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Best Schools for Animal Sciences in 2026

81 schools ranked by DegreeWorth Score · Updated 2026

These are the top schools offering Animal Sciences, ranked by DegreeWorth Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average Animal Sciences graduate earns $33,901/yr across 81 schools.

Programs Ranked

Avg Earnings

$33,901/yr

Avg DW Score

40/100

AI Risk

High

44% task exposure

All Animal Sciences Programs Ranked

Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS · Public	57 53–58	$41,464/yr	17.2x
2	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public	54 50–55	$40,311/yr	20.0x
3	South Dakota State University Brookings, SD · Public	53 49–54	$44,844/yr	14.2x
4	University of Wisconsin-Platteville Platteville, WI · Public	52 47–52	$44,956/yr	14.4x
5	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	51 46–52	$44,354/yr	11.7x
6	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	51 47–51	$35,318/yr	15.7x
7	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA · Public	50 47–51	$37,349/yr	17.8x
8	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	48 44–49	$39,567/yr	12.3x
9	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	48 44–49	$40,209/yr	11.3x
10	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE · Public	48 44–48	$39,064/yr	12.6x
11	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public	48 43–48	$39,290/yr	11.9x
12	Auburn University Auburn, AL · Public	47 44–48	$34,980/yr	12.2x
13	California State University-Chico Chico, CA · Public	47 43–47	$33,387/yr	16.6x
14	University of Wisconsin-River Falls River Falls, WI · Public	47 43–47	$37,852/yr	13.9x
15	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	46 43–47	$33,879/yr	13.0x
16	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	46 42–47	$41,292/yr	8.3x
17	North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC · Public	46 42–46	$35,686/yr	17.0x
18	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK · Public	46 42–46	$36,235/yr	12.6x
19	Utah State University Logan, UT · Public	46 44–47	$30,774/yr	16.5x
20	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA · Public	45 40–45	$40,008/yr	7.6x
21	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	45 42–46	$35,582/yr	10.7x
22	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	44 41–44	$31,294/yr	19.2x
23	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	44 41–44	$31,769/yr	12.7x
24	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	44 40–45	$38,868/yr	10.8x
25	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR · Public	43 41–44	$32,417/yr	13.5x
26	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	43 39–43	$36,111/yr	9.9x
27	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	43 40–44	$33,332/yr	13.8x
28	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY · Public	43 39–43	$34,875/yr	15.4x
29	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	43 40–44	$37,712/yr	7.7x
30	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	43 40–44	$37,712/yr	7.7x
31	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	43 39–44	$37,712/yr	7.7x
32	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	43 40–44	$37,712/yr	7.7x
33	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	42 38–43	$37,712/yr	6.5x
34	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA · Public	42 39–42	$29,793/yr	12.0x
35	SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill Cobleskill, NY · Public	42 39–43	$37,068/yr	12.3x
36	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	42 38–42	$34,933/yr	10.4x
37	University of Idaho Moscow, ID · Public	41 38–42	$36,486/yr	11.9x
38	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO · Public	41 38–42	$34,678/yr	9.2x
39	Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO · Public	41 38–42	$33,675/yr	12.7x
40	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV · Public	41 39–42	$31,103/yr	13.2x
41	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	40 36–40	$35,996/yr	8.6x
42	Arkansas State University Jonesboro, AR · Public	40 37–40	$31,444/yr	14.3x
43	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY · Public	40 38–40	$27,144/yr	11.4x
44	University of Maine Orono, ME · Public	40 37–41	$37,823/yr	8.8x
45	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	40 37–41	$34,073/yr	8.0x
46	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	39 35–40	$40,317/yr	5.3x
47	University of Minnesota-Crookston Crookston, MN · Public	39 35–39	$35,072/yr	8.8x
48	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX · Public	39 36–39	$34,051/yr	11.5x
49	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public	39 36–40	$32,893/yr	9.8x
50	Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, ID · Private nonprofit	38 36–38	$25,661/yr	23.3x
51	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public	38 35–39	$32,893/yr	9.1x
52	Angelo State University San Angelo, TX · Public	38 36–39	$28,820/yr	14.1x
53	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	37 34–38	$33,642/yr	8.8x
54	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	37 35–38	$30,695/yr	13.5x
55	Texas A & M University-Kingsville Kingsville, TX · Public	37 35–37	$20,036/yr	13.9x
56	University of California-Davis Davis, CA · Public	36 34–37	$32,309/yr	7.9x
57	Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO · Public	36 33–37	$34,876/yr	7.6x
58	Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX · Public	36 33–36	$31,059/yr	10.4x
59	Montana State University Bozeman, MT · Public	35 32–35	$30,220/yr	12.1x
60	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public	35 31–35	$35,520/yr	6.1x
61	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN · Public	35 32–35	$33,788/yr	9.7x
62	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	35 32–36	$33,358/yr	9.0x
63	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ · Public	34 31–35	$33,926/yr	6.3x
64	Clemson University Clemson, SC · Public	34 32–34	$28,942/yr	7.9x
65	Washington State University Pullman, WA · Public	34 31–34	$31,911/yr	8.1x
66	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	33 31–34	$30,187/yr	7.3x
67	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	32 29–32	$31,285/yr	5.4x
68	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH · Public	32 29–32	$33,213/yr	3.3x
69	New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM · Public	32 30–33	$28,475/yr	11.6x
70	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL · Public	31 28–31	$30,706/yr	7.4x
71	Delaware Valley University Doylestown, PA · Private nonprofit	31 27–31	$38,378/yr	2.0x
72	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN · Public	31 29–31	$26,515/yr	8.4x
73	Sul Ross State University Alpine, TX · Public	31 29–31	$28,002/yr	8.2x
74	University of Vermont Burlington, VT · Public	31 28–32	$34,467/yr	4.7x
75	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public	30 28–31	$28,729/yr	7.0x
76	The University of Findlay Findlay, OH · Private nonprofit	28 24–28	$34,595/yr	2.1x
77	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX · Public	28 27–29	$27,101/yr	5.8x
78	University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Mayaguez, PR · Public	28 26–28	$14,123/yr	14.8x
79	Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Private nonprofit	26 23–27	$36,204/yr	1.0x
80	Louisiana Tech University Ruston, LA · Public	25 24–25	$21,958/yr	4.4x
81	Tuskegee University Tuskegee, AL · Private nonprofit	23 22–24	$24,211/yr	4.1x

Methodology

Programs are ranked by DegreeWorth Score, which combines four equally weighted factors: graduate earnings (Year 1 after graduation), AI automation resilience (based on OpenAI and academic research), job market size (BLS annual openings), and earnings-to-tuition multiple (10-year projected earnings vs. 4-year tuition).

Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, which reports actual median earnings of graduates — not self-reported surveys.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best school for Animal Sciences?

Based on our DegreeWorth Score, Mississippi State University ranks #1 for Animal Sciences with a score of 57/100 and graduate earnings of $41,464/yr.

How much do Animal Sciences graduates earn?

Across 81 schools, Animal Sciences graduates earn an average of $33,901/yr in their first year. The highest-earning program reports $44,956/yr.

Is Animal Sciences a good major for AI resistance?

Animal Sciences has an average AI task exposure of 44%, rated "High". This field has moderate AI exposure — some career paths are more resilient than others.

Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024–2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Last updated 2025.