Ranked #4 in popularity, general biology is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 84 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Biology Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 11,843 bachelor's degrees in general biology to qualified students.
Choosing a Great General Biology School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of general biology for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on general biology students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of general biology students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt general biology students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized general biology related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for general biology students working on their bachelor's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best General Biology Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study General Biology in the Far Western US Region
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for general biology students seeking a a bachelor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
12 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Biology
It's difficult to beat Stanford University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in general biology. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford.
General Biology bachelor's degree recipients from Stanford University get an earnings boost of approximately $8,646 over the typical earnings of general biology graduates.
Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in general biology needs to look into University of California - Los Angeles. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the biology program make an average of $24,167 for their early career.
Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in general biology needs to check out University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
Those general biology students who get their bachelor's degree from University of California - Berkeley make $8,218 more than the standard biology grad.
University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in general biology. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the biology program make an average of $24,988 in their early career salary.
Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a very large student population.
General Biology bachelor's degree recipients from University of Washington - Seattle Campus get an earnings boost of approximately $4,286 above the typical earnings of general biology majors.
Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population.
Those general biology students who get their bachelor's degree from University of California - Santa Barbara make $2,274 more than the standard biology grad.
SFSU is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Francisco.
Bachelor's recipients from the general biology major at San Francisco State University make $10,827 above the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
SDSU is a very large public university located in the city of San Diego.
General Biology bachelor's degree recipients from San Diego State University earn a boost of approximately $4,930 above the average earnings of general biology graduates.
Here are some additional great schools for General Biology students in the Far Western US Region that almost earned our Best General Biology Bachelor's Degree 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.
college factual
Your choice of general biology for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
