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Tree inspector education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a tree inspector. Tree inspectors usually study environmental science, forestry, or geography. 73% of tree inspectors hold a bachelor's degree, and 13% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 28 real tree inspector resumes to see exactly what tree inspector education sections show.

The most common colleges for tree inspectors are the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities and the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.

There are also many online tree inspector courses to help get the education required to be a tree inspector.

What education do you need to become a tree inspector?

What degree do you need to be a tree inspector?

The most common degree for tree inspectors is bachelor's degree, with 73% of tree inspectors earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 13% and associate degree degree at 7%.
  • Bachelor's, 73%
  • Associate, 13%
  • Master's, 7%
  • Diploma, 7%

What should I major in to become a tree inspector?

You should major in environmental science to become a tree inspector. 31% of tree inspectors major in environmental science. Other common majors for a tree inspector include forestry and geography.

Most common colleges for tree inspectors

Tree inspectors often get their degrees at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, University of New Orleans, and University of Wisconsin - Madison. Here are the most common colleges for tree inspectors in the US based on their resumes.
Tree inspector common collegePercentages
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities22.22%
University of New Orleans11.11%
University of Wisconsin - Madison11.11%
St. Petersburg College11.11%
Colorado State University11.11%

Best majors for tree inspectors

RankMajorPercentages
1Environmental Science31.3%
2Forestry18.8%
3Geography12.5%
4Public Administration6.3%
5Business6.3%

Best colleges for tree inspectors

The best colleges for tree inspectors are Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University in the City of New York.

A tree inspector with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for tree inspectors. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become tree inspectors.

1. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$14,184

Enrollment

30,845

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

4. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

6. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Enrollment

34,564

7. North Carolina State University

Raleigh, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$9,101

Enrollment

23,708

8. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

9. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,207

Enrollment

30,905

10. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

20 best online courses for tree inspectors

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1. Trees, SVM and Unsupervised Learning

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"Trees, SVM and Unsupervised Learning" is designed to provide working professionals with a solid foundation in support vector machines, neural networks, decision trees, and XG boost. Through in-depth instruction and practical hands-on experience, you will learn how to build powerful predictive models using these techniques and understand the advantages and disadvantages of each. The course will also cover how and when to apply them to different scenarios, including binary classification and K >...

2. Performing regression tasks using decision tree & PCA basics

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In this 1-hour long project-based course, you will learn how to perform regression tasks using decision tree & some PCA fundamental coding. you will get expertise in acing following tasks- Predicting two decision tree regression model Drawing Decision tree for regression Regularize a decision tree regressor Setting up the environment for dimensional reduction Coding for Projection methods in Dimensionality reduction Coding for PCA using SVD decomposition and SCIKIT learn...

3. Decision Trees, Random Forests, AdaBoost & XGBoost in Python

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4.3
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Decision Trees and Ensembling techniques in Python. How to run Bagging, Random Forest, GBM, Ada Boost & XGBoost in Python...

4. VSD - Clock Tree Synthesis - Part 2

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4.2
(449)

VLSI - Building a chip is like building a city!!...

5. Training & Visualizing a Decision Tree ,predicting and checking sensitivity

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Training & Visualizing a Decision Tree ,predicting and checking sensitivity...

6. Decision Tree and Random Forest Classification using Julia

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This guided project is about glass classification using decision tree classification and random forest classification in Julia. It is ideal for beginners who do not know what decision trees or random forests are because this project explains these concepts in simple terms. While you are watching me code, you will get a cloud desktop with all the required software pre-installed. This will allow you to code along with me. After all, we learn best with active, hands-on learning. Special features:...

7. VSD - Clock Tree Synthesis - Part 1

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4.3
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VLSI - Building a chip is like building a city!!...

8. Decision Tree - Theory, Application and Modeling using R

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4.7
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Analytics/ Supervised Machine Learning/ Data Science: CHAID / CART / Random Forest etc. workout (Python demo at the end)...

9. Build Decision Trees, SVMs, and Artificial Neural Networks

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There are numerous types of machine learning algorithms, each of which has certain characteristics that might make it more or less suitable for solving a particular problem. Decision trees and support-vector machines (SVMs) are two examples of algorithms that can both solve regression and classification problems, but which have different applications. Likewise, a more advanced approach to machine learning, called deep learning, uses artificial neural networks (ANNs) to solve these types of...

10. Predict Employee Turnover with scikit-learn

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Welcome to this project-based course on Predicting Employee Turnover with Decision Trees and Random Forests using scikit-learn. In this project, you will use Python and scikit-learn to grow decision trees and random forests, and apply them to an important business problem. Additionally, you will learn to interpret decision trees and random forest models using feature importance plots. Leverage Jupyter widgets to build interactive controls, you can change the parameters of the models on the fly...

11. ESSENTIAL Paint TREES in watercolor. Clear videos show you.

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4.5
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Paint trees in watercolor with CONFIDENCE. Clear video demos show you how to paint a variety of trees, common & exotic...

12. How To Craft Wire Tree Sculptures With Andy Elliott

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4.2
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Twisting Wire To Create Beauty...

13. Emergence of Life

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How did life emerge on Earth? How have life and Earth co-evolved through geological time? Is life elsewhere in the universe? Take a look through the 4-billion-year history of life on Earth through the lens of the modern Tree of Life! This course will evaluate the entire history of life on Earth within the context of our cutting-edge understanding of the Tree of Life. This includes the pioneering work of Professor Carl Woese on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus which...

14. Algorithms Data Structures in Java #1 (+INTERVIEW QUESTIONS)

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4.5
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Basic Algorithms and Data Structures: AVL tree, Binary Search Trees, Arrays, B Trees, Linked Lists, Stacks and Hash Maps...

15. Fundamentals of Residential Property Management

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4
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Understand the foundation of residential property management as a property manager or landlord...

16. Intellectual Property Security Awareness

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How to Use Social Media without Infringing on Trademarks, Copyrights, Trade Secrets and Patents...

17. Machine Learning in GIS and Remote Sensing: 5 Courses in 1

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Understand & apply machine learning and deep learning for geospatial tasks (GIS and Remote Sensing) in QGIS and Arc GIS...

18. Property Management 101

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4.4
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Learn the basics of managing rental property and becoming a landlord...

19. Building Perceptive AI in Unreal Engine

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4.4
(260)

AI Perception, Behaviour Trees, and EQS...

20. Ensemble Machine Learning in Python: Random Forest, AdaBoost

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4.6
(2,091)

Ensemble Methods: Boosting, Bagging, Boostrap, and Statistical Machine Learning for Data Science in Python...

Top 10 most affordable universities for tree inspectors

The most affordable schools for tree inspectors are University of Florida, hunter college of the city university of new york, and california state university - long beach.

If the best universities for tree inspectors are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for tree inspectors.

1. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

2. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

3. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

4. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

5. California State University - Fullerton

Fullerton, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,886

Cost of attendance

17,645

6. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

7. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

8. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

9. Lehman College of the City University of New York

Bronx, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,210

Cost of attendance

14,359

10. California State University - Fresno

Fresno, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,587

Cost of attendance

16,915

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for tree inspectors

The hardest universities for tree inspectors to get into are Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University in the City of New York.

Some great schools for tree inspectors are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for tree inspectors based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

3. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

4. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

5. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

5%

SAT average

1,520

6. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

7. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,448

8. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

9. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

10. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for tree inspectors

The easiest schools for tree inspectors to get into are Barry University, mount saint mary's university, and gwynedd mercy university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a tree inspector without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for tree inspectors.

1. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

2. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

3. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

4. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

5. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA • Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

6. Cardinal Stritch University

Milwaukee, WI • Private

Admissions rate

71%

SAT average

1,035

7. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,044

8. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

9. Fresno Pacific University

Fresno, CA • Private

Admissions rate

85%

SAT average

1,053

10. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

Average tree inspector salary by education level

Tree inspectors with a Bachelor's degree earn more than those without, at $53,452 annually. With a Associate degree, tree inspectors earn a median annual income of $53,127 compared to $47,961 for tree inspectors with an High School Diploma degree.
Tree inspector education levelTree inspector salary
High School Diploma or Less$47,961
Bachelor's Degree$53,452
No Education$45,471
Some College/ Associate Degree$53,127

Tree inspector education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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