2023 Best General Biology Schools
Finding the Best General Biology School for You
In 2020-2021, 107,165 general biology students received their degrees and certificates, making the major the #5 most popular in the country.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
The Best General Biology Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 880 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best General Biology Schools in the United States
Check out the biology programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools in General Biology
Our analysis found Bowdoin College to be the best school for general biology students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Bowdoin is a small private not-for-profit school located in the fringe town of Brunswick.
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The excellent programs at Williams College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best general biology schools in the United States. Located in the fringe town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
While working on their degree, biology majors at Williams accumulate an average of around $13,500 in student debt.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. Located in the city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Virginia Military Institute. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. Located in the town of Lexington, VMI is a public school with a small student population.
While working on their degree, biology majors at VMI accumulate an average of around $23,000 in student debt.
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Out of the 880 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center landed the # 5 spot on the list. TTUHSC is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of Lubbock.
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With a ranking of #6, Haverford College did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Haverford is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Haverford.
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With a ranking of #7, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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Dartmouth College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general biology students. It came in at #8 on the list. Dartmouth is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Hanover.
The average amount in student loans that biology majors at Dartmouth take out is $13,500.
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With a ranking of #9, Bucknell University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Located in the distant town of Lewisburg, Bucknell is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
On average, biology graduates from Bucknell take out $26,899 in student loans while working on their degree.
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With a ranking of #10, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
While working on their degree, biology majors at UPenn accumulate an average of around $15,000 in student debt.
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Lehigh University ranked #11 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. Lehigh is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Bethlehem.
While working on their degree, biology majors at Lehigh accumulate an average of around $26,266 in student debt.
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Harvard University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general biology programs. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.
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Lafayette College came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best General Biology Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
On average, biology graduates from Lafayette take out $19,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Bates College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general biology students. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the city of Lewiston, Bates is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Biology majors at Bates take out an average of $15,945 in student loans while working on their egree.
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With a ranking of #15, Brown University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Located in the city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
The average amount in student loans that biology majors at Brown take out is $15,500. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $507, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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College of the Holy Cross came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best General Biology Schools ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Biology majors at Holy Cross take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Swarthmore College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general biology students. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the suburb of Swarthmore, Swarthmore is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that biology majors at Swarthmore take out is $11,750.
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Boston College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general biology students. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
On average, biology graduates from Boston College take out $18,000 in student loans while working on their degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $752.
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ranked #19 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. Located in the small city of Troy, RPI is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Biology majors at RPI take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Santa Clara University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general biology students. It came in at #20 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
While working on their degree, biology majors at SCU accumulate an average of around $21,434 in student debt.
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Colgate University landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general biology programs. Colgate is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hamilton.
Biology majors at Colgate take out an average of $15,741 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Randolph - Macon College came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best General Biology Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Ashland, Randolph - Macon is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that biology majors at Randolph - Macon take out is $24,980. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $377.
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With a ranking of #23, University of California - Berkeley did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
While working on their degree, biology majors at UC Berkeley accumulate an average of around $15,000 in student debt. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $301.
Full General Biology at University of California - Berkeley Report
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With a ranking of #24, Worcester Polytechnic Institute did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Located in the medium-sized city of Worcester, WPI is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Biology majors at WPI take out an average of $26,936 in student loans while working on their egree.
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With a ranking of #25, Macalester College did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Macalester is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Saint Paul.
After completing their degree, biology graduates from Macalester carry an average student debtload of $24,183.
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Additional Award Winners
This section represents the rest of the colleges awarded a Best General Biology Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 880 different United States general biology schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for General Biology students that almost earned our Best General Biology Schools award.
General Biology by Region
View the Best General Biology Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More General Biology Rankings
General Biology Related Rankings by Major
General Biology is one of 14 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology | 14,535 |
| Neurobiology & Neurosciences | 11,615 |
| Physiology & Pathology Sciences | 8,813 |
| Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology | 7,247 |
| Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences | 6,206 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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