Is a Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology degree worth it?
Across 54 schools, graduates of Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology earn a median $47,544 five years out on $21,410 of debt. Graduates most commonly work as Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists (modeled from the federal CIP-to-SOC crosswalk). These earnings and debt figures come from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
Median 5-yr pay
$47,544
Median debt
$21,410
Years to pay off
4.6
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
51%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+6.1%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
21.5%
$49,624 vs $38,950
Net price
$20,353/yr
Debt-test failures
4.4%
of programs
'Real' premium
−$19,234
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.