, postsecondary

$100,830

$81K $125K

100 openings/yr +4.0% growth 48% AI risk

Medical scientists, except epidemiologists

$100,590

$77K $134K

9,600 openings/yr +8.7% growth 52% AI risk

Biological scientists, all other

$93,330

$68K $121K

4,800 openings/yr +1.2% growth 49% AI risk

Life scientists, all other

$87,800

$66K $124K

400 openings/yr +3.7% growth 0% AI risk

Environmental science teachers, postsecondary

$87,710

$64K $125K

700 openings/yr +2.9% growth 52% AI risk

Epidemiologists

$83,980

$68K $106K

800 openings/yr +16.2% growth 44% AI risk

Biological science teachers, postsecondary

$83,460

$64K $125K

5,400 openings/yr +7.3% growth 47% AI risk

Zoologists and wildlife biologists

$72,860

$58K $91K

1,400 openings/yr +1.6% growth 45% AI risk

Conservation scientists

$67,950

$53K $88K

2,500 openings/yr +3.4% growth 52% AI risk

Biological technicians

$52,000

$45K–$66K

9,100 openings/yr +3.5% growth 42% AI risk

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Best Schools for Ecology & Evolution

Top 20 of 64 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. Click any row for full AI scenario analysis and earnings projections.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	50 50–51	$35,110/yr	21.7x
2	California State University-San Marcos San Marcos, CA	44 42–45	$40,875/yr	12.2x
3	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	42 41–43	$36,375/yr	11.0x
4	Bemidji State University Bemidji, MN	42 42–43	$35,521/yr	12.4x
5	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	40 35–40	$53,038/yr	1.2x
6	East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA	40 40–41	$35,762/yr	11.0x
7	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	40 41–41	$24,143/yr	22.3x
8	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	39 38–39	$37,184/yr	7.4x
9	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	38 38–39	$35,436/yr	11.6x
10	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	38 38–39	$35,322/yr	9.3x
11	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	37 35–37	$39,491/yr	4.7x
12	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	37 37–38	$34,838/yr	11.3x
13	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	37 37–37	$34,764/yr	10.7x
14	New York University New York, NY	36 34–37	$41,024/yr	1.9x
15	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	35 35–35	$33,682/yr	7.3x
16	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA	33 33–33	$33,323/yr	8.0x
17	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	33 34–33	$32,161/yr	7.6x
18	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	33 34–34	$31,088/yr	8.1x
19	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK	32 33–32	$31,923/yr	9.9x
20	SUNY College at Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, NY	32 33–33	$23,682/yr	13.3x
21	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	31 32–32	$31,999/yr	2.3x
22	University of Idaho Moscow, ID	31 32–32	$31,656/yr	8.0x
23	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY	31 31–32	$22,725/yr	11.4x
24	Siena College Loudonville, NY	30 29–31	$37,789/yr	1.1x
25	University of Delaware Newark, DE	30 31–31	$33,296/yr	4.2x
26	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT	30 31–30	$32,882/yr	5.9x
27	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT	30 31–30	$32,882/yr	5.9x
28	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT	30 31–30	$32,882/yr	5.9x
29	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT	30 31–30	$32,882/yr	5.9x
30	Iowa State University Ames, IA	30 31–31	$29,842/yr	9.8x
31	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	30 32–31	$29,318/yr	7.4x
32	University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC	30 31–30	$25,303/yr	13.6x
33	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	29 29–29	$32,882/yr	4.9x
34	University of West Florida Pensacola, FL	29 30–30	$25,299/yr	14.5x
35	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	28 30–29	$29,258/yr	7.3x
36	University of North Texas Denton, TX	26 28–27	$28,681/yr	5.4x
37	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	26 27–27	$27,100/yr	8.1x
38	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC	26 27–27	$25,271/yr	8.4x
39	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN	26 26–26	$24,862/yr	9.6x
40	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	25 27–26	$28,856/yr	7.9x
41	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	24 26–25	$27,770/yr	7.0x
42	Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC	24 26–25	$26,838/yr	7.9x
43	University of Georgia Athens, GA	24 25–25	$25,724/yr	4.8x
44	Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL	23 25–24	$31,114/yr	1.1x
45	Stockton University Galloway, NJ	23 25–24	$29,289/yr	5.4x
46	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI	23 25–24	$26,176/yr	6.0x
47	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI	23 24–24	$25,820/yr	7.4x
48	St Lawrence University Canton, NY	23 22–23	$17,443/yr	-0.3x
49	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA	22 23–23	$25,810/yr	6.0x
50	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI	22 22–22	$23,846/yr	2.9x
51	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	21 19–21	$17,511/yr	2.7x
52	University of New Haven West Haven, CT	20 22–21	$29,767/yr	1.9x
53	The University of Tampa Tampa, FL	20 22–21	$29,603/yr	2.4x
54	Roger Williams University Bristol, RI	20 21–20	$29,074/yr	2.0x
55	Stetson University DeLand, FL	20 22–21	$28,195/yr	0.3x
56	Florida Southern College Lakeland, FL	20 21–20	$26,616/yr	0.6x
57	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	20 19–21	$18,728/yr	2.4x
58	Hawaii Pacific University Honolulu, HI	19 20–19	$25,499/yr	2.6x
59	Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ	19 20–19	$25,004/yr	0.4x
60	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	19 19–20	$22,844/yr	4.4x
61	University of New England Biddeford, ME	18 19–18	$29,871/yr	1.3x
62	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	18 19–19	$23,609/yr	0.2x
63	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	13 14–14	$23,504/yr	0.6x
64	Eckerd College Saint Petersburg, FL	13 13–14	$21,980/yr	1.0x

Highest Earning Ecology & Evolution Programs

Schools where Ecology & Evolution graduates earn the most in their first year after graduation.

School	1-Year Earnings	DW Score
Princeton University	$53,038/yr	40
New York University	$41,024/yr	36
California State University-San Marcos	$40,875/yr	44
Rutgers University-New Brunswick	$39,491/yr	37
Siena College	$37,789/yr	30
University of Colorado Boulder	$37,184/yr	39
University of Maryland-College Park	$36,375/yr	42
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania	$35,762/yr	40
Bemidji State University	$35,521/yr	42
California State University-Long Beach	$35,436/yr	38

Best ROI for Ecology & Evolution

Schools with the highest earnings-to-tuition ratio for Ecology & Evolution.

School	ROI Multiple	Earnings	DW Score
Brigham Young University	22.3x	$24,143/yr	40
California State University-Fullerton	21.7x	$35,110/yr	50
University of West Florida	14.5x	$25,299/yr	29
University of North Carolina Wilmington	13.6x	$25,303/yr	30
SUNY College at Plattsburgh	13.3x	$23,682/yr	32
Bemidji State University	12.4x	$35,521/yr	42
California State University-San Marcos	12.2x	$40,875/yr	44
California State University-Long Beach	11.6x	$35,436/yr	38
Stony Brook University	11.4x	$22,725/yr	31
California State University-Northridge	11.3x	$34,838/yr	37

Want to compare two Ecology & Evolution programs side by side? Use the comparison tool →

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Ecology & Evolution graduates earn?

Across 64 schools, Ecology & Evolution graduates earn an average of $29,876 per year in their first year after graduation. Earnings range from $17,443 to $53,038 depending on the school.

What is the AI automation risk for Ecology & Evolution?

Ecology & Evolution is rated "High" for AI automation risk, with an average of 51% of job tasks exposed to large language models and AI tools. This means most career tasks in this field could be augmented or replaced by AI over the next decade.

Which school has the best Ecology & Evolution program?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), California State University-Fullerton ranks #1 for Ecology & Evolution with a score of 50/100 and graduate earnings of $35,110/yr.

What's the outlook for a Ecology & Evolution degree?

On average, Ecology & Evolution graduates earn 6.6x their in-state tuition over 10 years. This is a moderate return — school choice matters significantly.

Scores use College Scorecard earnings, BLS employment projections, and AI task-exposure research. See full methodology →