2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Biology 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 Biological Oceanography Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

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 doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 12 marine biology graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered 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.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the marine biology program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Marine Biology Schools

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 Doctorate in California” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important 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 Biological Oceanography Schools for a Doctorate in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Doctorate in California.

Top 3 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Biology in California

#1

University of California - San Diego

La Jolla, California

#2 in overall quality

$28,631 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - San Diego. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Doctorate in California. Located in La Jolla, California, this large public school handed out 5 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s biological oceanography students in 2019-2020.

UCSD did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Marine Biology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - San Diego are $28,631, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Marine Biology at University of California - San Diego

#2

University of California - Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

#1 in overall quality

$28,670 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Santa Barbara. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Doctorate in California list. Santa Barbara, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s biological oceanography degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

UCSB also took the #1 spot in our “Best Marine Biology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UCSB are $28,670.

Full UCSB Marine Biology Report

#3

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$48,715 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Southern California. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Biological Oceanography Schools for a Doctorate in California list. University of Southern California is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 doctorate’s biological oceanography degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at USC, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Marine Biology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at USC are $48,715, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full USC Marine Biology Report

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Biology in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Doctor’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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