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2023 Best General Biology Schools

360 Colleges
$28,334 Avg Salary
$23,818 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best General Biology School for You

In 2020-2021, 8,920 people earned a degree or certificate in general biology, making the major the #33 most popular in the United States.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.

The Best General Biology Schools ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 360 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 Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be the best school for general biology students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full General Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Report

The excellent programs at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best general biology schools in the United States. TTUHSC is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Lubbock.

Full General Biology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Report

#3

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Out of the 360 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full General Biology at Stanford University Report

#4

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Harvard University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge.

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#5

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Full General Biology at University of Pennsylvania Report

#6

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general biology students. It came in at #6 on the list. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Hanover.

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general biology programs. Located in the city of Troy, RPI is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on General Biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

University of California - Berkeley came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best General Biology Schools ranking. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

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#9

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University ranked #9 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full General Biology at Brown University Report

Worcester Polytechnic Institute came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best General Biology Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Worcester, WPI is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

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#11

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

With a ranking of #11, Boston College did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Located in the city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#12

San Jose State University

San Jose, CA

San Jose State University ranked #12 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the large city of San Jose.

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University of Wisconsin - La Crosse landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general biology programs. Located in the small city of La Crosse, UW - La Crosse is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on General Biology at University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

#14

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

With a ranking of #14, Cornell University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Ithaca.

Read full report on General Biology at Cornell University

Southern Methodist University landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general biology programs. SMU is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Dallas.

Full General Biology at Southern Methodist University Report

#16

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

With a ranking of #16, Johns Hopkins University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Read full report on General Biology at Johns Hopkins University

#17

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

With a ranking of #17, University of Northern Iowa did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Located in the small city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Full General Biology at University of Northern Iowa Report

#18

Hood College

Frederick, MD

Hood College ranked #18 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. Located in the small city of Frederick, Hood is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on General Biology at Hood College

Minnesota State University - Mankato came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best General Biology Schools ranking. Minnesota State Mankato is a large public school located in the small city of Mankato.

Full General Biology at Minnesota State University - Mankato Report

#20

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

University of San Francisco came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best General Biology Schools ranking. Located in the city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on General Biology at University of San Francisco

#21

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA

George Mason University landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general biology programs. Located in the large suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public school with a very large student population.

Full General Biology at George Mason University Report

With a ranking of #22, Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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The University of Texas at Austin came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best General Biology Schools ranking. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the large city of Austin.

Read full report on General Biology at The University of Texas at Austin

Dominican University of California ranked #24 on this year’s Best General Biology Schools list. Located in the small city of San Rafael, DUofC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on General Biology at Dominican University of California

With a ranking of #25, University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester did quite well on this year’s best schools for general biology students. Located in the midsize city of Worcester, UMass Medical School is a public college with a small student population.

Full General Biology at University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester Report

Rest of the Top Best General Biology Schools

#28

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA
#29

University of Rochester

Rochester, NY
#32

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA
#33

Salisbury University

Salisbury, MD
#34

American University

Washington, DC
#36

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC
#40

Saint Cloud State University

Saint Cloud, MN
#41

William & Mary

Williamsburg, VA
#44

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN
#47

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA
#49

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA
#50

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Additional Award Winners

This list represents the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best General Biology Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 360 different United States general biology schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA
52 Fort Hays State University Hays, KS
53 University of Nebraska at Kearney Kearney, NE
54 James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for General Biology students that almost earned our Best General Biology Schools award.

Rank College Location
55 California State University - East Bay Hayward, CA
56 Arizona State University - Tempe Tempe, AZ
57 University of Missouri - St Louis Saint Louis, MO
58 Temple University Philadelphia, PA
59 South Dakota State University Brookings, SD
60 The College at Brockport Brockport, NY
61 Tufts University Medford, MA
62 University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO
63 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
64 East Carolina University Greenville, NC
65 Northeastern University Boston, MA
66 University of Chicago Chicago, IL
67 Boston University Boston, MA
68 John Carroll University University Heights, OH
69 Northwestern University Evanston, IL
70 Georgian Court University Lakewood, NJ
71 New York University New York, NY
72 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI

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

General Biology is one of 14 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 3,221
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 2,488
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 2,290
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 1,964
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other) 1,922

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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