2025 Best General Biology Schools in the Far Western US Region
94Colleges in the Far Western US Region
17,800Biology Degrees Awarded
$33,813Avg Early-Career Salary
General Biology is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #5 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 94 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Biology Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 17,800 degrees in general biology to qualified students.
Your choice of general 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 general 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.
The biology 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 General Biology Schools in the Far Western US Region.
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.
Best Schools for General Biology in the Far Western US Region
The schools below may not offer all types of biology degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It is hard to beat University of California - Los Angeles if you want to pursue a degree in general biology. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were about 446 general biology students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the biology program earn about $28,242 in their early career salary.
It is hard to beat University of California - San Diego if you want to pursue a degree in general biology. UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the city of La Jolla. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.
There were about 518 general biology students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. Those general biology students who get their degree from University of California - San Diego make $4,747 more than the average biology student.
University of California - Berkeley is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in general biology. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were roughly 195 general biology students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. General Biology degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley receive an earnings boost of approximately $2,829 over the average earnings of general biology majors.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in general biology. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #44 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW Seattle is a great university overall.
There were about 240 general biology students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent data year. Those general biology students who get their degree from University of Washington - Seattle Campus receive $4,903 more than the typical biology student.
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 approximately 77 general biology students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, biology degree recipients usually make about $20,210 in their early careers.
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 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.
There were about 100 general biology students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the 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 about 384 general biology students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the biology program state that they receive average early career income of $33,486.
Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.
There were approximately 418 general biology 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 biology program report average early career wages of $35,241.
SFSU is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Francisco. This university ranks 30th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 479 general biology students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year. General Biology degree recipients from San Francisco State University earn a boost of about $2,446 over the average earnings of general biology graduates.
Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 28th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 653 general biology students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent data year. After graduating, biology degree recipients usually earn about $26,863 in the first five years of their career.
SDSU is a very large public university located in the city of San Diego. This university ranks 25th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 310 general biology students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the biology program report average early career income of $33,597.
UC Santa Cruz is a large public university located in the small city of Santa Cruz. A Best Colleges rank of #91 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.
There were about 184 general biology students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year. General Biology degree recipients from University of California - Santa Cruz get an earnings boost of about $3,838 over the typical income of general biology graduates.
Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #165 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.
There were roughly 170 general biology students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the biology program make an average of $35,638 in the first couple years of their career.
Located in the town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 50 schools for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were approximately 263 general biology students who graduated with this degree at Wazzu in the most recent data year. General Biology degree recipients from Washington State University get an earnings boost of approximately $2,477 over the typical income of general biology graduates.
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 668 general biology students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, biology degree recipients typically make an average of $25,388 in their early careers.
Located in the city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #53 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SCU is a great university overall.
There were about 81 general biology students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent year we have data available. Those general biology students who get their degree from Santa Clara University receive $2,457 more than the typical biology grad.
UC Merced is a medium-sized public university located in the suburb of Merced. This university ranks 51st out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 316 general biology students who graduated with this degree at UC Merced in the most recent data year. General Biology degree recipients from University of California - Merced get an earnings boost of approximately $2,327 over the typical income of general biology graduates.
Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 40th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 305 general biology students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the general biology major at California State University - Sacramento get $5,257 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Rest of the Top Best General Biology Schools in the Far Western US Region
Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for General Biology students in the Far Western US Region that almost earned our Best General Biology Schools in the Far Western US Region award.
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 general 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 general biology schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
