Natural Resources & Conservation degree programs are on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of popularity. In fact, the major ranks #25 out of the 38 majors we look at each year. While this may limit the number of schools that offer the degree program, there are still top-quality ones to be found.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools in Kentucky to determine which ones were the best for natural resources & conservation students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 185 degrees in natural resources & conservation to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Natural Resources & Conservation School
The natural resources & conservation program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Natural Resources & Conservation rankings. For our Best Overall Natural Resources & Conservation School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Natural Resources & Conservation Degree Level
The natural resources & conservation school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Natural Resources & Conservation Schools in Kentucky.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for Natural Resources & Conservation in Kentucky
The schools below may not offer all types of natural resources & conservation degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Top Kentucky Schools in Natural Resources & Conservation
Every student who is interested in natural resources & conservation has to take a look at University of Kentucky. Located in the large city of Lexington, UK is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #220 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UK is a great university overall.
There were about 75 natural resources & conservation students who graduated with this degree at UK in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, natural resources & conservation degree recipients usually earn around $36,051 in their early careers.
Murray State University is a good choice for students interested in a degree in natural resources & conservation. Murray State is a moderately-sized public university located in the distant town of Murray. This university ranks 16th out of 39 schools for overall quality in the state of Kentucky.
There were approximately 23 natural resources & conservation students who graduated with this degree at Murray State in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, natural resources & conservation degree recipients generally earn an average of $28,751 at the beginning of their careers.
BS in Environmental Science - Natural Resources & ConservationProgram Name
Develop a broad-based interdisciplinary skill set to solve complex environmental problems like climate change, alternative energy and sustainability with a specialized online degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
It is hard to beat Northern Kentucky University if you want to pursue a degree in natural resources & conservation. Located in the suburb of Highland Heights, NKU is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 5th out of 39 schools for overall quality in the state of Kentucky.
There were roughly 18 natural resources & conservation students who graduated with this degree at NKU in the most recent data year.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Lynn Betts.
The natural resources & conservation program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Natural Resources & Conservation rankings. For our Best Overall Natural Resources & Conservation School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
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