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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology in the Southwest Region

10 Ranked Colleges
294 Degrees Awarded
$14,000 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor's in the Southwest Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology is the 103rd most popular major in the country with 7,312 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, ecology, evolution and systematics biology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $32,807 and had an average of $31,265 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Southwest region, there were 587 ecology, evolution and systematics biology graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,350 and $27,358 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 294 ecology, evolution and systematics biology graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,896 and $23,899 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region” ranking looked at 10 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in ecology, evolution and systematics biology. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great ecology, evolution and systematics biology programs and 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 ecology, evolution and systematics biology program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The ecology 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 Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region”.

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

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

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region.

Top 10 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology in the Southwest Region

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region. Edinburg, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s ecology degrees to 6 students in 2019-2020.

UT Rio Grande Valley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. It costs about $4,514 for Southwest Region Bachelor’s Degree Ecology students per year to attend UT Rio Grande Valley.

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%.

Read more about Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of North Texas. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region. This large school is located in Denton, Texas, and it awarded 42 bachelors’s ecology degrees in 2019-2020.

UNT also made our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $15,086 for Southwest Region Bachelor’s Degree Ecology students per year to attend University of North Texas.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Read more about Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology at UNT

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Oklahoma State University - Main Campus landed the #3 spot on the list. OSU is located in Stillwater, Oklahoma and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 59 bachelors’s ecology degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at OSU, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $14,648 for southwest region bachelor’s degree ecology students per year to attend OSU.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Oklahoma State University - Main Campus Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Report

#4

Northern Arizona University

Flagstaff, Arizona
#8 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Arizona University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region list. Flagstaff, Arizona is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s ecology degrees to 10 students in 2019-2020.

NAU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The yearly cost to attend NAU is $12,915 for southwest region bachelor’s degree ecology students.

Full Northern Arizona University Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Report

#5

Texas State University

San Marcos, Texas
#7 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Texas State University landed the #5 spot on the list. This large school is located in San Marcos, Texas, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s ecology degrees in 2019-2020.

Texas State also made our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #7. It costs about $15,230 for southwest region bachelor’s degree ecology students per year to attend Texas State University.

Full Texas State University Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Report

#9 in overall quality

New Mexico State University - Main Campus came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region ranking. New Mexico State University - Main Campus is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 bachelors’s ecology degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our southwest region bachelor’s degree ecology students list, NMSU Main Campus has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for New Mexico State University - Main Campus is $8,659 for southwest region bachelor’s degree ecology students.

Read full report on Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology at New Mexico State University - Main Campus

#7

Southern Nazarene University

Bethany, Oklahoma
#10 in overall quality

Southern Nazarene University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region ranking. Southern Nazarene University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Bethany, Oklahoma. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SNU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #10 on our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Southern Nazarene University is $18,147 for Southwest Region Bachelor’s Degree Ecology students.

Read more about Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology at SNU

Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region ranking, coming in at #8. This large school is located in College Station, Texas, and it awarded 118 bachelors’s ecology degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Texas A&M College Station, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $19,057 for southwest region bachelor’s degree ecology students per year to attend Texas A&M College Station.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. 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%.

Read full report on Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology at Texas A&M University - College Station

#9

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

University of Arizona landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region ranking. University of Arizona is located in Tucson, Arizona and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 16 bachelors’s ecology degrees to qualified students.

University of Arizona also took the #6 spot in our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Arizona is $15,016 for Southwest Region Bachelor’s Degree Ecology students.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full University of Arizona Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Report

#10

Rice University

Houston, Texas

Rice University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Ecology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region list. Rice University is a medium-sized school located in Houston, Texas that handed out 22 bachelors’s ecology degrees in 2019-2020.

Rice did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Rice University is $16,999 for Southwest Region Bachelor’s Degree Ecology students.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology at Rice

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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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