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Animal Sciences Degree

81 schools compared · Average earnings $33,901/yr

Students study animal biology, genetics, nutrition, reproduction, and production systems for livestock including cattle, poultry, swine, and sheep. Graduates typically pursue careers in livestock management, animal nutrition, pharmaceutical sales, and as preparation for veterinary school. Strong demand exists across the meat, dairy, and animal health industries.

What Animal Sciences Graduates Do

Your degree in Animal Sciences prepares you for a hands-on career managing the health and productivity of livestock and companion animals. Many graduates start as first-line supervisors on farms or ranches, directing teams on daily feeding, breeding, and care. Others begin as agricultural technicians, collecting blood samples, testing feed quality, or monitoring animal housing conditions. With experience, you can advance into a farm manager role, making high-level decisions about business operations, market strategy, and herd genetics.

While traditional farm management roles are numerous but face slight headwinds, technical and scientific paths are growing. Positions for agricultural technicians and animal scientists are expanding, driven by the need for data-backed improvements in efficiency and welfare. AI is a key factor here; it will automate significant chunks of routine work, like monitoring animal behavior or analyzing feed data. Your job isn't disappearing, but the day-to-day will change substantially. Adaptability is crucial, as your value will shift from performing repetitive tasks to interpreting AI-driven insights and making critical judgments.

Schools Offering

Avg Grad Earnings

$33,901/yr

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

40/100

AI Automation Risk

High

44% task exposure

Common Career Paths

Where Animal Sciences graduates typically work, ranked by salary. Salary ranges show 25th–75th percentile spread. This field has roughly 99,000 combined openings per year.

Career Path	Salary Range	Openings/yr	Growth	AI Risk
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	$87,980 $68K$115K	85,500	-1.3%	37%
Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary	$86,350 $64K$123K	800	+4.1%	50%
Animal scientists	$79,120 $60K$128K	200	+5.8%	53%
First-line supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers	$59,330 $48K$77K	8,500	+2.5%	28%
Farm and home management educators	$58,120 $46K$69K	1,100	-2.5%	37%
Agricultural technicians	$46,790 $38K$59K	2,900	+4.3%	50%

Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers

$87,980

$68K $115K

85,500 openings/yr -1.3% growth 37% AI risk

Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary

$86,350

$64K $123K

800 openings/yr +4.1% growth 50% AI risk

Animal scientists

$79,120

$60K $128K

200 openings/yr +5.8% growth 53% AI risk

First-line supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers

$59,330

$48K $77K

8,500 openings/yr +2.5% growth 28% AI risk

Farm and home management educators

$58,120

$46K $69K

1,100 openings/yr -2.5% growth 37% AI risk

Agricultural technicians

$46,790

$38K $59K

2,900 openings/yr +4.3% growth 50% AI risk

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Best Schools for Animal Sciences

Top 20 of 81 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. Click any row for full AI scenario analysis and earnings projections.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS	57 53–58	$41,464/yr	17.2x
2	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA	54 50–55	$40,311/yr	20.0x
3	South Dakota State University Brookings, SD	53 49–54	$44,844/yr	14.2x
4	University of Wisconsin-Platteville Platteville, WI	52 47–52	$44,956/yr	14.4x
5	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	51 46–52	$44,354/yr	11.7x
6	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	51 47–51	$35,318/yr	15.7x
7	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	50 47–51	$37,349/yr	17.8x
8	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	48 44–49	$40,209/yr	11.3x
9	Iowa State University Ames, IA	48 44–49	$39,567/yr	12.3x
10	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND	48 43–48	$39,290/yr	11.9x
11	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE	48 44–48	$39,064/yr	12.6x
12	University of Wisconsin-River Falls River Falls, WI	47 43–47	$37,852/yr	13.9x
13	Auburn University Auburn, AL	47 44–48	$34,980/yr	12.2x
14	California State University-Chico Chico, CA	47 43–47	$33,387/yr	16.6x
15	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	46 42–47	$41,292/yr	8.3x
16	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK	46 42–46	$36,235/yr	12.6x
17	North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC	46 42–46	$35,686/yr	17.0x
18	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	46 43–47	$33,879/yr	13.0x
19	Utah State University Logan, UT	46 44–47	$30,774/yr	16.5x
20	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	45 40–45	$40,008/yr	7.6x
21	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	45 42–46	$35,582/yr	10.7x
22	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS	44 40–45	$38,868/yr	10.8x
23	University of Georgia Athens, GA	44 41–44	$31,769/yr	12.7x
24	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	44 41–44	$31,294/yr	19.2x
25	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT	43 40–44	$37,712/yr	7.7x
26	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT	43 40–44	$37,712/yr	7.7x
27	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT	43 39–44	$37,712/yr	7.7x
28	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT	43 40–44	$37,712/yr	7.7x
29	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	43 39–43	$36,111/yr	9.9x
30	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY	43 39–43	$34,875/yr	15.4x
31	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	43 40–44	$33,332/yr	13.8x
32	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR	43 41–44	$32,417/yr	13.5x
33	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	42 38–43	$37,712/yr	6.5x
34	SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill Cobleskill, NY	42 39–43	$37,068/yr	12.3x
35	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX	42 38–42	$34,933/yr	10.4x
36	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	42 39–42	$29,793/yr	12.0x
37	University of Idaho Moscow, ID	41 38–42	$36,486/yr	11.9x
38	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	41 38–42	$34,678/yr	9.2x
39	Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO	41 38–42	$33,675/yr	12.7x
40	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV	41 39–42	$31,103/yr	13.2x
41	University of Maine Orono, ME	40 37–41	$37,823/yr	8.8x
42	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	40 36–40	$35,996/yr	8.6x
43	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	40 37–41	$34,073/yr	8.0x
44	Arkansas State University Jonesboro, AR	40 37–40	$31,444/yr	14.3x
45	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY	40 38–40	$27,144/yr	11.4x
46	University of Delaware Newark, DE	39 35–40	$40,317/yr	5.3x
47	University of Minnesota-Crookston Crookston, MN	39 35–39	$35,072/yr	8.8x
48	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX	39 36–39	$34,051/yr	11.5x
49	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR	39 36–40	$32,893/yr	9.8x
50	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR	38 35–39	$32,893/yr	9.1x
51	Angelo State University San Angelo, TX	38 36–39	$28,820/yr	14.1x
52	Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, ID	38 36–38	$25,661/yr	23.3x
53	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	37 34–38	$33,642/yr	8.8x
54	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX	37 35–38	$30,695/yr	13.5x
55	Texas A & M University-Kingsville Kingsville, TX	37 35–37	$20,036/yr	13.9x
56	Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO	36 33–37	$34,876/yr	7.6x
57	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	36 34–37	$32,309/yr	7.9x
58	Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX	36 33–36	$31,059/yr	10.4x
59	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI	35 31–35	$35,520/yr	6.1x
60	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN	35 32–35	$33,788/yr	9.7x
61	Texas State University San Marcos, TX	35 32–36	$33,358/yr	9.0x
62	Montana State University Bozeman, MT	35 32–35	$30,220/yr	12.1x
63	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	34 31–35	$33,926/yr	6.3x
64	Washington State University Pullman, WA	34 31–34	$31,911/yr	8.1x
65	Clemson University Clemson, SC	34 32–34	$28,942/yr	7.9x
66	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	33 31–34	$30,187/yr	7.3x
67	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH	32 29–32	$33,213/yr	3.3x
68	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI	32 29–32	$31,285/yr	5.4x
69	New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM	32 30–33	$28,475/yr	11.6x
70	Delaware Valley University Doylestown, PA	31 27–31	$38,378/yr	2.0x
71	University of Vermont Burlington, VT	31 28–32	$34,467/yr	4.7x
72	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL	31 28–31	$30,706/yr	7.4x
73	Sul Ross State University Alpine, TX	31 29–31	$28,002/yr	8.2x
74	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN	31 29–31	$26,515/yr	8.4x
75	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	30 28–31	$28,729/yr	7.0x
76	The University of Findlay Findlay, OH	28 24–28	$34,595/yr	2.1x
77	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX	28 27–29	$27,101/yr	5.8x
78	University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Mayaguez, PR	28 26–28	$14,123/yr	14.8x
79	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	26 23–27	$36,204/yr	1.0x
80	Louisiana Tech University Ruston, LA	25 24–25	$21,958/yr	4.4x
81	Tuskegee University Tuskegee, AL	23 22–24	$24,211/yr	4.1x

Highest Earning Animal Sciences Programs

Schools where Animal Sciences graduates earn the most in their first year after graduation.

School	1-Year Earnings	DW Score
University of Wisconsin-Platteville	$44,956/yr	52
South Dakota State University	$44,844/yr	53
University of Wisconsin-Madison	$44,354/yr	51
Mississippi State University	$41,464/yr	57
Michigan State University	$41,292/yr	46
University of Delaware	$40,317/yr	39
California State University-Fresno	$40,311/yr	54
University of Maryland-College Park	$40,209/yr	48
University of Massachusetts-Amherst	$40,008/yr	45
Iowa State University	$39,567/yr	48

Best ROI for Animal Sciences

Schools with the highest earnings-to-tuition ratio for Animal Sciences.

School	ROI Multiple	Earnings	DW Score
Brigham Young University-Idaho	23.3x	$25,661/yr	38
California State University-Fresno	20.0x	$40,311/yr	54
University of Florida	19.2x	$31,294/yr	44
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	17.8x	$37,349/yr	50
Mississippi State University	17.2x	$41,464/yr	57
North Carolina A & T State University	17.0x	$35,686/yr	46
California State University-Chico	16.6x	$33,387/yr	47
Utah State University	16.5x	$30,774/yr	46
Purdue University-Main Campus	15.7x	$35,318/yr	51
University of Wyoming	15.4x	$34,875/yr	43

Want to compare two Animal Sciences programs side by side? Use the comparison tool →

Related Majors

Explore similar fields of study.

Consider the Trade Route

Not sure a 4-year degree is the right path? Trade programs in Animal Sciences offer shorter timelines, lower debt, and strong AI resilience for hands-on careers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Animal Sciences graduates earn?

Across 81 schools, Animal Sciences graduates earn an average of $33,901 per year in their first year after graduation. Earnings range from $14,123 to $44,956 depending on the school.

What is the AI automation risk for Animal Sciences?

Animal Sciences is rated "High" for AI automation risk, with an average of 44% of job tasks exposed to large language models and AI tools. This means some career tasks in this field could be augmented or replaced by AI over the next decade.

Which school has the best Animal Sciences program?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), Mississippi State University ranks #1 for Animal Sciences with a score of 57/100 and graduate earnings of $41,464/yr.

What's the outlook for a Animal Sciences degree?

On average, Animal Sciences graduates earn 10.5x their in-state tuition over 10 years. This is a strong return on investment.

Scores use College Scorecard earnings, BLS employment projections, and AI task-exposure research. See full methodology →