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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Biology (Income $0-$30k) in California

5 Ranked Colleges
192 Degrees Awarded
$11,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $0-$30k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Marine Biology is the 288th most popular major in the country with 1,914 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 241 marine biology graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 192 marine biology graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer a degree in marine biology. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent marine biology programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the marine biology program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Marine Biology Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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 Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Biology (Income $0-$30k) in California

#1

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the #1 spot on the list. University of California - Los Angeles is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 23 bachelors’s biological oceanography degrees to qualified students.

UCLA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Marine Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Los Angeles is $8,553 for California Bachelor’s Degree Biological Oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Marine Biology at University of California - Los Angeles

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Long Beach, California, this large public school awarded 31 degrees to qualified bachelors’s biological oceanography students in 2019-2020.

CSULB did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Marine Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend California State University - Long Beach is $6,364 for california bachelor’s degree biological oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full California State University - Long Beach Marine Biology Report

#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in La Jolla, California, this large public school handed out 76 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s biological oceanography students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree biological oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k list, UCSD has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Marine Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UCSD is $9,280 for California Bachelor’s Degree Biological Oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full UCSD Marine Biology Report

#4

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Santa Cruz. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. Santa Cruz, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s biological oceanography degrees to 61 students in 2019-2020.

UC Santa Cruz also made our “Best Marine Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for UC Santa Cruz is $10,872 for california bachelor’s degree biological oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The low student loan default rate of 2.9% 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%.

Read more about Marine Biology at University of California - Santa Cruz

#5

University of San Diego

San Diego, California
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of San Diego landed the #5 spot on the list. USD is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in San Diego, California. It awarded 1 bachelors’s biological oceanography degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree biological oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k list, USD has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Marine Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of San Diego is $22,263 for california bachelor’s degree biological oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full USD Marine Biology Report

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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.

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