by our College Data Analytics TeamThe main focus area for this major is Biology Studies. For more details on this concentration, visit its profile page.
General Biology is a major offered under the biological and biomedical sciences program of study at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Here, you’ll find out more about the major bachelor’s degree program in biology, including such details as the number of graduates, diversity of students, and more.
If there’s something special you’re looking for, you can use one of the links below to find it:
In order to help students and their parents find the best school for them, we have created several different types of college rankings, which are updated yearly. RPI was ranked #122 on College Factual's most recent list of the best schools for biology majors. This puts the bachelor's program at the school solidly in the top 15% of all colleges and universities in the country. It is also ranked #8 in New York.
Here are some of the other rankings for RPI.
In 2019-2020, the average part-time undergraduate tuition at RPI was $2,320 per credit hour for both in-state and out-of-state students. Information about average full-time undergraduate tuition and fees is shown in the table below.
| In State | Out of State | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $55,600 | $55,600 |
| Fees | $1,412 | $1,412 |
| Books and Supplies | $1,250 | $1,250 |
| On Campus Room and Board | $15,954 | $15,954 |
| On Campus Other Expenses | $1,608 | $1,608 |
Learn more about RPI tuition and fees.
You may also want to consider how much in student loans you’ll need when thinking about the overall cost to attend a school. Students who received their bachelor’s degree at RPI in Biology walked away with an average of $27,000 in student debt. That is 16% higher than the national average of $23,366.
The median early career salary of biology students who receive their bachelor’s degree from RPI is $28,792 per year. That is 4% higher than the national average of $27,753.
RPI does not offer an online option for its biology bachelor’s degree program at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the RPI Online Learning page.
About 70.0% of the students who received their BS in biology in 2019-2020 were women. This is higher than the nationwide number of 66.0%.
Of those graduates who received a bachelor’s degree in biology at RPI in 2019-2020, 25.0% were racial-ethnic minorities*. This is lower than the nationwide number of 43%.
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| Asian | 1 |
| Black or African American | 2 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 1 |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 0 |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0 |
| White | 14 |
| International Students | 0 |
| Other Races/Ethnicities | 2 |
General Biology students may decide to major in one of the following focus areas.
| Focus Area | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Biology Studies | 20 |
You may also be interested in one of these majors related to general biology.
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology | 18 |
| Biomathematics & Bioinformatics | 7 |
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
