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2024 Best General Biology Doctor's Degree Schools

147 Colleges in the United States
1,568 Doctor's Degrees
$63,040 Avg Early-Career Salary
General Biology is of the hottest doctor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #19 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual reviewed 147 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of general biology. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,568 doctor's degrees in general biology during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great General Biology School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best General Biology Doctor's Degree Schools The biology doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for general biology students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank General Biology Schools

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The biology 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 the Best General Biology Doctor's Degree Schools.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study General Biology in the United States

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in general biology. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

23 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Biology

1
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
49 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Harvard University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in general biology. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Cambridge.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Harvard University

2

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in general biology. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Those general biology students who get their doctor's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology earn $34,555 more than the standard biology grad.

More information about a doctorate in general biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
32 Annual Graduates

Stanford University is a good decision for students pursuing a doctor's degree in general biology. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Stanford.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Stanford University

4
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
6 Annual Graduates

University of Pennsylvania is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in general biology. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in general biology from University of Pennsylvania

5
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
6 Annual Graduates

Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Nashville.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Vanderbilt University

6
Dartmouth crest
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
5 Annual Graduates

Dartmouth is a medium-sized private not-for-profit college located in the town of Hanover.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Dartmouth College

7
21 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Columbia University in the City of New York

8
14 Annual Graduates

UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.More information about a doctorate in general biology from University of California - Berkeley

9
8 Annual Graduates

Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Ithaca.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Cornell University

9
5 Annual Graduates

WPI is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Worcester.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute

10
14 Annual Graduates

Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Northwestern University

11
Emory crest
Emory University
Atlanta, GA

Located in the city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the biology program report average early career income of $52,393.

More information about a doctorate in general biology from Emory University

12
7 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in general biology from University of California - Los Angeles

13
5 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in general biology from University of Chicago

14
11 Annual Graduates

USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a doctorate in general biology from University of Southern California

15

Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Baltimore.

Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the biology program make about $60,996 in their early career salary.

More information about a doctorate in general biology from Johns Hopkins University

16
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
4 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Duke University

17
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
18 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in general biology from New York University

18
10 Annual Graduates

UNC Chapel Hill is a fairly large public university located in the city of Chapel Hill.More information about a doctorate in general biology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

19
5 Annual Graduates

Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Boston.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Northeastern University

20
20 Annual Graduates

Tulane is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New Orleans.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Tulane University of Louisiana

21

Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

After graduation, biology doctorate recipients usually earn around $56,441 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a doctorate in general biology from University of Notre Dame

22
Tufts crest
Tufts University
Medford, MA
3 Annual Graduates

Tufts is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Medford.More information about a doctorate in general biology from Tufts University

Rest of the Top Best General Biology Doctor's Degree Schools

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best General Biology Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
26 University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester Worcester, MA
27 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA
28 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
29 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
23 Georgetown University Washington, DC
24 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH
25 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX

General Biology by Region

View the Best General Biology Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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One of 14 majors within the Biological & Biomedical Sciences area of study, General Biology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Biology Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Biology Studies 927
General Biomedical Sciences 641

Majors Similar to Biology

Related Major Annual Graduates
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 909
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 763
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences 742
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 696
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology 592
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 550
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 467
Pharmacology & Toxicology 338
Genetics 305
Botany/Plant Biology 212

Notes and References

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