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Forestry Major

Forestry

1,155 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
302 Master's Degrees Annually
#157 in Popularity

Types of Degrees Forestry Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many forestry graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree 1,083
Associate Degree 405
Master’s Degree 329
Basic Certificate 229
Doctor’s Degree 97
Graduate Certificate 72
Undergraduate Certificate 28

What Forestry Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to forestry were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Forestry Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

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  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  • Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for Forestry Majors

When studying forestry, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

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  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Forestry Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a forestry student include the following:

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  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Forestry Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with forestry:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
First-Line Supervisors of Logging Workers 2.1% $46,960
Forest and Conservation Technicians 3.9% $37,180
Foresters 4.9% $61,410
Forestry & Conservation Science Professors 4.5% $86,900
Park Naturalists 6.3% $61,310
Range Managers 6.3% $61,310
Soil and Water Conservationists 6.3% $61,310

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry?

1,083 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
30% Percent Women
16% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 1,155 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in forestry in 2021, making it rank #157 in popularity. This major attracts more men than women. About 70% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of forestry majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 19
Black or African American 20
Hispanic or Latino 81
White 889
International Students 4
Other Races/Ethnicities 70

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Forestry, too. About 0.4% of those with this major are international students.

Some degrees associated with forestry may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for forestry careers below.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma 3.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 11.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) 2.8%
Some College Courses 4.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 8.8%
Bachelor’s Degree 43.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. 0.6%
Master’s Degree 3.2%
Doctoral Degree 15.0%
Post-Doctoral Training 7.0%

Online Forestry Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 21 1
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 76 2
Bachelor’s Degree 12 5
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 50 2
Post-Master’s 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 32 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to forestry.

Major Number of Grads
Natural Resources Conservation 23,672
Natural Resource Management 3,147
Wildlife Management 2,389
Fisheries Sciences 505
Natural Resources Conservation (Other) 150

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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