Best Forest programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Under supervision, perform manual labor necessary to develop, maintain, or protect areas such as forests, forested areas, woodlands, wetlands, and rangelands through such activities as raising and transporting seedlings; combating insects,.
23 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 483 people a year. The job pays a median of $43,680 in California across about 2,270 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 03.0501In California → | 441 | 91.3% | 12 | $42,109 | $21,842 |
| 2 | CIP 01.0606In California → | 42 | 8.7% | 11 | $35,900 | $14,000 |
Top 23 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 23 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reedley College Reedley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 196 | Forestry, General | — | 42% | — | — |
| 2 | California State Polytechnic University - Humboldt Arcata, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 69 | Forestry, General | $52,810 | 49% | — | 98% |
| 3 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Forestry, General | $55,092 | 86% | — | 31% |
| 4 | College of the Redwoods Eureka, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Forestry, General | — | 34% | — | — |
| 5 | Citrus College Glendora, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Forestry, General | — | 41% | — | — |
| 6 | Columbia College Sonora, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Forestry, General | — | 27% | — | — |
| 7 | Cuyamaca College El Cajon, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 41% | — | — |
| 8 | Lake Tahoe Community College South Lake Tahoe, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Forestry, General | — | 45% | — | — |
| 9 | Bakersfield College Bakersfield, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Forestry, General | — | 21% | — | — |
| 10 | Fullerton College Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 34% | — | — |
| 11 | Mt San Antonio College Walnut, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 45% | — | — |
| 12 | Diablo Valley College Pleasant Hill, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 49% | — | — |
| 13 | Feather River Community College District Quincy, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Forestry, General | — | 35% | — | — |
| 14 | Modesto Junior College Modesto, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 30% | — | — |
| 15 | Shasta College Redding, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Forestry, General | — | 23% | — | — |
| 16 | Mendocino College Ukiah, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 25% | — | — |
| 17 | MiraCosta College Oceanside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 41% | — | — |
| 18 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Forestry, General | — | 93% | — | 11% |
| 19 | Merritt College Oakland, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 26% | — | — |
| 20 | San Joaquin Delta College Stockton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 35% | — | — |
| 21 | Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 34% | — | — |
| 22 | Butte College Oroville, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Forestry, General | — | 45% | — | — |
| 23 | Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Plant Nursery Operations and Management | — | 37% | — | — |
All 23 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reedley College | Reedley | Public | 196 | 1 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Humboldt | Arcata | Public | 69 | 1 |
| California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo | Public | 51 | 1 |
| College of the Redwoods | Eureka | Public | 38 | 1 |
| Citrus College | Glendora | Public | 33 | 1 |
| Columbia College | Sonora | Public | 25 | 1 |
| Cuyamaca College | El Cajon | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Lake Tahoe Community College | South Lake Tahoe | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Bakersfield College | Bakersfield | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Fullerton College | Fullerton | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Mt San Antonio College | Walnut | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Diablo Valley College | Pleasant Hill | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Feather River Community College District | Quincy | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Modesto Junior College | Modesto | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Shasta College | Redding | Public | 4 | 1 |
What forest and conservation workers earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $43,680. California pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Forest and Conservation Workers page.
How to become a Forest
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Forest and Conservation Workers4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0606Plant Nursery Operations and Management
- 03.0501Forestry, General
- 03.0511Forest Technology/Technician
- 03.0599Forestry, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing forest and conservation workers programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Forest?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Forestry, General, which awarded 441 degrees in California in 2024-25, 91.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Forest?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Forestry, Applied Horticulture and Horticultural Business Services. Together they graduate about 483 people a year in California.
How much do forest and conservation workers earn in California?+
The median is $43,680 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.0% below the U.S. median of $43,680. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for forest and conservation workers growing?+
BLS projects a -4.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 2,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
23 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do forest and conservation workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Tree Farmer, Tree Planter, Forest Ranger, Forestry Support Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 45-4011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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