2025 Best Molecular Biology Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Molecular Biology is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #130 most popular doctor's degree program in the country. 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 2 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for molecular biology students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 38 doctor's degrees in molecular biology to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to molecular biology students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of molecular biology students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized molecular biology related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Molecular Biology Doctor's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Molecular Biology in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in molecular biology.

Top California Schools for a Doctorate in Molecular Biology

1

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

24 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in molecular biology needs to take a look at University of California - Los Angeles. UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a doctorate in molecular biology from University of California - Los Angeles

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

14 Annual Graduates

University of Southern California is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in molecular biology. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in molecular biology from University of Southern California

Best Molecular Biology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Molecular Biology Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded

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Rankings in Majors Related to Molecular Biology

One of 9 majors within the Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology area of study, Molecular Biology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Molecular Biology

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Biophysics	36
Other Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	31
Molecular Biochemistry	23
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	23
Biochemistry	11
Structural Biology	2

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.