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2025 Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Schools in California

11 Colleges in California
815 Ecology Degrees Awarded
$43,540 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #103 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.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 11 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for ecology, evolution & systematics biology students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 815 degrees in ecology, evolution & systematics biology to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology School

Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Schools in California Your choice of ecology, evolution & systematics biology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Ecology
Master's Degrees in Ecology
Doctor's Degrees in Ecology

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 Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. 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 Ecology, Evolution & Systematics 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 ecology degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top California Schools in Ecology

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
12th Most Popular In CA

University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology. 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 roughly 8 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of Southern California

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
96 Ecology Degrees Awarded
$29,258 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in ecology, evolution & systematics biology needs to check out University of California - Santa Barbara. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #47 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were approximately 96 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the ecology program make an average of $29,258 for their early career.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of California - Santa Barbara

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
54 Ecology Degrees Awarded
$18,728 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat University of California - Los Angeles if you wish to pursue a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology. 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 roughly 54 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the ecology program earn around $18,728 for their early career.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of California - Los Angeles

4
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA

It's hard to beat Stanford University if you wish to pursue a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were about 30 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from Stanford University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
138 Ecology Degrees Awarded
$25,810 Median Starting Salary

UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public university located in the city of Santa Cruz. This university ranks 13th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 138 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the ecology program make an average of $25,810 for their early career.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of California - Santa Cruz

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
211 Ecology Degrees Awarded
25.6% Growth in Graduates

UCSD is a very large public university located in the city of La Jolla. This university ranks 8th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 211 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the ecology program report average early career wages of $34,924.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of California - San Diego

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
10th Most Popular In CA

UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were roughly 13 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of California - Berkeley

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
90 Ecology Degrees Awarded
7.8% Growth in Graduates

Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 10th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 90 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the ecology program make around $32,161 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of California - Davis

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
34 Ecology Degrees Awarded

UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine. This university ranks 12th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 34 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of California - Irvine

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
48 Ecology Degrees Awarded
47.9% Growth in Graduates

CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Long Beach. This university ranks 36th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 48 ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the ecology program state that they receive average early career wages of $35,436.

More information about a degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from California State University - Long Beach

Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 213
Oregon 266 17
Nevada 192 8
Hawaii 164 109
Alaska 119 14

View All Rankings >

One of 14 majors within the Biological & Biomedical Sciences area of study, Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Ecology Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Marine Biology 305
Ecology 134
Other Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 125
Epidemiology 106
Evolutionary Biology 55
Aquatic Biology/Limnology 34
Environmental Biology 34
Evolutionary Biology 17
Population Biology 5

View All Ecology Concentrations >

Majors Similar to Ecology

Related Major Annual Graduates
General Biology 14,442
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences 2,456
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 1,911
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 1,610
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 800
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology 623
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other) 486
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 416
Biotechnology 272
Zoology 204

View All Ecology Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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