When it comes to popularity, biotechnology sits in the middle of the road, ranking #174 out of 395 majors in the country. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 7 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for biotechnology students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 272 degrees in biotechnology annually.
Your choice of biotechnology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Biotechnology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Biotechnology Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the biotech degrees they offer, see the list below.
It's hard to beat University of California - Davis if you want to pursue a degree in biotechnology. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.
There were approximately 66 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the biotech program state that they receive average early career earnings of $59,156.
It is difficult to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a degree in biotechnology. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 15 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.
It's difficult to beat California State Polytechnic University - Pomona if you wish to pursue a degree in biotechnology. Cal Poly Pomona is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Pomona. This university ranks 60th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 43 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the biotech program make about $60,697 for their early career.
University of California - Irvine is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in biotechnology. UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #73 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.
There were about 14 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available.
USFCA is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco. This university ranks 21st out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 31 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at USFCA in the most recent data year.
CSUCI is a medium-sized public university located in the rural area of Camarillo. This university ranks 95th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 23 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at CSUCI in the most recent year we have data available. Biotechnology degree recipients from California State University - Channel Islands receive an earnings boost of around $28,482 over the average income of biotechnology graduates.
CSUSM is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of San Marcos. This university ranks 65th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 51 biotechnology students who graduated with this degree at CSUSM in the most recent data year. After graduating, biotech degree recipients usually make about $49,615 in their early careers.
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).
Your choice of biotechnology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Biotechnology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
