Natural Resources Conservation and Research at Bentley University

Bentley's Natural Resources Conservation program reports extraordinary numbers—$68,600 starting salary and just $27,000 in debt—but there's a critical caveat: fewer than 30 graduates means this data could reflect just a handful of students who may have landed in atypical career paths. For context, this program typically leads to forestry, wildlife, and conservation jobs that nationally pay around $34,000. Bentley's reported earnings are double the national median and 86% higher than the Massachusetts median for this field. That's a remarkable outlier that warrants skepticism.

The most likely explanation is that Bentley, known primarily as a business school, attracts students who combine this conservation major with its strong business curriculum or pivot entirely into corporate sustainability and environmental consulting roles—much higher-paying career paths than traditional conservation work. If your child is genuinely interested in field-based conservation or park management, these numbers probably don't represent what they should expect. But if they're thinking about environmental careers in business contexts—corporate responsibility, ESG investing, or sustainability consulting—then Bentley's business focus could indeed command these premium salaries.

The small sample size makes this program impossible to evaluate with confidence. Before committing, have your child connect with recent alumni to understand what jobs they actually took and whether those align with your child's conservation interests.