2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Biology in the Southwest Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 the Southwest Region” 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 the Southwest region, there were 134 marine biology graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 112 marine biology graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,896 and $23,899 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in marine biology. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great marine biology programs and 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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.

Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for southwest region bachelor’s degree biological oceanography students.

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Biology in the Southwest Region

#1

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Edinburg, Texas

#2 in overall quality

$4,514 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region list. This large school is located in Edinburg, Texas, and it awarded 6 bachelors’s biological oceanography degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Rio Grande Valley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Marine Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is $4,514 for southwest region bachelor’s degree biological oceanography students.

The low student loan default rate of 4.8% 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 UT Rio Grande Valley Marine Biology Report

#2

Texas A&M University - College Station

College Station, Texas

#1 in overall quality

$19,057 Average Net Price

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Texas A&M University - College Station landed the #2 spot on the list. Texas A&M College Station is a large public school situated in College Station, Texas. It awarded 106 bachelors’s biological oceanography degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region bachelor’s degree biological oceanography students list, Texas A&M College Station has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Marine Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Texas A&M College Station is $19,057 for southwest region bachelor’s degree biological oceanography students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national 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.

Read more about Marine Biology at Texas A&M University - College Station

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Biology

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 Ernst Haeckel.

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