2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Biotechnology in California

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Biotech Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Biotechnology is the 242nd most popular major in the country with 3,585 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 246 biotechnology graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 127 biotechnology graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Biotech Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in biotechnology. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality biotechnology programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the biotechnology program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Biotechnology Schools

The biotech school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Biotech Schools for a Bachelor’s in California”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Biotech Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Biotech Schools for a Bachelor’s in California.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Biotechnology in California

#1

California State University - San Marcos

San Marcos, California

#3 in overall quality

$13,399 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - San Marcos. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Biotech Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. San Marcos, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s biotech degrees to 30 students in 2019-2020.

CSUSM did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Biotechnology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - San Marcos is $13,399 for california bachelor’s degree biotech students.

The low student loan default rate of 4.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full CSUSM Biotechnology Report

#2

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

Pomona, California

#2 in overall quality

$12,734 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State Polytechnic University - Pomona. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Biotech Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. California State Polytechnic University - Pomona is a large school located in Pomona, California that handed out 41 bachelors’s biotech degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cal Poly Pomona, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Biotechnology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Cal Poly Pomona is $12,734 for California Bachelor’s Degree Biotech students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Biotechnology at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

#3

University of California - Davis

Davis, California

#1 in overall quality

$14,669 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Biotech Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Davis landed the #3 spot on the list. UC Davis is a public institution located in Davis, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 56 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree biotech students list, UC Davis has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Biotechnology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UC Davis is $14,669 for California Bachelor’s Degree Biotech students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full UC Davis Biotechnology Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Biotechnology in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Biotechnology

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Henk Caspers/Naturalis Biodiversity Center.

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