When it comes to popularity, biotechnology sits in the middle of the road, ranking #174 out of 395 majors in the country. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 7 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for biotechnology students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 322 degrees in biotechnology during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Your choice of biotechnology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Biotechnology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Biotechnology Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
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.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the biotech degrees they offer, see the list below.
It is hard to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a degree in biotechnology. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 18 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.
It is difficult to beat University of California - Davis if you wish to pursue a degree in biotechnology. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #52 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.
There were approximately 50 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, biotech degree recipients typically make about $43,600 in their early careers.
California State University - Channel Islands is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in biotechnology. Located in the suburb of Camarillo, CSUCI is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 104th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 27 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at CSUCI in the most recent data year. Those biotechnology students who get their degree from California State University - Channel Islands receive $24,018 more than the average biotech graduate.
Any student pursuing a degree in biotechnology needs to take a look at University of San Francisco. USFCA is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #164 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USFCA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 39 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at USFCA in the most recent data year. Biotechnology degree recipients from University of San Francisco receive an earnings boost of approximately $20,503 over the typical earnings of biotechnology majors.
CSUSM is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of San Marcos. This university ranks 75th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 59 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at CSUSM in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the biotechnology degree program at California State University - San Marcos make $2,278 more than the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Cal Poly Pomona is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Pomona. This university ranks 65th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 60 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the biotech program make about $32,995 in their early career salary.
UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.
There were approximately 31 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year.
Fresno State is a very large public university located in the city of Fresno. This university ranks 74th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 5 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at Fresno State in the most recent data year.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
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Your choice of biotechnology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Biotechnology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
