Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology at University of California-Los Angeles

At an institution with a 9% admission rate, you'd expect premium outcomes—but UCLA's ecology program graduates earn just $18,728 their first year out, roughly half what graduates from Cal State Long Beach make in the same field. Among California's 21 ecology programs, this ranks in the bottom 10th percentile, trailing not just elite competitors but also less selective Cal State campuses by $15,000-20,000 annually.

The small sample size here matters significantly—we're looking at fewer than 30 graduates, so a handful of students pursuing unpaid research positions or graduate school could skew these figures dramatically. Biology-focused degrees often lead students toward additional schooling or temporary research roles that suppress initial earnings. Still, the gap between UCLA's results and every top-five California program is too wide to dismiss as statistical noise alone.

For families evaluating this against in-state alternatives, the debt load is manageable at $17,417, but the return on that UCLA credential isn't materializing in year-one earnings. If your child is committed to graduate school in ecology or research science, the prestige might matter for PhD admissions. But if they're hoping the UCLA name alone will translate to strong early-career earnings in this field, the data suggests Cal State alternatives deliver better financial outcomes at a fraction of the admission difficulty.