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Ecology & Plant Biology

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

This category focuses on the "big picture" of life on Earth—how organisms interact with each other and their physical surroundings. Coursework spans ecosystem dynamics, plant sciences, conservation genetics, and population modeling. You will spend significant time outside of the traditional classroom, engaging in fieldwork, measuring environmental variables, and learning to use tools like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and statistical software to track environmental changes.

What you'll do after college

Graduates are uniquely equipped to tackle complex environmental challenges. Many find careers as ecologists, environmental consultants, conservation scientists, or botanists. Typical employers include government agencies (like the EPA or the National Park Service), conservation nonprofits, and private consulting firms. The work ranges from assessing the environmental impact of new developments to managing protected habitats and developing sustainable agricultural practices.

Famous graduates

  • Rachel Carson — Marine biologist and conservationist whose work sparked the modern environmental movement; B.A. in Biology from Pennsylvania College for Women
  • Robin Wall Kimmerer — Botanist, ecologist, and author of ''Braiding Sweetgrass''; B.S. in Botany from SUNY-ESF

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$50,092
688
100–82%
$50,004
1,368
82–41%
$56,254
718
41–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$48,900
548
400–1210
$52,562
1,099
1210–1410
$56,857
544
1410–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings vs. selectivity rank

$42,623p10 $61,174p90 Work College Female-only Liberal Arts Public University Religious University Private University Liberal Arts 1–15 Public University 1–15 Private University 1–30 College of the Ozarks · $46,871 Blackburn College · $51,600 Warren Wilson College · $41,570 Barnard College · $61,259 Colorado College · $49,399 Trinity University · $53,156 Pitzer College · $50,260 Connecticut College · $65,411 St. Lawrence University · $38,412 Whitman College · $49,623 Florida Southern College · $42,436 Providence College · $69,487 Grove City College · $56,467 DePauw University · $57,904 Friends University · $38,220 Cornell College · $53,858 Drury University · $46,635 Elizabethtown College · $52,542 Calvin University · $50,998 Susquehanna University · $53,413 Saint Anselm College · $57,973 Greenville University · $43,587 Bethel University · $52,298 Franklin College · $51,544 University of California, Irvine · $50,520 University of Montana Western · $50,086 University of California, Santa Barbara · $44,748 University of Washington · $42,623 Cal Poly - Pomona · $51,873 University of Maryland, College Park · $51,974 University of California, Davis · $48,708 Stony Brook University · $48,290 Ohio State University · $50,071 Texas A&M University - College Station · $50,431 University of Connecticut · $46,645 New Mexico State University · $45,435 University of Pittsburgh · $80,380 State University of New York at Cortland · $52,914 SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry · $42,658 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $55,414 Central Michigan University · $51,703 Oklahoma State University · $48,151 University of Colorado Boulder · $53,962 Minnesota State University Moorhead · $51,655 Ohio University · $40,043 Southern Illinois University - Carbondale · $46,448 Temple University · $52,858 University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth · $51,308 University of Oklahoma - Norman · $55,010 Augusta University · $43,728 University of Vermont · $48,716 Miami University - Ohio · $52,753 Oregon State University · $47,505 University of Idaho · $46,982 Saginaw Valley State University · $49,554 Tennessee Technological University · $46,529 University of Nebraska, Lincoln · $57,853 San Jose State University · $56,983 University of North Texas · $50,213 Cal Poly - Humboldt · $46,216 Colorado State University - Fort Collins · $52,396 East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania · $52,763 Kent State University at Kent · $46,672 Michigan State University · $54,445 Ferris State University · $54,633 Fort Lewis College · $41,283 Iowa State University · $48,593 Northern State University · $55,482 Saint Cloud State University · $43,561 University of Arizona · $46,744 University of Maine · $46,537 Michigan Technological University · $54,793 University of California, Riverside · $47,509 University of Hawaii at Manoa · $39,284 Northern Arizona University · $48,262 Plymouth State University · $47,992 University of Kansas · $55,121 Utah State University · $49,766 University of Northern Iowa · $54,247 University of Texas at El Paso · $47,714 University of Wyoming · $47,377 Lake Superior State University · $42,602 Utah Valley University · $51,808 Washburn University · $54,553 Weber State University · $47,610 Union University · $52,818 Liberty University · $44,971 Southwestern Adventist University · $53,364 Spring Arbor University · $49,925 University of Dayton · $55,063 Brigham Young University · $61,612 Queens University of Charlotte · $41,992 Lee University · $48,507 Le Moyne College · $53,814 Saint Vincent College · $53,596 Loyola University Chicago · $53,084 Molloy College · $44,843 Seattle University · $51,562 Grace College and Theological Seminary · $46,697 University of Mount Olive · $42,886 Wingate University · $48,279 Northwest Nazarene University · $40,993 Thiel College · $49,109 Cornerstone University · $46,751 Saint Edward's University · $49,821 Seattle Pacific University · $39,696 Saint Mary's University of Minnesota · $62,296 Jacksonville University · $54,759 Lincoln Memorial University · $48,058 Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science · $44,209 Monmouth University · $32,727 Keystone College · $42,808 University of Denver · $51,277 Colby College · $55,484 University of California, Berkeley · $54,614 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor · $37,962 UCLA · $44,603 University of Florida · $53,376 University of Georgia · $50,267 Purdue University · $57,716 North Carolina State University · $61,174 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · $53,660 University of Wisconsin - Madison · $44,308 University of California, San Diego · $49,374 Yale University · $85,288 Harvard University · $72,937 Princeton University · $57,590 Georgetown University · $66,913 Vanderbilt University · $65,002 Washington University in St Louis · $67,626 University of Southern California · $59,337 New York University · $65,247 Boston University · $54,612 Tulane University · $50,233 Northeastern University · $68,493 Work College: mean $46,680 Female-only: mean $61,259 Liberal Arts: mean $51,681 Public University: mean $49,880 Religious University: mean $49,622 Private University: mean $45,640 Liberal Arts 1–15: mean $55,484 Public University 1–15: mean $50,705 Private University 1–30: mean $64,843 All colleges: p10 $42,623 All colleges: p90 $61,174
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Ecology & Plant Biology 158 2,889 35% / 65% 2% $51,827 96%
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 36 793 36% / 64% 2% $54,635 95%
Ecology 32 633 35% / 65% 1% $50,203 95%
Environmental Biology 39 395 37% / 63% 2% $51,286 98%
Botany 23 263 34% / 66% 1% $49,451 98%
Conservation Biology 24 230 32% / 68% 0% $48,517 94%
Evolution and Ecology 1 87 20% / 80% 0% $50,071 97%
Plant Biology 9 83 37% / 63% 0% $51,394 97%
Organismic and Evolutionary Biology 1 73 27% / 73% 15% $72,937 96%
Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity 1 52 27% / 73% 6% $47,981 94%
Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity 1 47 40% / 60% 2% $37,423 92%
Ecology and Conservation Biology 1 42 69% / 31% 0% $63,789 96%
Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution 1 41 27% / 73% 2% $49,374 96%
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology 1 37 43% / 57% 0% $41,682 89%
Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology 1 33 30% / 70% 0% $44,748 91%
Human Ecology 1 26 4% / 96% 0% $46,529 89%
Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Sciences 1 14 36% / 64% 0% $56,613
Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology 2 11 36% / 64% 9% $59,624
Agroecology 1 9 44% / 56% 0% $57,006
Plant Genetics 1 7 71% / 29% 0% $58,730 90%
Ecology, Evolution, Systematics and Population Biology 4 6 50% / 50% 0% $57,518
Plant Biotechnology 1 4 25% / 75% 0% $53,660
Plant Pathology/Phytopathology 1 3 33% / 67% 33% $45,525