2023 Best Natural Resources & Conservation Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in Tennessee

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, veterans have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Most Veteran Friendly in Tennessee for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Master’s” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2020-2021, 30,503 people earned their degree in natural resources and conservation, making the major the 25th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, natural resources and conservation graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $35,158 and had an average of $23,267 in loans still to pay off.

Across Tennessee, there were 320 natural resources and conservation graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,876 and $23,214 respectively.

For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Tennessee for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Master’s” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in natural resources and conservation. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent natural resources and conservation programs, but they also offer a lot of support to veterans and active service members.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the natural resources and conservation program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran population. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Most Veteran Friendly in Tennessee for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Master’s” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Most Veteran Friendly in Tennessee for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Master’s

The colleges and universities below are the best for tennessee master’s degree vets studying natural resources & conservation.

Top 2 Best Natural Resources & Conservation Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in Tennessee

1

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee

1,122 GI Bill® Students**

#1 in overall quality

YES Student Veterans Organization

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Tennessee - Knoxville. The school came in at #1 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Tennessee for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Master’s. The University of Tennessee - Knoxville is a large public school situated in Knoxville, Tennessee. It awarded 12 masters’s natural resources and conservation degrees in 2020-2021.

UT Knoxville also took the #1 spot in our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Master’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking.Of the 30,559 students enrolled at The University of Tennessee - Knoxville, 1,122 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 739 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $10,650. In addition to receiving other benefits, 8 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Veteran Student Life Report

2

The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee

431 GI Bill® Students**

#2 in overall quality

YES Student Veterans Organization

Out of the 2 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Tennessee for Natural Resources & Conservation for a Master’s that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga landed the #2 spot on the list. UT Chattanooga is a fairly large public school situated in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It awarded 12 masters’s natural resources and conservation degrees in 2020-2021.

UT Chattanooga also made our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Master’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #2.Of the 11,728 students enrolled at UT Chattanooga, 431 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 270 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $7,374. During this same period, 1 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

[Read full report on veteran student life at The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga]](/colleges/the-university-of-tennessee-at-chattanooga/student-life/veterans/)

• Best Natural Resources & Conservation Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the Southeast Region
• Best Natural Resources & Conservation Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Lynn Betts.