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Best Schools for Ecology & Evolution in 2026

64 schools ranked by DegreeWorth Score · Updated 2026

These are the top schools offering Ecology & Evolution, ranked by DegreeWorth Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average Ecology & Evolution graduate earns $29,876/yr across 64 schools.

Programs Ranked

Avg Earnings

$29,876/yr

Avg DW Score

29/100

AI Risk

High

51% task exposure

All Ecology & Evolution Programs Ranked

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

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

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 Ecology & Evolution?

Based on our DegreeWorth Score, California State University-Fullerton ranks #1 for Ecology & Evolution with a score of 50/100 and graduate earnings of $35,110/yr.

How much do Ecology & Evolution graduates earn?

Across 64 schools, Ecology & Evolution graduates earn an average of $29,876/yr in their first year. The highest-earning program reports $53,038/yr.

Is Ecology & Evolution a good major for AI resistance?

Ecology & Evolution has an average AI task exposure of 51%, rated "High". This field has significant AI exposure. Check individual program pages for scenario analysis.

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.