by our College Data Analytics TeamThe main focus area for this major is Biology Studies. For more details on this concentration, visit its profile page.
General Biology is a major offered under the biological and biomedical sciences program of study at University of Wisconsin - Madison. We’ve pulled together some essential information you should know about the bachelor’s degree program in biology, including how many students graduate each year, the ethnic diversity of these students, whether or not the degree is offered online, and more.
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If you're having trouble deciding which school is best for you, you may want to check out our many college rankings. In College Factual's most recent rankings for the best schools for biology majors, UW - Madison came in at #36. This puts it in the top 5% of the country in this field of study. It is also ranked #2 in Wisconsin.
Here are some of the other rankings for UW - Madison.
In 2019-2020, the average part-time undergraduate tuition at UW - Madison was $1,548 per credit hour for out-of-state students. The average for in-state students was $386 per credit hour. Information about average full-time undergraduate tuition and fees is shown in the table below.
| In State | Out of State | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $9,273 | $37,161 |
| Fees | $1,469 | $1,469 |
| Books and Supplies | $1,150 | $1,150 |
| On Campus Room and Board | $12,200 | $12,200 |
| On Campus Other Expenses | $3,066 | $3,066 |
Learn more about UW - Madison tuition and fees.
One way to think about how much a school will cost is to look at how much in student loans that you have to take out to get your degree. Students who received their bachelor’s degree at UW - Madison in Biology walked away with an average of $23,250 in student debt. That is about the same as the national average of $23,366.
The median early career salary of biology students who receive their bachelor’s degree from UW - Madison is $31,205 per year. That is 12% higher than the national average of $27,753.
Online degrees for the UW - Madison biology bachelor’s degree program are not available at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the UW - Madison Online Learning page.
Women made up around 62.2% of the biology students who took home a bachelor’s degree in 2019-2020. This is less than the nationwide number of 66.0%.
Around 19.9% of biology bachelor’s degree recipients at UW - Madison in 2019-2020 were awarded to racial-ethnic minorities*. This is lower than the nationwide number of 43%.
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| Asian | 35 |
| Black or African American | 10 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 18 |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 0 |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 1 |
| White | 267 |
| International Students | 17 |
| Other Races/Ethnicities | 28 |
General Biology students may decide to major in one of the following focus areas.
| Focus Area | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Biology Studies | 376 |
You may also be interested in one of these majors related to general biology.
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology | 214 |
| Botany/Plant Biology | 14 |
| Microbiological Sciences & Immunology | 76 |
| Zoology | 68 |
| Genetics | 84 |
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
