A degree in geological & earth sciences is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #95 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 152 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for geological & earth sciences students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 8,124 degrees in geological & earth sciences to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Geological & Earth Sciences School
Your choice of geological & earth sciences school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Geological & Earth Sciences School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Geological & Earth Sciences Degree Level
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Schools for Geological & Earth Sciences in the United States
The schools below may not offer all types of geology degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Every student who is interested in geological & earth sciences has to look into Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.
There were approximately 35 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent data year.
University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in geological & earth sciences. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were roughly 32 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available.
Gain the analytical, technical and science communications skills you need to begin your career with this specialized online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Lehigh University is a wonderful option for students pursuing a degree in geological & earth sciences. Lehigh is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Bethlehem. This university ranks 4th out of 103 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were about 15 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at Lehigh in the most recent data year.
Texas A&M University - College Station is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in geological & earth sciences. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of College Station. A Best Colleges rank of #42 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Texas A&M College Station is a great university overall.
There were approximately 138 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at Texas A&M College Station in the most recent data year. Geological & Earth Sciences degree recipients from Texas A&M University - College Station get an earnings boost of about $7,485 above the average earnings of geological & earth sciences graduates.
UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the city of Seattle. A Best Colleges rank of #44 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW Seattle is a great university overall.
There were approximately 129 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the geology program make an average of $29,724 in their early career salary.
Pitt is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Pittsburgh. This university ranks 6th out of 103 colleges for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were approximately 91 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at Pitt in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the geology program report average early career wages of $38,652.
UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were roughly 49 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the geology program make an average of $43,068 in their early career salary.
UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Santa Barbara. This university ranks 7th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 59 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the geology program make around $30,759 in their early career salary.
Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were roughly 80 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Those geological & earth sciences students who get their degree from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor receive $2,778 more than the average geology student.
University of Arizona is a very large public university located in the city of Tucson. This university ranks 3rd out of 26 colleges for overall quality in the state of Arizona.
There were about 93 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at University of Arizona in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the geology program report average early career income of $39,886.
Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were roughly 56 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the geology program make an average of $34,658 in the first couple years of their career.
UT Austin is a very large public university located in the city of Austin. A Best Colleges rank of #46 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UT Austin is a great university overall.
There were about 79 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the geology program make around $42,062 for their early career.
Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 8th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 87 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the geological & earth sciences major at University of California - San Diego get $36,449 above the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Boston U is a great university overall.
There were approximately 5 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at Boston U in the most recent data year.
UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 47 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available.
UC Davis is a fairly large public university located in the small suburb of Davis. This university ranks 10th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 31 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the geology program earn an average of $43,462 in the first couple years of working.
UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Minneapolis. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.
There were about 48 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the geology program state that they receive average early career income of $44,825.
Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 12th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 62 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the geology program earn about $38,804 for their early career.
Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 13th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 53 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year. After graduating, geology degree recipients typically earn about $43,362 in the first five years of their career.
University of Oklahoma is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Norman. This university ranks 1st out of 31 colleges for overall quality in the state of Oklahoma.
There were roughly 36 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at University of Oklahoma in the most recent year we have data available. Geological & Earth Sciences degree recipients from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus get an earnings boost of approximately $43,301 over the average earnings of geological & earth sciences majors.
Located in the medium-sized city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 11 colleges for overall quality in the state of Utah.
There were roughly 51 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at U of U in the most recent data year. Those geological & earth sciences students who get their degree from University of Utah receive $6,250 more than the average geology grad.
Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were about 19 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 91 schools for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were approximately 48 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, geology degree recipients typically make about $41,156 in their early careers.
Located in the town of Laramie, UW is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 7 colleges for overall quality in the state of Wyoming.
There were about 48 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UW in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the geological & earth sciences program at University of Wyoming get $2,562 more than the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the fringe town of Durham, UNH is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 17 colleges for overall quality in the state of New Hampshire.
There were approximately 24 geological & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UNH in the most recent data year.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools award.
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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Kelvinsong.
Your choice of geological & earth sciences school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Geological & Earth Sciences School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
