Natural Resources Conservation at Western Colorado University

What traits are you looking for in a conservation school? To help you decide if Western Colorado University is right for you, we've gathered the following information about the school's conservation program.

Western is located in Gunnison, Colorado and has a total student population of 3,203. In 2021, 33 conservation majors received their bachelor's degree from Western.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Natural Resources Conservation section at the bottom of this page.

Western Natural Resources Conservation Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Conservation
• Master’s Degree in Conservation

Western Natural Resources Conservation Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the conservation progam at Western compares to programs at other colleges and universities.

Note: Although rankings can help you see some information about a school, it's not a good idea to depend on them alone. Be sure to check out other things about the school before making your decision to attend.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The conservation major at Western is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Natural Resources Conservation. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Most Focused Natural Resources Conservation Master’s Degree Schools	4
Best Value Natural Resources Conservation Master’s Degree Schools	70
Best Value Natural Resources Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools	106
	158
Best Natural Resources Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools	199

In 2021, 29 students received their master’s degree in conservation from Western. This makes it the #26 most popular school for conservation master’s degree candidates in the country.

Earnings of Western Conservation Graduates

The median salary of conservation students who receive their bachelor's degree at Western is $32,439. This is great news for graduates of the program, since this figure is 3% higher than the national average of $31,602 for all conservation bachelor's degree recipients.

Conservation Student Demographics at Western

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the conservation majors at Western Colorado University.

Western Natural Resources Conservation Bachelor’s Program

Of the 33 conservation students who graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2020-2021 from Western, about 58% were men and 42% were women. The typical conservation bachelor's degree program is made up of only 40% men. So male students are more repesented at Western since its program graduates 18% more men than average.

About 82% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in conservation at Western are white. This is above average for this degree on the nationwide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Western Colorado University with a bachelor's in conservation.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	2
White	27
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	3

Western Natural Resources Conservation Master’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 29 students earned a master's degree in conservation from Western. About 55% of these graduates were women and the other 45% were men. Nationwide, master's degree programs only see 40% men graduate in conservation each year. Western does a better job at serving the male population as it supports 5% more men than average.

Of the students who received a conservation master's degree from Western, 83% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Western Colorado University with a master's in conservation.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	24
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

Western also has a doctoral program available in conservation. In 2021, 0 student graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Related Majors

Careers That Conservation Grads May Go Into

A degree in conservation can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for CO, the home state for Western Colorado University.

Occupation	Jobs in CO	Average Salary in CO
Environmental Scientists and Specialists	2,930	$93,010
Conservation Scientists	1,320	$71,170
Foresters	220	$61,890
Forestry & Conservation Science Professors	130	$91,260
Environmental Science Professors	130	$69,650

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Draconrex under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.