Best Conservation Scientist programs in North Dakota, ranked by enrollment
Manage, improve, and protect natural resources to maximize their use without damaging the environment. May conduct soil surveys and develop plans to eliminate soil erosion or to protect rangelands.
5 schools in North Dakota run programs that feed this job, graduating 73 people a year. The job pays a median of $77,280 in North Dakota across about 340 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in North Dakota that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
6 programs in North Dakota that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in North Dakota (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 North Dakota page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 03.0201In North Dakota → | 31 | 42.5% | 2 | $37,946 | $24,125 |
| 2 | CIP 01.0308In North Dakota → | 14 | 19.2% | 2 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 3 | Natural Resources/Conservation, Generalmain feeder CIP 03.0101In North Dakota → | 12 | 16.4% | 2 | $34,020 | $23,032 |
| 4 | CIP 03.0601In North Dakota → | 9 | 12.3% | 1 | $28,750 | $24,798 |
| 5 | CIP 26.1305In North Dakota → | 6 | 8.2% | 1 | $29,460 | $23,480 |
| 6 | CIP 01.1106In North Dakota → | 1 | 1.4% | 1 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
Top 5 schools in North Dakota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 5 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota State University - Main Campus Fargo, ND Public · 5 feeder programs | 56 | Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy, General | $40,971 | 64% | — | 95% |
| 2 | Valley City State University Valley City, ND Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management | $44,253 | 53% | — | 99% |
| 3 | Cankdeska Cikana Community College Fort Totten, ND Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy, General | — | 28% | — | — |
| 4 | United Tribes Technical College Bismarck, ND Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture | — | 21% | $2,819 | — |
| 5 | Dakota College at Bottineau Bottineau, ND Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Natural Resources/Conservation, General | — | 48% | — | — |
All 5 schools in North Dakota
Every school in North Dakota 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State University - Main Campus | Fargo | Public | 56 | 5 |
| Valley City State University | Valley City | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Cankdeska Cikana Community College | Fort Totten | Public | 3 | 1 |
| United Tribes Technical College | Bismarck | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| Dakota College at Bottineau | Bottineau | Public | 2 | 1 |
What conservation scientists earn in North Dakota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $73,010. North Dakota pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: North Dakota employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in North Dakota
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 Conservation Scientists page.
How to become a Conservation Scientist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational 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 North Dakota
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 17 majors mapped to Conservation Scientists17 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0308Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
- 01.1106Range Science and Management
- 03.0101Natural Resources/Conservation, General
- 03.0201Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy, General
- 03.0205Water, Wetlands, and Marine Resources Management
- 03.0206Land Use Planning and Management/Development
- 03.0501Forestry, General
- 03.0502Forest Sciences and Biology
- 03.0506Forest Management/Forest Resources Management
- 03.0601Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management
- 26.1301Ecology
- 26.1305Environmental Biology
- 26.1307Conservation Biology
- 26.1310Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- 26.1399Ecology, Evolution, Systematics and Population Biology, Other
- 30.3301Sustainability Studies
- 30.4401Geography and Environmental Studies
Common questions
Answers for people weighing conservation scientists programs in North Dakota.
What degree do you need to become a Conservation Scientist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy, General, which awarded 31 degrees in North Dakota in 2024-25, 42.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Conservation Scientist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy, Agricultural Production Operations, Natural Resources Conservation and Research, Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 73 people a year in North Dakota.
How much do conservation scientists earn in North Dakota?+
The median is $77,280 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.8% above the U.S. median of $73,010. 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 conservation scientists growing?+
BLS projects a +3.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in North Dakota?+
5 institutions in North Dakota reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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 conservation scientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Naturalist, Park Guide, Park Ranger, Conservationist, Park Naturalist, Range Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-1031.
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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