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Best Value General Biology Schools in California

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2023 Best Value General Biology Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

29 Colleges
$12,381 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$30,117 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Biology School for You

In 2020-2021, 784 degrees and certificates were awarded to general biology students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #33 most popular major in the state.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value General Biology Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 29 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for biology students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

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

2023 Best Value General Biology Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value General Biology Colleges.

Top 10 Best General Biology Schools

$7,852 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named San Jose State University the best value school in California for general biology students. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $7,852 per year.

San Jose State also claimed a spot on our Best General Biology Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full General Biology at San Jose State University Report

#2

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA
$7,304 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 29 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Francisco State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. SFSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Francisco.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SFSU are $7,304 per year.

Read More…

$6,995 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - East Bay. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value General Biology Schools in California list. Cal State East Bay is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Hayward.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal State East Bay are $6,995 a year.

Read full report on General Biology at California State University - East Bay

#4

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA
$8,136 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 29 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Diego State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Diego.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SDSU are $8,136 a year.

Read full report on General Biology at San Diego State University

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value General Biology Schools in California list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.

UC Berkeley undergraduate students pay an average of $14,226 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UC Berkeley also made our Best General Biology Schools in California list, coming in at #3.

Full General Biology at University of California - Berkeley Report

$6,653 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Fresno landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value general biology programs. Fresno State is a very large public school located in the city of Fresno.

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

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$6,785 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Los Angeles came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Biology Schools in California ranking. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal State LA are $6,785 a year.

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$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Chico did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for general biology students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Chico, Chico State is a public college with a large student population.

Chico State undergraduate students pay an average of $7,864 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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$7,727 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #9, California State University - San Marcos did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general biology students. CSUSM is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of San Marcos.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSUSM are $7,727 per year.

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$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Long Beach came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Biology Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSULB are $6,846 a year.

Read full report on General Biology at California State University - Long Beach

Best Value General Biology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 96
Oregon 56
Nevada 18
Hawaii 5
Alaska 18

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

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.

  • 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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