2024 Best General Biology Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

General Biology is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #31 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 32 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for general biology students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 432 master's degrees in general biology during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

Your choice of general biology for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master'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 Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master'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:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on general biology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of general biology students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt general biology students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized general biology related body.

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 master's degree.

More Ways to Rank General Biology Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best General Biology Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study General Biology in the Plains States Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in general biology.

10 Top Plains States Region Schools for a Master's in Biology

1

Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO

23 Annual Graduates

$53,915 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in general biology needs to check out Washington University in St Louis. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Master's recipients from the general biology major at Washington University in St Louis earn $15,580 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in general biology from Washington University in St Louis

2

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

11 Annual Graduates

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in general biology. Located in the city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in general biology from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

3

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

5 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat University of Iowa if you wish to pursue a master's degree in general biology. Iowa is a very large public university located in the city of Iowa City.More information about a master’s in general biology from University of Iowa

4

Iowa State University
Ames, IA

36 Annual Graduates

$29,045 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat Iowa State University if you want to pursue a master's degree in general biology. Located in the city of Ames, Iowa State is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the biology program report average early career income of $29,045.

More information about a master’s in general biology from Iowa State University

5

South Dakota State University
Brookings, SD

18 Annual Graduates

South Dakota State is a fairly large public university located in the remote town of Brookings.More information about a master’s in general biology from South Dakota State University

6

University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND

5 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Grand Forks, UND is a public university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in general biology from University of North Dakota

7

University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA

4 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in general biology from University of Northern Iowa

8

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, NE

5 Annual Graduates

UNL is a very large public university located in the large city of Lincoln.More information about a master’s in general biology from University of Nebraska - Lincoln

9

University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, MO

4 Annual Graduates

Mizzou is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Columbia.More information about a master’s in general biology from University of Missouri - Columbia

10

University of South Dakota
Vermillion, SD

12 Annual Graduates

Located in the distant town of Vermillion, USD is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in general biology from University of South Dakota

Best General Biology Colleges by State

Explore the best general biology schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	193	176
Minnesota	174	32
Iowa	154	55
Kansas	149	42
Nebraska	123	89
North Dakota	115	8
South Dakota	89	30

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Biology

General Biology is one of 14 different types of Biological & Biomedical Sciences programs to choose from.

Biology Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Biology Studies	265
General Biomedical Sciences	167

Most Popular Majors Related to Biology

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	92
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other)	92
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology	72
Physiology & Pathology Sciences	71
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences	63
Zoology	29
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	25
Pharmacology & Toxicology	22
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology	20
Botany/Plant Biology	13

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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). More about our data sources and methodologies.