Natural Resources Conservation and Research at Gonzaga University

Gonzaga's Natural Resources Conservation program ranks in the bottom fifth nationally for earnings, and that gap is significant: graduates earn $28,763 in their first year—about $5,200 less than the national median and $4,600 below Washington's state median. While the program performs slightly better against state competitors than national ones (40th percentile vs 21st), that's cold comfort when nearby Eastern Washington University graduates earn $11,000 more annually and even Western Washington's program outpaces Gonzaga by $2,000. The debt load of $24,118 isn't catastrophic, but it's higher than the state median, creating a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.84 that means nearly a full year's salary going to repayment.

The economics here are particularly puzzling given Gonzaga's admission profile (SAT of 1316) and private school tuition. Students are paying premium prices for below-average outcomes in a field where employer demand tends to be fairly consistent across institutions. The 30-100 graduate sample size is moderate enough to trust the pattern: this program simply underperforms its Washington peers, including multiple University of Washington campuses that offer similar programs at state school prices.

For a family considering this major, the better value lies elsewhere in Washington's public system. If your student is set on Gonzaga for other reasons—campus culture, smaller class sizes, location preference—they should understand they're making that choice despite the program economics, not because of them.