Program ranking · CIP 26.01 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Biology

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Biology (CIP 26.01) 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

$93,757
Highest biology earnings: 100
Colleges ranked: $68,306
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $68,306 median earnings for Biology bachelor's (CIP 26.01) completers. Providence College leads at $93,757.

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

$93,757
#1 - Providence College: $68,306
#100 - the cutoff to make this list: 25+
completers required per school: 1,374
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.

Providence College

$93,757
Seton Hall University

$93,200
College of the Holy Cross

$92,914
University of Detroit Me…

$91,888
Yeshiva University

$90,456
Marquette University

$88,921
Union College

$87,208
Dartmouth College

$87,026
Bucknell University

$85,687
Assumption University

$83,706
Boston College

$83,614
Muhlenberg College

$83,215
Duke University

$83,192
Auburn University

$83,053
University of the Pacific

$83,012

What this shows General biology medians often reflect graduate-school and research pipelines more than clinic roles - debt still matters when medians sit below clinical health fields.

The full top 100

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
1	Providence College	RI	$93,757	$27,000	91
2	Seton Hall University	NJ	$93,200	$20,276	163
3	College of the Holy Cross	MA	$92,914	$27,000	50
4	University of Detroit Mercy	MI	$91,888	$20,500	121
5	Yeshiva University	NY	$90,456	$20,500	75
6	Marquette University	WI	$88,921	$24,524	253
7	Union College	NY	$87,208	$21,500	46
8	Dartmouth College	NH	$87,026	$17,030	55
9	Bucknell University	PA	$85,687	$25,836	64
10	Assumption University	MA	$83,706	$27,000	25
11	Boston College	MA	$83,614	$19,000	182
12	Muhlenberg College	PA	$83,215	$24,388	31
13	Duke University	NC	$83,192	$12,500	160
14	Auburn University	AL	$83,053	$23,250	315
15	University of the Pacific	CA	$83,012	$21,500	138
16	Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia	PA	$82,769	$25,919	118
17	Lafayette College	PA	$82,109	$17,000	48
18	Marist University	NY	$81,936	$25,494	54
19	Stonehill College	MA	$81,361	$27,000	38
20	University of Rhode Island	RI	$80,379	$22,250	193
21	Loyola Marymount University	CA	$80,317	$23,250	57
22	New York Institute of Technology	NY	$80,208	$19,500	126
23	Merrimack College	MA	$79,581	$27,000	43
24	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$79,163	$13,000	177
25	Southern Methodist University	TX	$78,466	$20,500	89
26	Northeastern University	MA	$78,327	$24,802	125
27	Loyola University Maryland	MD	$77,861	$27,000	40
28	Clarkson University	NY	$77,791	$26,240	43
29	Le Moyne College	NY	$77,609	$25,197	81
30	Georgetown University	DC	$77,132	$17,380	71
31	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus	NH	$77,076	$26,250	174
32	Tufts University	MA	$76,782	$16,250	138
33	University of Massachusetts-Lowell	MA	$76,149	$22,750	117
34	DeSales University	PA	$76,125	$25,000	40
35	Adelphi University	NY	$75,921	$25,000	89
36	Dominican University of California	CA	$75,913	$27,000	44
37	Westmont College	CA	$75,889	$23,250	34
38	Touro University	NY	$75,886	$17,250	146
39	Lehigh University	PA	$75,611	$23,128	41
40	The College of New Jersey	NJ	$75,531	$19,500	118
41	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	MA	$75,018	$26,950	47
42	Felician University	NJ	$74,746	$26,250	33
43	University of Delaware	DE	$74,535	$24,235	196
44	San Francisco State University	CA	$74,204	$15,000	362
45	California State University-East Bay	CA	$74,010	$18,272	185
46	Villanova University	PA	$73,933	$27,000	71
47	La Salle University	PA	$73,920	$25,625	25
48	Widener University	PA	$73,535	$26,000	31
49	Siena University	NY	$73,491	$27,000	57
50	Arcadia University	PA	$73,377	$27,000	60
51	Fordham University	NY	$73,136	$26,000	96
52	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$72,726	$24,250	317
53	Sacred Heart University	CT	$72,404	$23,250	69
54	Drexel University	PA	$72,197	$27,000	167
55	Temple University	PA	$72,134	$25,065	254
56	Miami University-Oxford	OH	$72,037	$25,000	167
57	University of Saint Francis-Fort Wayne	IN	$72,008	$27,000	25
58	SUNY Oneonta	NY	$71,874	$19,813	106
59	California State University-Chico	CA	$71,726	$17,600	87
60	Roger Williams University	RI	$71,652	$27,000	37
61	University of St Thomas	MN	$71,619	$25,735	78
62	Virginia Military Institute	VA	$71,547	$21,250	31
63	Farmingdale State College	NY	$71,533	$14,500	62
64	University of Pikeville	KY	$71,225	$20,191	35
65	Northwestern University	IL	$71,181	$14,684	150
66	University of Connecticut	CT	$71,160	$23,250	186
67	William Paterson University of New Jersey	NJ	$71,026	$23,329	62
68	University of Southern Indiana	IN	$71,019	$21,911	34
69	Emory University	GA	$70,959	$19,500	203
70	Duquesne University	PA	$70,958	$27,000	109
71	University of New Haven	CT	$70,843	$27,000	34
72	California State University-San Marcos	CA	$70,789	$23,750	196
73	Quinnipiac University	CT	$70,632	$27,000	75
74	Northern State University	SD	$70,545	$21,862	26
75	George Washington University	DC	$70,444	$23,871	76
76	Rockhurst University	MO	$70,354	$27,000	39
77	University of New England	ME	$70,283	$27,000	78
78	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	$70,240	$19,063	337
79	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$69,854	$23,000	160
80	Ouachita Baptist University	AR	$69,747	$24,322	32
81	University of Maryland-Baltimore County	MD	$69,724	$18,500	346
82	University of Richmond	VA	$69,564	$19,597	56
83	University of San Francisco	CA	$69,440	$23,125	104
84	St Lawrence University	NY	$69,386	$27,000	40
85	Emmanuel College	MA	$69,269	$27,000	56
86	CUNY York College	NY	$69,149	-	43
87	Cornell University	NY	$69,083	$15,500	290
88	John Carroll University	OH	$69,024	$27,000	62
89	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$69,005	$20,500	389
90	Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	$68,904	$20,750	98
91	Rochester Institute of Technology	NY	$68,862	$23,401	82
92	San Diego State University	CA	$68,861	$18,010	285
93	Augustana College	IL	$68,648	$27,000	78
94	Worcester State University	MA	$68,459	$21,043	68
95	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$68,435	$15,000	158
96	Gettysburg College	PA	$68,383	$25,257	42
97	Washington University in St Louis	MO	$68,359	$13,500	87
98	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$68,306	$23,000	394
99	Rutgers University-Newark	NJ	$68,306	$23,000	249
100	Rutgers University-Camden	NJ	$68,306	$23,000	62

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Biology (CIP 26.01) 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 Biology (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 Biology, General (CIP 26.01) bachelor's programs - biochemistry (CIP 26.02), neuroscience (CIP 26.15), and zoology (CIP 26.07) are ranked separately.

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.