by our College Data Analytics Team
This year's Best General Biology Colleges for Non-Traditional Students in the Far Western US Region ranking looked at 66 colleges that offer a bachelor's in biology. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general biology programs and a strong support system for non-traditional students.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general biology program at the school, affordability, and non-traditional population. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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 Biology Schools for Non-Traditional Students list to help you make the college decision.
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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
The following schools top our list of the Best General Biology Colleges for Non-Traditional Students.
California State University - East Bay has taken the #1 spot in this year's general biology ranking for non-traditional students. Cal State East Bay is a large public school located in the suburb of Hayward.
About 1.3% of Cal State East Bay students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. 7,069 students at Cal State East Bay are exclusively online. 3,650 students are part time.
San Jose State University landed the #2 spot in our 2021 best general biology schools for non-traditional students. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a very large student population. As a testament to the quality of education offered at San Jose State, the school also landed the #9 rank in our Best Colleges for General Biology in the Far Western US Region ranking.
About 0.9% of San Jose State students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 19,939 students at San Jose State that take at least one class online. About 9,800 of the students at San Jose State are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize University of the Pacific as the #3 school in this year's rankings. Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Stockton. Pacific also took the #2 spot in our Best Colleges for General Biology in the Far Western US Region rankings.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.5%. About 747 of the students at Pacific are attending part time.
University of California - San Diego earned the #4 spot in our 2021 rankings. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the large city of La Jolla. As a testament to the quality of education offered at UCSD, the school also landed the #3 rank in our Best Colleges for General Biology in the Far Western US Region ranking.
The student loan default rate at UCSD is lower than is typical, just 0.6% of students default in three years. Approximately 21,222 students take at least one class online at UCSD. 1,605 students are part time.
San Diego State University landed the #5 spot in our 2021 best general biology schools for non-traditional students. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Diego. SDSU excels when it comes to major quality. It's ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Colleges for General Biology in the Far Western US Region list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.1%. There are approximately 21,657 students at SDSU that take at least one class online. About 5,452 of the students at SDSU are attending part time.
Read full report on General Biology at San Diego State University
Our rankings recognize San Francisco State University as the #6 school in this year's rankings. SFSU is a very large public school located in the large city of San Francisco.
The student loan default rate at SFSU is lower than is typical, just 1.8% of students default in three years. 14,003 students at SFSU are exclusively online. There are roughly 6,034 part time students in attendance at SFSU.
Read full report on General Biology at San Francisco State University
The #7 spot in this year's ranking belongs to University of California - Berkeley. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population. UC Berkeley also took the #4 spot in our Best Colleges for General Biology in the Far Western US Region rankings.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.5%. Approximately 26,398 students take at least one class online at UC Berkeley. 4,099 students are part time.
Read full report on General Biology at University of California - Berkeley
California State University - Sacramento comes in at #8 in this year's ranking. Sac State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.
The student loan default rate at Sac State is lower than is typical, just 1.7% of students default in three years. There are approximately 16,876 students at Sac State that take at least one class online. 7,378 students are part time.
Sonoma State University comes in at #9 in this year's ranking. Located in the large suburb of Rohnert Park, SSU is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.4%. Approximately 4,146 students take at least one class online at SSU. There are roughly 1,263 part time students in attendance at SSU.
Santa Clara University earned the #10 spot in our 2021 rankings. SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Santa Clara. SCU also took the #5 spot in our Best Colleges for General Biology in the Far Western US Region rankings.
The student loan default rate at SCU is lower than is typical, just 0.3% of students default in three years. 1,240 students are part time.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best General Biology Colleges for Non-Traditional Students in the Far Western US Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo, CA |
| 12 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus | Seattle, WA |
| 13 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona, CA |
Explore the best for non-traditional students general biology colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| California | 8,887 |
| Washington | 1,235 |
| Oregon | 909 |
| Nevada | 484 |
| Hawaii | 248 |
| Alaska | 80 |
General Biology is one of 14 different types of Biological & Biomedical Sciences programs to choose from.
Footnotes
*Avg Cost is for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.