2025 Best Marine Biology Schools in California
5
Colleges in California
305
Biological Oceanography Degrees Awarded
Marine Biology is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #298 most popular degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
College Factual looked at 5 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Marine Biology Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 305 degrees in marine biology annually.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Marine Biology School
Your choice of marine biology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for marine biology schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Marine Biology Rankings by Degree Level
The biological oceanography school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Marine Biology Schools in California.
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.
If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.
Best Schools for Marine Biology in California
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 biological oceanography degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top California Schools in Biological Oceanography
Every student who is interested in marine biology needs to check out University of Southern California. 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 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were about 4 marine biology students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in marine biology from University of Southern California
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
2nd
Most Popular In CA
66
Biological Oceanography Degrees Awarded
It is difficult to beat University of California - Santa Cruz if you want to pursue a degree in marine biology. UC Santa Cruz is a large public university located in the city of Santa Cruz. This university ranks 13th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 66 marine biology students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in marine biology from University of California - Santa Cruz
Every student pursuing a degree in marine biology needs to take a look at University of California - Los Angeles. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were about 16 marine biology students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in marine biology from University of California - Los Angeles
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In CA
154
Biological Oceanography Degrees Awarded
It's difficult to beat University of California - San Diego if you wish to pursue a degree in marine biology. UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the large city of La Jolla. This university ranks 8th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 154 marine biology students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in marine biology from University of California - San Diego
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
3rd
Most Popular In CA
48
Biological Oceanography Degrees Awarded
CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the city of Long Beach. This university ranks 36th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 48 marine biology students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in marine biology from California State University - Long Beach
