Program ranking · CIP 26.02 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Biochemistry

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Biochemistry (CIP 26.02) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$90,694
Highest biochemistry earnings: 89
Colleges ranked: $44,979
#89 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $44,979 median earnings for Biochemistry bachelor's (CIP 26.02) completers. University of California-Santa Barbara leads at $90,694.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$90,694
#1 - University of California-Santa: $44,979
#89 - the cutoff to make this list: 25+
completers required per school: 682
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

University of California…

$90,694
Northeastern University

$90,612
University of California…

$88,305
University of New Hampsh…

$87,075
University of San Diego

$83,380
University of Kansas

$81,568
Montclair State University

$81,519
University of Vermont

$80,593
University of Maryland-C…

$80,470
Temple University

$80,364
California State Univers…

$79,820
Rutgers University-New B…

$79,510
Indiana University-Bloom…

$78,721
California Polytechnic S…

$78,097
University of Massachuse…

$77,853

What this shows Biochemistry medians concentrate at research universities with strong lab pipelines - compare debt and completer counts before treating pay as program quality.

The full top 89

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
1	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	$90,694	$11,750	74
2	Northeastern University	MA	$90,612	$23,250	82
3	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	$88,305	$18,959	49
4	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus	NH	$87,075	$27,000	27
5	University of San Diego	CA	$83,380	$27,000	26
6	University of Kansas	KS	$81,568	$18,250	79
7	Montclair State University	NJ	$81,519	$25,000	43
8	University of Vermont	VT	$80,593	$19,500	58
9	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	$80,470	$19,500	57
10	Temple University	PA	$80,364	$25,125	39
11	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$79,820	$11,000	66
12	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$79,510	$22,862	52
13	Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	$78,721	$22,777	56
14	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$78,097	$17,500	39
15	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$77,853	$23,250	158
16	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	PA	$77,336	$25,750	81
17	Western Washington University	WA	$77,048	$20,166	29
18	San Francisco State University	CA	$76,134	$14,986	41
19	Portland State University	OR	$75,765	$22,221	27
20	University of Maryland-Baltimore County	MD	$75,493	$19,500	59
21	Boston College	MA	$75,274	$19,000	45
22	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$73,506	$14,753	222
23	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$72,988	$20,000	189
24	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	GA	$72,940	$24,250	40
25	University of California-San Diego	CA	$72,491	$17,359	132
26	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	NC	$71,136	$22,000	66
27	University of California-Davis	CA	$70,754	$11,000	222
28	Colorado State University-Fort Collins	CO	$70,343	$21,500	63
29	Florida State University	FL	$69,875	$17,625	47
30	University of Denver	CO	$69,725	$23,139	53
31	New York University	NY	$68,690	$20,746	37
32	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	$68,488	$18,487	73
33	California State University-Fullerton	CA	$68,170	$18,240	67
34	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	$67,925	$17,095	272
35	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	$67,783	$19,500	79
36	Rowan University	NJ	$67,702	$19,000	52
37	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$67,681	$25,000	37
38	Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	$67,639	$17,713	49
39	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	$67,621	$24,000	106
40	California State University-Los Angeles	CA	$67,441	$16,156	43
41	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	$67,381	$18,500	97
42	University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	$67,202	$23,250	72
43	California State University-Sacramento	CA	$66,885	$16,500	35
44	University of Arizona	AZ	$66,862	$18,349	62
45	California State University-San Marcos	CA	$65,479	$20,983	35
46	University of Iowa	IA	$65,072	$21,500	31
47	Texas State University	TX	$64,830	$22,365	33
48	Binghamton University	NY	$64,737	$17,779	72
49	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	NE	$64,521	$19,300	75
50	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	WI	$64,492	$22,775	30
51	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	$64,145	$18,642	331
52	Boston University	MA	$64,112	$25,000	151
53	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	PA	$63,707	$26,558	39
54	Michigan State University	MI	$63,419	$22,125	83
55	Brigham Young University	UT	$63,291	$11,625	84
56	University of Nevada-Reno	NV	$63,239	$14,024	39
57	Iowa State University	IA	$63,026	$18,950	37
58	Texas Tech University	TX	$63,013	$22,718	52
59	CUNY City College	NY	$62,440	-	35
60	Duquesne University	PA	$62,319	$27,000	27
61	University of Houston	TX	$61,122	$17,640	88
62	University of Minnesota-Duluth	MN	$61,010	$19,729	42
63	Clemson University	SC	$60,988	$21,750	68
64	Central Connecticut State University	CT	$60,713	$23,750	44
65	University of North Texas	TX	$60,655	$21,719	41
66	Stony Brook University	NY	$60,648	$18,250	126
67	Arizona State University Campus Immersion	AZ	$60,501	$18,750	196
68	Arizona State University Digital Immersion	AZ	$60,501	$18,750	81
69	California State University-Chico	CA	$60,367	$22,000	25
70	University of California-Riverside	CA	$59,549	$16,958	151
71	University of Georgia	GA	$59,534	$20,750	59
72	Grand Valley State University	MI	$59,476	$25,125	45
73	Texas A&M University-College Station	TX	$59,079	$17,500	53
74	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	$58,818	$14,014	290
75	University of Illinois Chicago	IL	$58,268	$14,723	66
76	University of Southern California	CA	$57,246	$3,000	41
77	University of Missouri-Columbia	MO	$56,003	$25,437	57
78	Towson University	MD	$54,367	$19,950	35
79	The University of Texas at Arlington	TX	$53,830	$19,779	27
80	Grinnell College	IA	$53,105	$16,549	48
81	The University of Texas at El Paso	TX	$51,356	$16,877	39
82	The University of Texas at Dallas	TX	$50,432	$20,750	125
83	Baylor University	TX	$49,661	$26,500	69
84	Middle Tennessee State University	TN	$49,543	$15,716	40
85	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	$49,010	$18,716	55
86	University of New Mexico-Main Campus	NM	$48,873	$18,975	61
87	Coastal Carolina University	SC	$46,896	$27,000	25
88	The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	$45,035	$19,250	41
89	Mississippi State University	MS	$44,979	$23,248	100

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Biochemistry (CIP 26.02) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Biochemistry (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (CIP 26.02) bachelor's programs - chemistry (CIP 40.05), biology general (CIP 26.01), and biomedical engineering (CIP 14.05) are ranked on their own pages when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.