Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Biology, General

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$28,676

Avg. Earnings

6.2 yrs

Best Payback

63,921

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Winona, MN · Private	$18,683	$47,118	6.2 yrs
2	The University of Texas Permian Basin Odessa, TX · Public	$10,549	$41,565	6.4 yrs
3	University of Detroit Mercy Detroit, MI · Private	$15,476	$42,682	8.1 yrs
4	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA · Public	$13,613	$41,007	9.1 yrs
5	CUNY York College Jamaica, NY · Public	$9,462	$39,009	9.4 yrs
6	Governors State University University Park, IL · Public	$12,810	$40,281	9.7 yrs
7	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA · Public	$15,615	$41,261	10 yrs
8	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY · Private	$29,788	$46,478	10.4 yrs
9	University of New Hampshire at Manchester Manchester, NH · Public	$12,787	$39,849	10.5 yrs
10	Salem State University Salem, MA · Public	$18,141	$41,308	11.5 yrs
11	Wabash College Crawfordsville, IN · Private	$19,742	$41,565	12 yrs
12	Neumann University Aston, PA · Private	$28,142	$44,170	12.3 yrs
13	Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN · Public	$16,515	$39,729	14 yrs
14	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public	$19,085	$40,233	14.6 yrs
15	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA · Private	$2,834	$35,772	14.7 yrs
16	Union College Schenectady, NY · Private	$24,375	$41,565	14.9 yrs
17	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME · Private	$14,896	$39,009	14.9 yrs
18	University of Saint Francis-Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, IN · Private	$18,452	$39,927	15 yrs
19	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA · Public	$17,985	$39,729	15.2 yrs
20	DeSales University Center Valley, PA · Private	$28,434	$42,235	15.7 yrs
21	St Catherine University Saint Paul, MN · Private	$15,942	$39,009	15.9 yrs
22	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN · Public	$13,140	$38,289	16 yrs
23	Citadel Military College of South Carolina Charleston, SC · Public	$13,358	$38,289	16.2 yrs
24	Fairfield University Fairfield, CT · Private	$25,929	$41,193	16.7 yrs
25	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH · Public	$20,896	$39,849	17.2 yrs
26	Saint Mary's College of California Moraga, CA · Private	$28,773	$41,565	17.5 yrs
27	University of Southern Indiana Evansville, IN · Public	$14,486	$38,289	17.6 yrs
28	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	$21,117	$39,729	17.9 yrs
29	Winona State University Winona, MN · Public	$15,289	$38,289	18.6 yrs
30	Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA · Public	$18,485	$38,829	19.3 yrs
31	Coppin State University Baltimore, MD · Public	$16,070	$38,289	19.5 yrs
32	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	$17,340	$38,469	20 yrs
33	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA · Public	$17,113	$38,289	20.8 yrs
34	Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ · Private	$25,864	$39,927	21 yrs
35	Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA · Private	$24,182	$39,592	21.1 yrs
36	Morningside University Sioux City, IA · Private	$21,210	$38,906	21.7 yrs
37	Northern State University Aberdeen, SD · Public	$18,273	$38,289	22.2 yrs
38	Gordon State College Barnesville, GA · Public	$11,424	$36,992	22.9 yrs
39	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA · Private	$19,026	$38,289	23.1 yrs
40	Framingham State University Framingham, MA · Public	$19,068	$38,289	23.2 yrs
41	McKendree University Lebanon, IL · Private	$19,400	$38,289	23.6 yrs
42	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private	$18,389	$38,108	23.7 yrs
43	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA · Private	$20,142	$38,289	24.5 yrs
44	University of Houston-Victoria Victoria, TX · Public	$10,631	$36,674	25.4 yrs
45	Worcester State University Worcester, MA · Public	$16,479	$37,568	25.7 yrs
46	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA · Private	$33,999	$40,281	25.8 yrs
47	Maryville University of Saint Louis Saint Louis, MO · Private	$26,965	$39,009	26.9 yrs
48	Murray State University Murray, KY · Public	$11,244	$36,668	27 yrs
49	DePauw University Greencastle, IN · Private	$22,316	$38,289	27.1 yrs
50	Stonehill College Easton, MA · Private	$26,555	$38,906	27.2 yrs

Top Earners in Biology, General

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.