Wildlife

Types of Degrees Wildlife Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many wildlife 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	1,666
Master’s Degree	228
Associate Degree	210
Basic Certificate	169
Graduate Certificate	58
Doctor’s Degree	44
Undergraduate Certificate	14

What Wildlife Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, wildlife 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 Wildlife Majors

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

• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• 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.
• Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

Skills for Wildlife Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to wildlife:

• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Wildlife Majors

As you progress with your wildlife degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Wildlife Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with wildlife:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Fish and Game Wardens	4.3%	$57,710
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
Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists	7.7%	$63,420

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 1,716 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in wildlife management in 2021, making it rank #139 in popularity. The major attracts more women than men. About 55% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	38
Black or African American	22
Hispanic or Latino	175
White	1,319
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	109

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Wildlife. About 0.2% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Wildlife

Some degrees associated with wildlife 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.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	2.7%
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)	0.7%
Some College Courses	2.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.1%
Bachelor’s Degree	51.2%
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.	1.2%
Master’s Degree	12.5%
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.	1.1%
Doctoral Degree	18.6%
Post-Doctoral Training	7.3%

Online Wildlife 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)	5	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	24	0
Bachelor’s Degree	5	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	23	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	16	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Wildlife

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

Major	Number of Grads
Natural Resources Conservation	23,672
Natural Resource Management	3,147
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 Nicholas A. Tonelli under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.