2025 Best Biotechnology Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

If you plan on getting your master's degree in biotechnology, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #89 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 2 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of biotechnology. Combined, these schools handed out 108 master's degrees in biotechnology to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

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

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on biotechnology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other biotechnology students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• 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.
• Student Debt - How much debt biotechnology 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 biotechnology related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for biotechnology students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Biotechnology in Illinois

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for biotechnology students seeking a a master's degree.

Top Illinois Schools for a Master's in Biotech

1

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

42 Annual Graduates

$75,972 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a master's degree in biotechnology. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the biotech program report average early career income of $75,972.

More information about a master’s in biotechnology from Northwestern University

2

University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL

26 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat University of Illinois at Chicago if you want to pursue a master's degree in biotechnology. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in biotechnology from University of Illinois at Chicago

Best Biotechnology Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Biotechnology Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	211	2
Indiana	191	3
Wisconsin	173	26

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Biotech

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

Biotech Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Biotechnology	108

Majors Similar to Biotech

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Biology	310
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	73
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other)	56
Physiology & Pathology Sciences	49
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology	30
Zoology	26
Botany/Plant Biology	23
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology	20
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	17
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences	15

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Henk Caspers/Naturalis Biodiversity Center. More about our data sources and methodologies.