Biological & Physical Science is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #38 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.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 97 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for biological & physical science students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 30,032 degrees in biological & physical science annually.
Choosing a Great Biological & Physical Science School
Your choice of biological & physical science school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Biological & Physical Science School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Biological & Physical Science Degree Level
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 Biological & Physical Science Schools list to help you make the college decision.
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 Biological & Physical Science in the United States
The schools below may not offer all types of biological science 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.
Any student who is interested in biological & physical science needs to check out Rutgers University - New Brunswick. Located in the small city of New Brunswick, Rutgers New Brunswick is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #74 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Rutgers New Brunswick is a great university overall.
There were roughly 92 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Rutgers New Brunswick in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the biological & physical science major at Rutgers University - New Brunswick make $62,244 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
It is hard to beat University of Notre Dame if you want to pursue a degree in biological & physical science. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were roughly 57 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the biological & physical science major at University of Notre Dame make $41,625 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
It is difficult to beat Cornell University if you wish to pursue a degree in biological & physical science. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were roughly 16 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year.
University of Maryland - College Park is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in biological & physical science. Located in the suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #37 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UMCP is a great university overall.
There were roughly 25 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent year we have data available.
Pitt is a very large public university located in the large city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #85 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Pitt is a great university overall.
There were approximately 76 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Pitt in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the biological science program state that they receive average early career income of $34,380.
University of Virginia is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Charlottesville. A Best Colleges rank of #35 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means University of Virginia is a great university overall.
There were roughly 27 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at University of Virginia in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Portland, Portland State University is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 5th out of 29 schools for overall quality in the state of Oregon.
There were approximately 124 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Portland State University in the most recent data year. Biological & Physical Science degree recipients from Portland State University receive an earnings boost of about $3,626 above the typical income of biological & physical science graduates.
UGA is a very large public university located in the city of Athens. A Best Colleges rank of #69 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UGA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 68 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at UGA in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the biological science program state that they receive average early career wages of $25,508.
Michigan State is a very large public university located in the city of East Lansing. A Best Colleges rank of #54 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.
There were about 10 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Eugene, UO is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #167 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UO is a great university overall.
There were approximately 84 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at UO in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the biological & physical science program at University of Oregon make $4,492 above the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the rural area of Annandale-On-Hudson, Bard is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 59th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 77 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Bard in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the biological & physical science program at Bard College make $5,503 more than the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
VCU is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Richmond. This university ranks 8th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were roughly 83 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at VCU in the most recent data year. Those biological & physical science students who get their degree from Virginia Commonwealth University make $2,916 more than the typical biological science grad.
Located in the city of Lubbock, Texas Tech is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #161 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Texas Tech is a great university overall.
There were approximately 42 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Texas Tech in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large suburb of Miami, FIU is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 13th out of 70 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were about 735 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at FIU in the most recent data year.
Located in the midsize city of Modesto, MJC is a public college with a large student population. This college ranks 32nd out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 354 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at MJC in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the biological science program state that they receive average early career income of $31,960.
Mission College is a medium-sized public college located in the city of Santa Clara. This college ranks 45th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 149 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Mission College in the most recent year we have data available.
Georgetown is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Georgetown is a great university overall.
There were approximately 34 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Georgetown in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the biological science program earn around $22,631 for their early career.
Northern Virginia Community College is a very large public college located in the large suburb of Annandale. This college ranks 9th out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were roughly 318 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at Northern Virginia Community College in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the biological science program state that they receive average early career income of $21,923.
TESU is a moderately-sized public university located in the small city of Trenton. This university ranks 17th out of 45 schools for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.
There were about 116 biological & physical science students who graduated with this degree at TESU in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the biological & physical science degree program at Thomas Edison State University make $35,687 more than the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Rest of the Top Best Biological & Physical Science Schools
Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for Biological & Physical Science students that almost earned our Best Biological & Physical Science Schools 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 biological & physical science school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Biological & Physical Science School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
