Resource Management

Types of Degrees Resource Management Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	1,427
Master’s Degree	1,046
Graduate Certificate	295
Associate Degree	172
Basic Certificate	150
Undergraduate Certificate	35
Doctor’s Degree	22

What Resource Management Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, resource management majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Resource Management Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in resource management should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• 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.

Skills for Resource Management Majors

A major in resource management prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• 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.
• 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 Resource Management Majors

As a resource management major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• 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.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Resource Management Major?

People with a resource management degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Fire Investigators	7.3%	$62,510
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	6.6%	$89,030
Fish and Game Wardens	4.3%	$57,710
Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention Supervisors	7.1%	$76,330
Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists	29.4%	$39,600
Foresters	4.9%	$61,410
Forestry & Conservation Science Professors	4.5%	$86,900
Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers	7.6%	$22,410
Municipal Firefighters	7.2%	$49,620
Park Naturalists	6.3%	$61,310
Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers	7.0%	$61,380
Range Managers	6.3%	$61,310
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Soil and Water Conservationists	6.3%	$61,310
Wind Energy Project Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Resource Management?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 1,383 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in natural resource management in 2021, making it rank #149 in popularity. Roughly 48% of the graduates are women, and 52% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	31
Black or African American	24
Hispanic or Latino	136
White	1,120
International Students	14
Other Races/Ethnicities	102

Geographic Diversity

Resource Management appeals to people across the globe. About 1.0% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Resource Management

Some degrees associated with resource management may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to resource management have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	2.5%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	18.0%
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)	9.6%
Some College Courses	11.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	35.8%
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	3.9%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.2%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.8%
Doctoral Degree	5.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	2.7%

Online Resource Management 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)	14	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	39	3
Bachelor’s Degree	44	9
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	71	9
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	17	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Resource Management

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

Major	Number of Grads
Natural Resources Conservation	23,672
Wildlife Management	2,389
Forestry	2,243
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.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Brian M. Powell under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.