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Best Value Biotechnology Schools in California

2023 Best Value Biotechnology Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

11 Colleges
$18,157 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$53,161 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Biotechnology School for You

With 322 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, biotechnology is the #157 most popular major in California.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Biotechnology Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 11 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for biotech students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Top 10 Best Biotechnology Schools

$6,817 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Channel Islands the best value school in California for biotechnology students. Located in the suburb of Camarillo, CSUCI is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

CSUCI undergraduate students pay an average of $6,817 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Biotechnology Schools in California list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSULB are $6,846 per year.

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$6,785 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means California State University - Los Angeles is a great value for biotechnology students. Cal State LA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State LA are $6,785 per year.

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$7,727 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - San Marcos. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Biotechnology Schools in California list. CSUSM is a large public school located in the large suburb of San Marcos.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSUSM are $7,727 a year. The average amount in student loans that biotech majors at CSUSM take out is $18,500.

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$6,653 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at California State University - Fresno helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best biotechnology schools in California. Fresno State is a very large public school located in the large city of Fresno.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Fresno State are $6,653 per year.

Full Biotechnology at California State University - Fresno Report

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$7,439 Average Tuition & Fees

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for biotechnology students. It came in at #6 on the list. Cal Poly Pomona is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Pomona.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal Poly Pomona are $7,439 a year. The average amount in student loans that biotech majors at Cal Poly Pomona take out is $18,492.

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$14,645 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #7, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s best value schools for biotechnology students. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UC Davis undergraduate students pay an average of $14,645 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Biotech majors at UC Davis take out an average of $11,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

UC Davis also claimed a spot on our Best Biotechnology Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

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$13,775 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for biotechnology students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UC Irvine undergraduate students pay an average of $13,775 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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$14,070 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #9, University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well on this year’s best value schools for biotechnology students. UC Santa Cruz is a large public school located in the city of Santa Cruz.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz are $14,070 a year.

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#10

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA
$53,472 Average Tuition & Fees

University of San Francisco ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Biotechnology Schools in California list. USFCA is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Francisco.

USFCA undergraduate students pay an average of $53,472 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

USFCA also claimed a spot on our Best Biotechnology Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

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Best Value Biotechnology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Biotechnology Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 0
Oregon 16
Nevada 27
Hawaii 14

One of 14 majors within the area of study, biotechnology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
General Biology 107,165
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 14,535
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 11,615
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 8,813
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 7,247

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 11 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Henk Caspers/Naturalis Biodiversity Center.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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