Master's · Fort Collins, Colorado

Is Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy at Colorado State University-Fort Collins worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 11.9 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $52,033; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $68,996; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $30,060; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $32k (likely $32k – $32k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $5k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in CO; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 11.9 years (likely 6.7–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$159k (likely −$238k – −$73k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: −$50k (likely −$239k – $154k); Today's dollars

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.