Best Natural Resources Colleges for Social Mobility in the West (2025)

51 Natural Resources colleges in the West with strong social mobility outcomes. Average earnings: $67,107.

📊 Schools must be in the 60th percentile or above for social mobility, then ranked by graduate earnings.

Average Graduate Earnings: $67,107

All 51 Schools

Rank	School	Graduate Earnings	Student Debt	Student GPS	Parent Debt	Parent GPS	Mobility
#51	New Mexico State University-Main CampusPublic	$39,067	$17,095	Good	$10,166	Challenging	79th percentile mobility

#51New Mexico State University-Main Campus

Las Cruces, NM • Public

💰

$39,067Graduate Earnings

🎓79th percentile mobility

Cohort

$17,095

Student Debt

$10,166

Parent Debt

GPS Affordability(What's this?)

11.2% burden

18.8% burden

📚

40.3%

Pell Share

👨‍👩‍👧

43.6%

First-Gen

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Showing 51–51 of 51 schools

How These Rankings Work

Our social mobility rankings answer: "Which schools deliver the best outcomes for students from low-income backgrounds?"

This is not simply "which schools admit the most low-income students" — it's which schools both serve low-income students and deliver strong earnings outcomes.

Two-Step Methodology

Filter for Accessibility: Schools must be in the 60th percentile or above for our mobility index. This filters out schools that don't meaningfully serve low-income students.

Rank by Outcomes: Among schools passing the filter, we rank by median graduate earnings. This surfaces schools with strong outcomes, not just high accessibility.

Mobility Index Components

• Pell Grant share: % of students receiving federal Pell Grants (proxy for low-income)
• First-generation share: % of first-generation college students
• Earnings mobility: How much graduates earn relative to their starting economic position

Important Caveats

• The 60th percentile threshold is a design choice — schools at 59th percentile are excluded
• Mobility index weights may not reflect every user's priorities
• Schools serving middle-income students well may be underrepresented
• Higher earnings doesn't always mean better outcomes (teaching, social work have high value but lower salaries)

Read our full methodology →

Data based on 2024-2025 Dept of Education reporting standards. Learn about our methodology →